OPINION: Online content in post-pandemic world (By Paolo Rizzardini)

By Paolo Rizzardini, Mondia Digital – CEO ()

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a step change in the way the world worked, shopped, interacted and sought leisure. In an instant the way we thought about the world changed, and companies raced to pivot to find growth opportunities in the new paradigm.

Many of the significant trends accelerated by the pandemic have been tempered by an inflationary worldwide economy, geopolitical uncertainty and the threat of recession. For example, 62% ( ) of US shoppers shopped online more often post-pandemic, with Amazon reporting a 37% increase in worldwide sales in 2021, but these sales declined () in 2022.

Other trends, particularly those relating to the shift of consumers online and the rise of mobile content, have proven more durable. More people are connected than ever before, and they’re using the internet in a more varied way than ever before. They are going online to learn, to progress in their careers, to bank, to seek health and wellness, and to connect and form communities.

Mainly they’re going online to connect. 190 million () new users joined social media in the last year – an annual growth rate of nearly 5%. Today there are 4.74 billion () social media users around the world out of a total population of 7.8 billion – nearly 60% of people on earth use social media.

A particularly impactful trend accelerated by the pandemic has been the use of the internet to learn, upskill and reskill. As universities, colleges and schools halted physical classes, the idea of learning online was normalized. Facing disrupted job markets and the advent of new technologies, people have been turning to online courses and tutorials as a way to learn new skills.

This has created opportunities for education providers and content creators. 92 million people were enrolled with online learning platform Coursera in 2021, up from 71 million in 2020. Most were from the United States, followed by India, Mexico, Brazil and China. Almost three quarters () of people prefer video as a teaching method over text or audio, which also reflects a growing demand for video over other forms of content.

According to SOMS Digital (), video content marketing is likely to be one of the most important trends in online content over the next 5-10 years. Websites including video are 50x more likely to drive organic traffic than those without as search engine results increasingly take video content and user engagement into account. Nearly three quarters of businesses reported that incorporating video increased their conversion rates.

This is reflected in social-media-platform rankings and internet use. Google remains the world’s most-used website, but YouTube follows closely, with 69 billion () visits a month. But the way in which people consume video is changing. The majority of YouTube videos are watched without sound (), meaning that captions or subtitles are critical to capture user attention and convey information. Subtitles can increase view-through rates by as much as 80% ().

Amongst video, short-form videos –less than two and a half minutes long – are the undisputed king, accounting for almost 90% () of all internet traffic. As a result, more than half () of marketers planned to increase their spend on short-form video in 2022, given that short-form video has the highest expected return on investment () of any social-media marketing tactic.

TikTok is the eighteenth-most visited website in the world, and it’s rising fast. In just four years it’s accounted for 3 billion () app downloads, and has exceeded Twitter, Telegram, Reddit, Pinterest, and Snapchat in active monthly users. India in particular has taken to the platform, with 600 million downloads of the app – one-third of the country’s smartphone users.

A key trend in terms of effective content is engaging your customers. Personalization strategies, design-thinking, and thoughtful UX attract and retain users, and younger users expect this customized approach as a matter of course. 63% () of consumers are highly annoyed by generic advertising, four out of five () are more likely to engage with an organisation offering personalised experiences, and nine out of ten () find personalisation appealing.

Content is going to be increasingly interactive. Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, particularly in natural-language-processing () and image-generation () models, are going to fuel the rise of a new wave of chatbots, online assistants and internet search. It will be eventually become virtually impossible to distinguish between Ais and humans online, raising ethical questions even as it allows humans to access and interpret knowledge more effectively than ever before.

A broader trend relates to the creation economy and the relationship between creators, fans and distribution platforms. Content creators are also exploring new ways of monetizing their work. Platforms such as Patreon and Kickstarter are now well-established mechanism for directly supporting artists and creators, and NFTs and crypto have the potential to empower the creative economy. 

Staying up to date in a rapidly changing world requires constant focus on innovation, disruption and world markets. According to McKinsey and Company (), staying ahead of today’s uncertainty requires real-time access to granular information. Understanding markets and customers and identifying and responding to growth opportunities will allow some content providers to thrive where others will fail.

Mondia Digital’s content-as-a-service solution is powerful, customizable, and scalable, creating personalized digital experiences for end-users through its content-agnostic platforms. Rapid operating strategies, nimble, empowered teams and a dedicated focus on the customer experience allow for robust, evolving content models. Mondia Digital empowers global business brands to respond to these growth opportunities by enabling businesses to digitally engage with their customers through premium entertainment solutions offering enhanced speed-to-market, scalability, and continuous innovation.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Mondia.