New trends in digital: what to watch out for in 2022 | Crealeon

The sudden digital transformation that many companies had to go through in 2020 continues to gain momentum. So what’s in store for digital in 2022? We talked to our agency’s experts about upcoming trends in the digital world, and we’re in a hurry to share our predictions with you.

Design

Charles Letterman (SEO Director, Crealeon)

The development of computing power and the gradual introduction of 5G Internet has made it possible to take interaction with interfaces to a new level. Therefore, voice interfaces and AR/VR will firmly enter UX- and UI-design trends.

The line between the real world and the digital is becoming increasingly invisible. Note Zuckerberg’s “meta-universes,” people will be able to work together, play, and communicate using virtual reality helmets. Large brands, by the way, have already introduced AR-technology in their products, especially retailers, for whom it is important to give the user the opportunity to “touch” the product, even virtual. This trend will continue to grow rapidly and capture new markets.

Minimalism and simplicity will stay with us for a long time. There are so many articles and notes written on this topic that there is nothing new to say. The trend for minimalism is firmly entrenched in the interfaces and will not leave us in the coming years, as well as everything else that looks good and works well.

James Smith (Leading Developer)

Font gigantism and kinetic typography (text in motion or, more simply, animation of letters) are some of the most striking trends in web design in recent years.

What exactly should be the text and its size – always an ambiguous story. But you can accurately emphasize that the shorter the headlines, the more accentuated they can be, while controlling the attention of visitors to the site. An animated font also opens up a lot of new possibilities for storytelling and user immersion.

Web development

In 2022 we expect the number of website integrations with external services to grow: from ready-made chatbots and CallBack services to integration with DaData and ESIA systems from State Services.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) scripts in web projects is also gaining momentum. The number of grants to support projects using AI is now actively growing, which will definitely contribute to finding ways to apply neural networks in web development.

Chatbots continue to grow wildly in popularity. The main trends in 2022: adapting current chatbot services to company tasks, writing their own scripts, and connecting AI mechanisms to work with business tasks.

Optimizing the speed of web projects to work on mobile devices will be another trend. First of all, it will be the speed of primary loading of sites and basic scripts that will be of concern.

And the final – the use of WebGL (JavaScript library for drawing 3D graphics) to create websites. Work with web graphics will continue to reach a new level. Complex visual scenarios and interactive visualization objects will continue to take over different projects.

Search engine optimization

Content should be written by experts or people who are as passionate as possible. This should be confirmed, for example, by publications on other sites or by the popularity of profiles on social networks. If the content is not created by an expert, it should at least be verified by them, and this should be reported to the search engine. This is how search can fight against low-quality content.

Promotion on marketplaces is the fattest trend for the near future. It must be worked out now. The largest sites become marketplace, collecting a huge amount of traffic and growing by leaps and bounds from year to year. You can and should learn to work with this.

Mobile versions require special attention. It’s not a trend of 2022, it’s at least 5 years old, but I want to focus on it. Take metrics, look at the share of attendance. Who’s the leader in your niche – desktops or smartphones? Break down the site page by page and see what types of pages are most visited from which devices. Then look at the same in terms of conversions. Where are they coming from: desktop or smartphones? Chances are (if you have not thoroughly worked out the mobile version) you are dominated by mobile devices in attendance, but the conversions do more from the desktop. Here’s a growth point for your business.

The quality and integrity of business. Yandex in the fall of 2021 launched an algorithm in which “chain letters” received those sites that have had bad reviews of the company. Customer ratings will now directly affect the position of the site. This is where SERM comes in. So you have to provide a service so that people will leave positive feedback about you.

Artificial intelligence is becoming more and more embedded in search engines and has an increasing impact on search quality. Keep an eye on the algorithms, read about the changes in detail, and try to adjust. For example, Yandex recently launched a new search ranking algorithm called YATI. This is a new technology of text analysis using trained transformers, the main purpose of which is to evaluate the semantic relationship between the query and the existing text.

Correct meaning. Search is increasingly working not with keywords, but with the meaning of the page. Conventionally, you can not be in the top of the article “How to build a house” if it will not be disclosed meaning and there will be no words roof, foundation, walls, windows, etc.

