Finally... We're Back In Business

ADMISSION TIME... I haven't put out a Tazvocate since 2019!

Back in the day, The Tazvocate went out every month and was a much more business-focused, weightier newsletter than my weekly Awesome Sauce offering.

Where Awesome Sauce is lighthearted and easy-to-digest, with weekly tips on visibility, behind the scenes content, a rundown of the latest social media 'Tazzings' and a roundup of inspiring content from around the world, The Tazvocate packed a meatier punch.

Honestly, my team were all ready to re-launch at the beginning of lockdown but, when the guys at LinkedIn told me they were about to roll out newsletter capability to people with creator profiles, I decided to hold fire.

And here we are!

If you're reading this, THANK YOU so much for subscribing.

My intention, at first, is to share a Tazvocate with you every month - I may convert to weekly later on. Of course, as always, if there are topics you'd like me to address in this way, please drop me a line and I'll do my best to cover them for you.

For now, as this is a gentle lead-in to what may be coming in future, I want to share with you some of my predictions for PR and social media trends - and topics to keep your awareness high on - for the year ahead. A big part of the coaching I help people with ties into personal brand, awareness-building and visibility, so I'm already thinking about some of the key conversation areas - and social media changes - for the year ahead.

Of course, the internet is already littered with prediction pieces for the coming year, and I'm not about to cover every little element, but these are the areas I'm paying special attention to. As many of you begin to plan your schedules for 2022, you might want to be thinking about some of these as well...

1. Think emotional and mental wellbeing. We already know there's been a massive hike in Google searches for 'burnout' - particularly from women. As the world continues to feel the after effects of multiple lockdowns, we can expect to see more and more people recognising that something needs to change. Whether people have been made redundant, realised their pre-lockdown-career no longer fits, or now want more work/life balance, there is likely to be a much broader, and deeper, emphasis on mental, energetic and emotional health.
2. Diversity and equality need to be closer to the top of the agenda. There's already a massive swing in the right direction where this is concerned and I reckon the world of work will be under more and more pressure to stop paying lip service to tick box exercises and actually start to take positive, meaningful steps towards creating a more inclusive, diverse and equal workforce.
3. Shorter attention spans are already here - particularly when it comes to video - and that's not likely to change through 2022. As someone who's traditionally been a little verbose with video content - especially when livestreaming - this continues to be a bitter pill to swallow. However, we need to accept that as lockdowns pushed more and more people online, information overload hit a whole new level. While three-minute videos used to be the sweet spot, 30 second clips are likely to be the gold standard from here. The Drum has already predicted TikTok as one of the social media leaders in 2022, and the platform is already leading the way with short, snappy video content; the reach of a video there already depends on people watching it right to the end, so it's time for us to realise that less may actually be more! PLEASE NOTE: The same does not apply to long-form LinkedIn text posts, where less is actually less; we're still on that circa 1,500 character ideal for maximum leverage, though longer posts are doing well too. I can't see that changing hugely in 2022.
4. Human interest content is still likely to rule. Forget all those LinkedInners complaining about the platform turning into Facebook (or Meta?). People still want to buy from people and you'll likely get a better return with well-constructed content that hits people in the feels than a continual stream of 'starchy' business content. Serious business doesn't need to be serious... emotional connections are likely to be even more front and centre in 2022 and beyond. Until the robots take over, of course... ;)
5. Audio still has plenty of growing space. Yeah, sure, lots of you have become bored with Clubhouse, but it's still rocking a decent audience, and we only need to look at some of the other social platforms' responses to get an idea of where we might be going. Facebook and Twitter both created audio options, plus, of course, there's voice messaging on LinkedIn... and that's without even considering the popularity of WhatsApp. We've also seen apps such as Headliner, to help us create audio memes and promote podcasts, growing in popularity. There are still so many options for exploring the power of the voice, and I reckon that will grow even more in 2022.
6. Keep your eyes on meta. Right now, for many of us, virtual reality offerings might seem a bit pie in the sky, aside from those funky gaming headsets. Beware rolling your eyes and deciding it's not for you, though! The metaverse is likely to become more and more standard as time passes - think virtual connections, virtual offices, virtual business meetings... who knows how far this will go? Be open to it, at least.
7. We're seeing more and more social platforms developing more integrated shopping / e-commerce systems, so look out for more tools coming for those with products to sell - not least TikTok shops! Check out Social Media Today's Social Media Predictions blog for more info on these.
8. Get ready for more video-related creator content on LinkedIn. It was widely reported that LinkedIn had acquired 'how to' video platform JumpRope earlier this year, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that all plays out (check out this little teaser ). Back when LinkedIn announced it was shutting down Stories, it was hinted that some of the elements would be built into new tools, and that a whole new video experience was being developed (check this out ) - and suddenly, the JumpRope acquisition feels a lot more exciting. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this plays out... and whether the same 'less is more' rule will apply.

I reckon that's enough from me for now (what was that about short attention spans?) . I hope I've provided a little food for thought.

What are YOUR predictions for conversation/content topics for 2022? And what about social media in general; are you willing to cast the virtual net a bit wider, or will you be sticking inside your LinkedIn comfort zone?

Drop me a line - I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time,

#UnleashYourAwesome,

Taz

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Taz is a best-selling author, inspirational business speaker and multiple TEDx speaker, consultant on confidence, personal brand and visibility, and an award-winning?coach?(UK’s Best Female Coach 2018 — Best Business Woman Awards, Female Professional Of The Year, Central England, 2020). She is also the creator of the?#UnleashYourAwesome, Brand Mastery and Project Artemis personal and business development programmes, as well as?#UNLEASHED?— an affordable confidence, content and cashflow building programme for coaches, healers and therapists, and?LIFEFORCE?— an affordable online spiritual empowerment and coaching programme for people wanting to bring more optimism into their lives.

Taz has been featured on BBC, ITV, in HuffPost, Diva, Metro, The Daily Mail and countless other newspapers, magazines and podcasts. In 2019, she was named as one of the most inspirational businesswomen in the UK and, in 2020, she was named as one of the world’s top 50 women in marketing to follow.

Find her on?Facebook,?Medium,?Twitter,?Insta,?Ko-Fi,?TikTok, Clubhouse and?TazThornton.com.