To say that streaming has experienced a growth spurt over the past year is something of an understatement. Partly due to COVID but also partly due to new technology and an increased acceptance of digital media and events, we’re expecting more of the same in 2022.
Enterprise streaming has seen similar growth to home streaming, but what can we expect in the year to come?
We put our eye to the crystal ball to find out.
In-stream shopping
It was inevitable perhaps, but social networks are beginning to implement in-stream shopping options. Brands partnering with influencers are now able to sell merch within streams and videos and we expect that to accelerate as more networks climb aboard.
This offers a lot of opportunity for enterprise brands as another channel is opened up.
Sports live streams
We saw sport live streamed a lot over the past couple of years, including the Olympics. We expect this trend to continue into 2022.
We even suspect streaming may surpass broadcast over the coming year!
Sports live streams are relatively cheap to set up and can engage on most digital platforms. Crucially, they can be streamed via social media and subscriber platforms, so presents a range of opportunities.
4K video streams
While some areas of the world will struggle to get HD streams for a while yet, the rollout of full fibre and 5G means 4K streaming will continue to grow.
More TV and AV systems work with 4K, more computer monitors are available that support 4K and phones are slowly adopting 4K screens.
While restricted to flagship phones right now, it won’t be for long.
VR streams
Virtual Reality seems to have fully arisen from the dead as a medium. It has been adopted by all kinds of businesses, from hospitals to estate agents and that is going to continue.
Headset VR will also experience huge growth. The release of more affordable Oculus headsets from Facebook is just one of many reasons why.
Hard and fast streams
The success of TikTok and the short video format has demonstrated quite ably that shorter, harder hitting videos can work.
We expect enterprise to take up the challenge in 2022 and embrace a mixture of standard video formats and the shorter, punchier videos to cater to all audiences.
Given the minimal investment and effort required, we think it’s a solid move.
More advertising
More advertising on streams is a good or bad thing depending on whether you wear your marketing hat or viewer hat. Either way, it’s going to get better, or worse, next year.
We are already seeing programme sponsorships as well as advertising and we expect many more brands to advertise on commercial streams, corporate streams and everywhere they can.
Virtual event and concert streams
We have already seen huge growth in virtual events, hybrid events and the like and we expect that to continue now there’s an appetite and acceptance of it.
Companies holding virtual events, festival and concert live streams will become even more popular in 2022.
Imagine being able to watch Glastonbury from the comfort of your own home long after tickets have sold out!
Virtual visits and appointments
We have already seen a huge rise in virtual doctor’s appointments and we think that’s only going to increase in 2022. COVID isn’t letting go and the NHS and GPs have realised they can see far more patients in less time virtually.
As long as the quality of the AV and network connection is good enough and patients know how to access such services, this type of virtual appointment will continue and probably expand to other services too.
Increased virtual classrooms
While everyone knows in-person learning is best, virtual learning is still a growing trend. We expect more schools, colleges, universities and other institutions to up their virtual classroom game in 2022.
Tech is getting cheaper, AV is improving quality, faster broadband speeds make learning more accessible and the cost is coming down. That’s a recipe for a lot more virtual learning as far as we can tell!
Those are what we consider to be some of the most likely streaming trends in 2022.
Do you have any predictions? Is your company planning to invest in AV for streaming?