PR

The volume of information that is piling up on us from all sides continues to grow. People have no choice but to mercilessly scroll through anything that doesn’t grab them from the first split second, which is how long it takes to swipe. One tool to help avoid this is content personalization. Stomp out mass mailings and one-size-fits-all promotional materials. The commercial offer should be unique and personalized for each segment of the target audience.

Honest and open communication between brands. All life to be in a mask of “good guy” still can not be, and now no one and does not need it. People show more trust when they see that others aren’t perfect, but can openly admit a mistake and fix it. The flat image should be a thing of the past.

Hybrid event format. Two years ago, everyone had to go online. After realized that offline communication provided a stronger networking, but you do not want to lose the charms of the online format (greater coverage at a lower cost, safety for health). Hybrid format allows you to use the advantages of both.

Content

Continuous content updates are important today. Permanent changes to your site will encourage visitors to follow you and come back for more, which is more likely to lead to a purchase. Add new products, write expert industry articles, and post new testimonials from your customers. Make content regular, unique and expert.

Podcasts started gaining popularity back in 2021, but the trend isn’t going anywhere in 2022. If you have something to say, start a podcast. Discuss high-profile topics in your industry, invite top experts to share their opinions, and make educational content. People today are used to living at a very fast pace, constantly being busy with something and running somewhere. Therefore, podcasts which can be listened to in the background will be a real godsend for this generation.

Video marketing. Short videos are an unprecedented success. The genre can be different: from entertaining to educational. For example, videos can show the insides of your company: the team, the office, the production process. This is always interesting to watch, and so potential customers will unconsciously form loyalty to your company. And also, video is the best way to demonstrate all the benefits of your product.

Account Based Marketing (ABM). In Russian – a personal approach. It used to be that marketers used the same advertising scheme for most customers. Now the consumer is spoiled, and that kind of thing won’t work anymore. So the current trend in 2022 is personalized content. ABM’s approach allows advertising content to be built around specific accounts in order to most accurately hit the need of each customer.

HR

Caring is the primary responsibility of executives. Benefits and bonuses are no longer a weighty argument that inclines a candidate in favor of the company. Caring about health, employee satisfaction, and emotional well-being is no longer just a trend, but a necessary reality. What is important to do: implement monthly (minimum) one-to-one meetings with each employee, measure the level of emotional load, provide an opportunity to communicate with a corporate psychologist, etc.

Recruitment. In 2021 one specialist we offered an offer had, on average, already 3 job offers in hand. So it’s important to remember the formula: 1 job offer = 3 finalists on the way out. Requirements for hard skills are reduced, and a lot of emphasis is placed on soft skills – especially responsibility and the ability to quickly adapt to new realities. It is cool when a potential employee is immediately introduced to the team and the guys decide if they are ready to hire a specialist. Practice shows that if the team was involved in selecting an employee, the newcomer’s adaptation period is less stressful, and the mentor is more involved in his training.

A few more trends in recruitment: an individual approach to everyone (chatbots do not work), monitoring of new platforms on the candidate base – we have closed more than 3 positions from a new source of job search, where students and junior specialists post their resumes. At the time we contacted this source was only six months old. At the same time, these specialists were not posted on popular websites and tg channels.

Comfortable conditions. Remote work will not fade into oblivion, more and more guys from the regions are willing and ready to work for major cities, while they are not ready for relocation. The ability to choose the schedule and the place of work will still be relevant and in demand.

Adaptation. For each new employee, you have to prescribe an individual development plan for six months ahead. You invest money and time that will be paid back threefold – now the average employee works for one company for 1,5 years. The most common reason for leaving is that there is no growth in salary, tasks, or grade development.

It is important to dilute the routine. And here we are not talking about corporate events, but about task rotation. For example, one developer should not be assigned all the tasks only for technical support, but should be given an opportunity to take on an interesting project (it can be even not related to development, but, for example, to organize a championship on playing Counter Strike within the company).

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The world is changing rapidly, but it is already clear that digitalization and online formats are not going anywhere. It is important to keep up with the times, because if you lag behind even a little, your competitors will immediately take over the vacant space. Follow the changes, implement the best practices in your business, be on-trend, or beat everyone else and become the main trendsetter in your industry. The new year is a good time for change and development. Use it to your advantage!