Top 5 Digital Trends To Watch In 2022

Written by: Amala

2021 was the year of digital transformation according to McKinsey research, people began looking ahead to their future rather than surviving the pandemic. This is the year where Google came out with guidelines, NFT and AI came into the forefront and mobile readership skyrocketed.

Post-pandemic, digital trends have shown up across channels and platforms. Digital interaction has gone up and appears to only grow moving forward. As publishers, it’s crucial that you keenly observe digital trends to know where to invest and where to seek revenue from. This is why it’s important to look into some of the trends in 2022.

Social Media: Algorithm tweaks and privacy

As more users spend increasing hours on the web, there has been more importance shed on privacy. The level of penetration into user behavior has been looked into. All major social media are likely to update their privacy policies - like Meta, Instagram, Twitter, etc. But if there’s limited access to user behavior on the web, how do we promote content?

Due to the demand for engaging content, there have been a lot of influencers coming forth and this has created a great shift in the way we see branding. For technology to get through, people need to be at the bridge creating a sense of credibility and reliability.

The involvement of people in promotion has led to more short-form video content. It’s important to note that social media platforms are also constantly evolving and the algorithm is changed often to filter content the right way to the right audience.

AI growth

AI is going to change the way we analyze, conceptualise and create content. Labor shortages have led to the popularity of AI in some cases and in some, it’s allowed to enhance the brand’s efforts by effectively making use of data and time.

There are many conversations about how AI will increasingly become more relevant with time. Although it can never overpower the human output it is meant to make analysis easier. The use of machine learning is progressing and this can only bring advantages for digital publishers.

Increased connectivity

With 5G coming into play, it will enable faster connection for all netizens, this is crucial for digital trends to evolve. Increased access and speed of the internet will revolutionise the way we interact digitally. This would easily increase organic traffic and safety on the internet.

As more organizations move to a remote working style, digital interactions will become the playground for all primary communication. As the world shifts its headquarters to digital platforms, it’s important to prepare a digital presence that both stands out and is accessible. This would mean extensive engagement with an audience who will be online for longer durations of time.

Influencers And User-generated content

Influencer and content marketing are getting more relevant by the hour. It’s how we’re learning and expanding our experience on the internet. It is a growing trend and is now seen across all fields - from movie launches to software discussions, influencer marketing is helping target audiences more efficiently than ever before.

Post pandemic, the advertising industry saw a 20% decline while influencer marketing went up by 46%.

Influencer marketing stands better than traditional advertising as the target audience is more defined and accessible and the output is easier to gauge. People trust people over any piece of content. The sense of credibility that influencers create over time ensures that the product is sold right to the right audience.

Online events

As more people come into the digital world, one can predict more online events. Unlike traditional events, these are severely cost-effective. They also ensure participation as it can be attended through the comfort of one’s own space. The scale of events can also be significantly higher with online events.

In 2020 alone, 96% of consumers increased their online video consumption.

With “going live” options, classic zoom calls and quick google meets, one can conduct webinars, interviews, surveys, and more online. This is a good space to promote your ideas and content. The new content formats are effective and rapidly gaining attention.