In 2021, the pandemic affected many people in different ways. Thousands of working-class citizens lost their jobs due to the sudden shift to digital marketing and services. On the other hand, many gained jobs because of the increase in demand for virtual services. This change in how people interacted within industries proves that opportunities are everywhere, and one only has to know where to look for them.
It seems that this opportunity of relying on a virtual market is only an option during this ongoing pandemic since social distancing is still advised. But this move to digitalized business processes will likely become the norm for the coming years. Since having everything at the end of your fingertips is so convenient, consumers are more enticed to avail all the services they need at a whim.
With this in mind, it might be good to predict upcoming trends in the online market in the following years so that you can find the right angle for your business and maximize its potential.
Digital Marketing Innovations
Prominently found in social media apps today, most businesses pay for photo and video advertisements to be shown on bigger platforms. Despite being skipped or ignored most of the time, businesses pay a lot for this minimal exposure that may or may not pull in potential customers.
In response, we can expect a rise in interactive and more creative ads that will encourage viewers to engage with businesses that may be of service to them. Product placement disguised as games or the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to make everything more interesting can be a few new marketing methods since everything will be done online anyway.
But this entails more invasive ads that companies would want to employ as means of more profit. The offering of accounts and subscriptions with different hierarchies (free users, premium users, and VIP users) will soon become evident across almost every platform.
Propagation of New Kinds of Programs and Applications
The creation of a thousand new applications and software will soon be noticeable as the digital market receives more demand. With the likelihood of remote work enduring even after the pandemic, more businesses will try to find websites and applications that will suit the kind of products or services that they provide.
This will spawn loads of new ways of interaction among all participants of a business sector. Companies will start relying on different versions of applications for money transactions, bookings, work division, communication, and the like. But unlike before, when programs were entirely separate from one another, we can expect a more unified system where everything is more closely linked together due to a demand for convenience and data conservation.
Maximization of More Sustainable Energy Resources
The utility companies and energy providers are located at the center of this digital age where the internet is the place to be. With the rising concerns of the citizens on climate change and environmental issues, utility companies have already started integrating the use of solar, hydro, and wind power widely within their systems as a response to the call for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
According to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, the United States is the second-largest producer of wind power in the world while standing at fourth in hydropower. Having already seen the low cost and high effectiveness of these methods in other countries, the trend of using renewable resources for energy will likely be more popular worldwide.
The Rise of Gig Economy
Gig economy is a market where temporary and flexible workers like freelancers and part-timers are hired to fulfill specific jobs in place of full-time workers. This kind of market is more efficient for companies because they eliminate the need for training while providing good service whenever it is needed. Gig workers are also more adapted to working remotely as their jobs typically do not require much contact and supervision with the businesses they work for. Examples of big companies making the most of these workers are Uber, Fiverr, and Etsy.
Naturally, gig workers will only rise in numbers since they have more appeal to the present standard of living where you work in your own time. The bigger part of the allure comes from being able to work on something they are truly passionate about. Since they spend less time on their jobs compared to actual employees, they have the opportunity to find and work on more projects that they would enjoy.
Although it has its downsides of not having the benefits of a full-time worker and the possibility of a disrupted work-life balance, gig work is bound to dominate industries even after this crisis has ended.
Meta title: Present Business Trends That Will Only Grow in the Years to Come
meta desc: Remote work became the norm when going to the workplace wasn’t an option. But even when conditions get better, working from home will likely be ideal for many. Here are other trends brought early by the pandemic that will stay around for years to come.
