8 Digital Media and Advertising Predictions for 2022

The importance of having a presence in the digital space has never been clearer. We are all looking for the next ‘big thing’ seeing as we’ve been able to witness a digital reform throughout all industries. Adapting, however, is not as easy as it seems. Businesses were collectively blindsided by the Covid-19 pandemic which meant that no one was prepared for those changes that had to occur in the months to follow.

Two years later marketing has become vastly different in comparison to previous years. The marketing seems to be very nimble as it continues to find new ways to change and adapt. Here are 8 Digital Media and Advertising predictions and trends to keep an eye on in 2022:

1. Podcasting

In addition to videos and blogs taking up majority of the content of businesses and brands online, we are also witnessing the rise of podcasting.  Strict lockdowns globally during the pandemic resorted to people working remotely.  As a result, people explored the innovative and extroverted sides of themselves by speaking about a variety of issues on their podcasts.

People investigated topics such as social controversies, brand or business recommendations or merely different interests they may have. Podcasts are a great way to engage with a larger audience that is normally difficult to reach and allows for monetization and advertisement. Partnerships can be made between brands and podcasters, as the platform is huge and is projected to grow further into 2022.

2. AR/VR Marketing Campaigns

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) has become increasingly popular and is predicted to become the basis of operations and interactions in the years to come.

AR/VR working with the Metaverse provides an infinite world of possibilities. Brands are already taking advantage of this, allowing users to gain a further understanding of behind-the-scenes operations and the intricacy of the processes that make their product.

It’s been clearly stated that the AR/VR platforms plan to monetize their services with mass marketing and advertising. This is great news for businesses, allowing them to reach a larger market. AR/VR continues to unravel its true potential and you don’t want to miss out!

3. Web 3.0

There is a consensus about the power and versatility of the online space, but we are close to another great change to the web. Web 3.0 allows smaller projects to challenge larger corporations such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook. Mason Nystrom from Messari provided greater insight by stating that a “much greater level of freedom, decentralization, and democracy for individual users, content creators, and projects” will be achieved by its implementation.

This means that individuals and businesses will gain full ownership and control of the content they create. Web 3.0 will ultimately allow marketers to control their own data and privacy with the removal of centralized authority.

4. AI Content Generators

AI evolution is not only confined to its capabilities, but rather its ability to mimic human behavior by understanding the psychological and emotional aspect of humans such as triggers, likes, dislikes etc.

With the help of AI, we will be able to generate effective content, based on recent popular posts. It will not only be able to identify millions of posts at once, but also the keywords, designs and other elements that make posts successful. The main question that is concerning marketers, however, is how this will influence the involvement of marketers.

5. Metaverse

Mark Zuckerberg has created a digital interactive space, that many people have only prophesized about. The Metaverse is a digital-space that allows you to virtually explore and interact with almost anything. From playing basketball in the Bahamas or interacting with people from across the globe, the possibilities are endless.

The Metaverse has plans to add virtual shopping with brands of all sizes across all industries and has already started trials. This is something marketers need to become interested in, as the benefits far outweigh any foreseen disadvantages.

6. Interactive content

Our forever adapting world has provided us with the ability to convey our messages to consumers clearly through interactive content. Social media platforms are a great example of how this has effectively been implemented.

Brands use Instagram and TikTok to create advertisements that allow users to interact with their content through filters, virtual mini games, assessing clothing options etc. This is only the beginning, and several brands are already exploiting and investing in this opportunity due to the excellent results that have already proven to encourage user engagement, lead generation and brand awareness

7. Ad Optimizing

Platforms such as Facebook are adapting according to the market. With these changes, advertisements and websites can be optimized automatically which provides them with the ability to pick up on Google’s algorithm and any changes or trends that arise. This allows the data to make suggestions or the necessary changes.

This technology will drastically improve the extent of SEO and marketer inputs, allowing more time to be invested in other areas like content creation rather than site maintenance. We could potentially see this be deployed further down the year.

8. Short Form Videos

Lengthy written posts and videos are slowly dying out and being replaced by short videos. TikTok greatly influenced the trend of short form videos and have seen Instagram and Facebook make efforts to replicate the idea.

Short-form videos have significantly higher views, replays and completion rates in comparison to  videos that are longer than 15 seconds. The success of the ‘trend’ has even inspired major brands like Gucci and BMW to create short 8 second videos.

The digital space is kind of like the ocean: we know how big it is based on assumptions and brief exploration but there is so much more to be explored. The current market is something that refuses to sit still, so these mentioned trends in our near future are a must if you want to stay lucrative and agile. It is a very exciting time in the digital space but we must decide whether we will be embracing these new explorations and changes or whether we will remain complacent.

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