Big in 2022
The way that we communicate has well and truly been turned upside down in the past two years as the world has continued to look to virtual solutions to stay connected throughout the pandemic. So what can you expect in 2022 and how can your business or brand stand out from the crowd this year?
Whilst you may think you’ve got your marketing under control, someone else takes care of it, or you don’t think you need to be communicating online to get more business, this article will provide you with an insight into our predictions for what is going to be big in 2022 and hopefully inspire you to try something new!
Hybrid Events
We all want nothing more than to go back to the normal face-to-face events like we were used to pre-pandemic, but it’s clear that we’re still far from that moment right now. Having experienced events from the comfort of their own homes, many people are now satisfied with virtual events and have adapted to this way of communicating. However, businesses are increasingly favouring hybrid events to engage with their target audience whilst utilising their benefits in relation to sustainability, profitability and accessibility.
So, what is a hybrid event? Hybrid events bring together the fun and excitement of an in-person event with the added benefit of combining cleverly curated content to engage with an online audience. With the use of tools such as livestreaming and social media, it’s becoming easier to involve a virtual audience and have your event reach even more people. Look out for these styles of events throughout the year as we certainly think they’re going to continue to rise in popularity.
Trend-Jacking
Trend-jacking isn’t necessarily a new thing for 2022 but it’s certainly going to continue to grow, and much of this is arguably down to TikTok. Brands and businesses tend to follow and create content using trending songs or dances as it’s a great way to tap into a wider audience.
Our top tip for trend-jacking is to try and get ahead of the curve. There are actually an abundance of popular accounts on TikTok that spend their time solely spotting and predicting the next trend, so it’s always good to be an early adopter.
TikTok is set to become the biggest social media platform in the world this year after surpassing 1 billion users in September 2021. Therefore this platform is proving to be a successful and lucrative marketing tool for businesses to take advantage of.
Interactive Content
Interactive content is becoming increasingly popular across all platforms. As an example, on instagram people often use question stickers or a poll in order to engage more with their audience. In essence, the longer people spend looking and engaging with your content, the better it will perform. This doesn’t just apply to your social media platforms but also with your websites too. Have a think of ways that you can make your content more engaging and interactive as a way of encouraging audience participation.
There is also something new called ‘Scrollytelling’, also known as “narrow visualisation”. With this kind of design, rather than scroll through an article, you swipe through shorter crafted designs with images and typesets that catch the eye of your audience.
A recent viral trend on LinkedIn that is a great example of this is a #Carouself. Take a look at a #Carouself from our Head of Media, Georgia here.
The 6 Second Video AD
Six-second videos have been around for a while and have been reintroduced as a stand-alone form of advertising. They continue to increase year on year and a 6 second video isn’t too much of a challenge even if you know nothing about video is it!? With your 6 second ad, always remember to choose and include a call to action. If your insights show that people actually stuck around for the 6 seconds but didn’t end up clicking the button, then retarget until you find something that hits right with your audience.
Here are some more tips on the 6 second video ad.
The Metaverse
Zuckerberg and Facebook have held a large stamp on the market for some time now, but with the rapid growth of rival platforms such as Twitter and Tik Tok, Facebook continues to face pressure to innovate their platform which is somewhat left to the older generation to engage with. So how can Facebook appeal to a younger audience? With virtual reality of course! Gamification is huge right now and the rebrand to Meta will really pull focus to this new virtual world over the next few years.
Social Responsibility
In an ever-changing world, businesses are finding that they’re becoming much more popular when there is more purpose behind their consumers’ purchases. Consumers are now making ethically conscious decisions and therefore want to be affiliated with brands and companies that share their values.
So ask yourself, In such a competitive market what makes your business stand out? What are you doing to go the extra mile that may push people to choose your company over your competitors?
Many brands have been weaving social responsibility into their marketing and growth plans for quite some time and this will no doubt continue to increase in 2022.
There we have it!
So there are just six examples of what we predict will be big in 2022. Want to dig a little deeper? Here are a couple of things to inspire you in 2022…