It’s critical to highlight humanity, generate authentic video assets, and focus on basic principles when it comes to content and community building. What are the PR trends you’re keeping an eye on in 2022? Here are seven noteworthy developments to keep an eye on:
1. Give humanity a chance.
Brands must understand who they are connecting with on a human-to-human level, with 10.7 million Americans unemployed and many more unable to work as a result of COVID-19. How is your brand responding to people’s genuine psyches, emotions, and complexities? This is a question that brand and communications leaders should be asking themselves. Is it possible that leaning on their virtual and manufactured selves, roles, or abstract profiles is missing the mark?
Many companies have begun to adopt a more focused, customer-centric marketing strategy, but talking the talk isn’t enough. Examine your internal and external communications strategies and redesign them to focus on the people you’re trying to reach, whether they’re customers or employees. You might be startled to learn that your messages aren’t really interesting to your target audience.
2. The term “raw video” has replaced the term “produced video.”
Instagram and Facebook Stories continue to perform admirably with ephemeral material. Many brands and content providers are finding tremendous success with this 24-hour-accessible short-form format.
The style, which was popularised by Snapchat, was brought this year to LinkedIn (Stories) and Twitter (Fleets), where users may publish brief updates with their audiences.
Ephemeral content will continue to grow in popularity since it is simple to develop due to its more casual and informal style, making it a great tool for individuals and organisations looking to raise their share of voice in their particular fields of expertise. This snackable content will continue to drive high engagement and conversion in 2021 when paired with content creation tools like TikTok, which continues to grow its market share among social media users due to its ability to put production tools in the hands of common people.
3. The content becomes more “genuine.”
None of the technology advancements that have emerged since the pandemic has been more essential or meaningful than our capacity to video chat with coworkers and loved ones.
Tools like Teams, Zoom, Google Classroom, and others have aided our ability to perform business as usual, communicate with family and friends, and establish a new acceptable casual aesthetic that has pervaded both digital and conventional media. For example, to depict the realities of life during the pandemic, corporate CEOs have altered their profile images from suits in an office to polos at home with their children in the backdrop. Even “manufactured” television commercials are being made to appear as if they were shot in real time, while others use raw material to convey the same message.
The year 2022 will be marked by “authentic” content starring “authentic” people living “authentic” lifestyles.
4. Online meetings take on a more human quality.
The video conferencing technology isn’t that sophisticated. Faces are stacked into small boxes on laptop screens, which is a significant step backwards from in-person gatherings.
Brands and businesses will adopt technologies that personalise gatherings in 2021, allowing meeting organisers to “read the room.” The human dynamics of real-world meetings, including voice, gesture, and social and hierarchical dynamics, must be better replicated in these humanised interactions. Organizations eager to humanise video interactions and combat “Zoom fatigue” will embrace technology providers that quickly enhance their video conferencing solutions to include conversation dynamics. While there is a lot of noise around virtual reality, we anticipate to see more AR technology being used to enhance communication tools. Participants will be able to watch the human dynamics of meetings via video screens with smart overlays, allowing for more meaningful engagement.
5. The way people consume content will change.
People are consuming more content in a new way now that many people around the world are at home. People are no longer commuting to and from work. When you have children conducting remote learning with you at the kitchen table, you don’t have time to sit at your desk.
Brands must serve up content in new ways and reach out to new audiences. In 2022, short form storytelling (maximum 60 seconds) will be the only option to keep your audience’s attention. If you go on much longer, your audience will tune out.
6. The new department store is social media.
People will be weary of shopping and engaging with products and services. At brick-and-mortar establishments as the pandemic continues to influence our daily lives into the new year.
Retailers who have never used e-commerce before must shift their focus to the social media platform. Where their customers spend the most time: Instagram (121 million monthly users). In-app purchases on Facebook and Instagram have already increased. Just Because they know you better than you know yourself, the proper content will always appear in your stream.
Users will flock to digital retail businesses to investigate and purchase items and services in 2022 in greater numbers than ever before. As audiences visit owned channels to investigate and learn. Social media will serve retargeted advertisements to those individuals to push them farther down the funnel.
7. Executives and senior executives have a fresh sense of purpose and direction.
People are more socially conscious than they have ever been. Consumers are looking to the corporations they do business with to see what their opinion is on problems. As a result of the social revolutions that swept the United States (and the world) in 2021, catapulting business executives into the spotlight. Consumers will seek to conduct business with and connect themselves with firms. That share similar values and ideas as they do in 2022, thus executive thought leadership campaigns and content will be invaluable. Make use of social media to provide your leaders with a platform and a voice so that they can make a real difference in people’s lives.
8. Social media management skills:
The growth of social media platforms allows for direct connection between brands and customers. Professionals should be well-versed in the many social media platforms available, as well as their reach and traffic analysis.
The content strategy will also be different than usual. On these platforms, the majority of the users are digitally aware teenagers. Because they don’t have time for lengthy discussions, PR professionals should create material that is concise, effective, and engaging. It is highly recommended that you have above-average photography and editing skills.
9. Make use of public relations tools:
Many PR tools are employed in the PR profession internationally, and this trend will soon be reflected in India. Several agencies have already begun to use them. From a global database, Cision Communication Cloud assists in connecting with the correct kind of influencers.
One Pitch assists with the creation of a template that can be delivered to a large number of media contacts at once. Propl, Scoc’d, AirPR, and a variety of other programmes are frequently used. No one is expected to know everything about them in depth, although a basic understanding is recommended.
10. Penetration of the influencer circle at a deep level:
It’s crucial to know influencers and digital content creators in addition to editors and journalists from major media. Each company has its own set of influencer standards. Instagram influencers are useful for lifestyle PR, but Linkedin is the most reliable resource for B2B business.
A fundamental understanding of analytics is expected of PR professionals. This will assist them in determining the value of influencers in terms of their actual audience. There are numerous tools accessible online that assist in determining the quality of content, followers, and influencer interaction. It’s time to get a handle on a couple of them.
