We all know that over the past two years, the one constant for small business owners has been change. Thousands of companies changed their business model at the beginning of the pandemic, introduced new products or services and used new channels to reach their customers. Thousands more created new businesses altogether and discovered untapped opportunities in our collective “new normal”.
Now, as we head into 2022, we’re seeing the impact of the last two years crystallize and new trends emerging, like the beginnings of the metaverse, to change the way small businesses are defined and how small businesses operate – online, offline and between.
Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is helping businesses strengthen their bond with customers, regardless of disasters like Covid-19. One of the top trends for small businesses, digital transformation enables small businesses to make good money by attracting large crowds. Businesses such as retail stores, greengrocers, cleaning services, online fitness classes and grocery stores have benefited tremendously from their digital presence during Covid. According to IDC, 60% of global GDP is expected to go digital in 2022. It is projected that between 2022 and 2023 there will be investments of US$6.8 trillion in digital transformation.
Adopting New Technologies
AI is a sure shot that will dominate every company on the planet for the foreseeable future. As NFTs and metaverses increase, blockchain will have a significant impact on businesses. Meta Verse is a virtual reality world that gives you access to all forms of entertainment, mainly games. It simplifies long-distance communication, creates new models to improve business relationships with customers, and routes current transactions and currencies such as NFT and cryptos. Blockchain primarily helps businesses provide secure transactions by tracking them. In addition, dealing with unverified parties makes the fight easier. AI, Blockchain & Metaverse go hand in hand to shape the future.
Marketing And Finance
The financial sector is heavily dependent on gaining consumer confidence in long-term sustainability. As social media marketing continues to grow in popularity, the financial industry is also looking for the best ways to improve customer experience and retain them over the long term. However, according to source everfi, more than 40% of professionals working in finance lack the tools to conduct data-driven digital marketing.
Work From Home Opportunity
Work from home is the latest 2022 business trend in India. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is ready to offer permanent home office jobs to nearly half of his employees. Apart from that, other companies like Spotify, Twitter & Slack are also planning to implement such strategies. However, given the improving Covid pandemic situation, it is not certain that any company will offer work from home in the long term. But still, flexible remote work policies are here to stay safe! Such a scenario indicates the emergence of new virtual infrastructures and tools that ensure employee productivity.
Internet Security And Privacy
With the digital age, the likelihood of cyberattacks on organizations and individuals around the world has increased by 50%. According to the Proofpoint study, your data is at significant risk from the 3.1 billion phishing emails sent around the world every day. Cyber security is necessary as cyber attacks have increased greatly since the beginning of the remote work and digital business era. Incorporating artificial intelligence into your organization enables robust cybersecurity protocols to be created cost-effectively and easily. In addition, cyber security allows to ensure that your business runs safely without data being corrupted by hackers.
Social Media’s Influence
The importance of social media in business life will continue to increase in the coming years. According to recent reports, social media spending in 2021 has reached around $105 billion, up 15% from 2020. In the last 3 years, social media ad spending has grown by 65%. – 70%.
Social media attracts customers, helps you get customer feedback and builds customer loyalty. It also helps you to conquer international markets and develop your brand.
It can create new traffic routes that lead people to their products or services. In the coming years, the influence of social media will definitely be one of the biggest business trends of 2022
Robotic Process Automation
Robotic Process Automation (RPA), also known as software robotics, uses automation technologies to integrate and perform repetitive tasks between business and productivity applications. By providing scripts that emulate human processes, RPA tools perform the autonomous execution of various activities and transactions across independent software systems. As just one example, companies can use RPA to mimic office tasks like extracting data, filling out forms, moving files, etc.
