December is the best month for the overview of the previous year. Decembar je mesec za osvrt na godinu iza. For recollecting, summarizing. Last month, we read texts about the most striking things in 2021., we even wrote a text about it. On the other hand, January is a holiday time and time for looking into the future. Texts about this year’s trends are quite popular. Some of these trends are already familiar to everyone, while the other ones are yet developing, and some of them we could only announce, but these are the topics for digital agencies to think about in the year that has already started.
Metaverse
Facebook has changed its name to Meta and announced the next, ambitious project – Metaverse. They presented the planned universe that will bring a brand new experience of the online space. Meta will remove the boundaries between real and virtual, thanks to platforms such as Horizon. The way we work, teach or socialize will change. Though the project will be completely realized in 10 or 15 years, the first steps towards Metaverse have been taken. That’s why we can expect the bravest brands will soon make the first marketing steps in this new universe.
Video
Until we start dealing with holograms, the video will remain the leading format in digital advertising. Video is the king of content – this is the truth that has not been changing for years. The only thing that is changing is the way this content has been dominantly consumed. Under the TikTok influence, Instagram added reels, YouTube presented shorts, its own version of short videos, and then TikTok decided to make some changes. They extended the duration of the video to 3 minutes and proved Gen Z can hold their attention for more than 15 seconds. For this reason, in 2022. we can expect the videos to last a bit longer than usual.
Activism
Gen Z is becoming stronger, in terms of money power, so the brands find them more interesting than before. This generation likes activism and based on studies they like the companies with attitude, fighting for some of the crucial social questions. Many brands on the western market realized this fact and started applying it. In the next period, we can expect more campaigns dealing with human rights, environmental issues, feminism…
Social Commerce
Pandemics forced many people to start shopping online. In the previous two years, the number of people shopping online increased, hence the amount of money spent on such transactions too. E-commerce companies are improving their sites, creating chatbots, but more and more, they are deciding to shop directly via social media. They implement the shop option to their Facebook pages and offer their products via Instagram shopping services. TikTok added online shopping options, so it seems this trend will stay in the future. This option is still not available on our market.
Influencers
Just as in previous years, influencers are one of the crucial points of all good digital strategies. Now we can expect a different approach in the selection of influencers. Brands will cooperate more with micro-influencers, people with fewer followers but more trust gained from their audience. These influencers are also known as niche influencers because they proved to be experts in their field, whether it’s food, gaming, photography…and based on the niche, the brand will choose them. The big ones, macro-influencers will continue to be a significant part of digital campaigns, especially when the goal is brand awareness.
Gaming
As mentioned above, Meta aims to build a new universe where we can create avatars and spend time with our friends. Video games already offer this option. This provides a possibility to many people to socialize with friends and keep in touch. Besides all the other reasons, the popularity of this option will continuously grow, and texts about trends will still write about gaming. Brands targeting the young population will pay huge attention to gaming, creating proper content, and realizing the cooperations with different teams, players and streamers.
TikTok
TikTok had more visits than Google in the previous year. Based on this fact, we can make a conclusion more brands will want to find their place on this network. In 2022., we will have the opportunity to see digital strategies TikTok put on the first place, putting even Instagram behind. Content creators will have a lot of work to deal with, and brands will try to adjust the tone of their communication with popular brands. Will the algorithm start overwhelming us with branded content?
Real-Time
Since TikTok will be the center of attention, we think real-time reactions will be more important than before. This network is dynamic, trends are changing fast, so to take the advantage of the goodwill of the algorithm, it is necessary to post the relevant content.
We have another bonus trend, at the very end of the year – World Football Championship, so we will have to opportunity to see loads of posts dedicated to football teams, even on brand accounts that have nothing to do with sports. When that time arrives, we will get back to this text to check if our predictions were right.
