What I’ll be doing less of online in 2022 (and why!)

About this time of the year, we content creators start to make lists of what grabbed our attention in the last year and what we think we have to look forward to in the next year. This, though, is not either of these things.

One of the things that most change of year lists don’t tend to cover off is what things we’re not going to do in the next year. So, I’ll break the mould here and list off the three things that I am going to do less of in the digital realm in 2022:

1. Feed posting

2. Graphic & Photo posting

3. Blog writing

There are some controversial ideas in here, so let’s look at what I mean.

The feed is saturated, so I’m stepping back from it

It doesn’t take a genius to notice that the feeds on Facebook and Instagram are too busy, too ineffective for sharing a message and getting kind of boring.

As I started to share more Stories content, I’ve noticed that the reach of my Stories has approached the same reach as my feed content. However, the Stories content on Facebook and Instagram has far greater engagement than what I do on the feed.

While it’s rare for me to get more than a comment or two, I can get a lot of reactions and comments on my Stories. And this is both on my personal and business accounts.

So 2022 will start with a stronger focus on Stories and less focus on the feed. May there will be one post on Instagram feed per week, but multiple daily Stories. And on Facebook, I’ll pull back to as little as two posts per week on my business pages, but share through all my Stories from Instagram.

Fewer photos and graphics

Video is more effective than an image galley, which in turn is more effective than a single image. Post accordingly.

Despite having just ordered the amazing Google Pixel 6 Pro phone with it’s equally amazing camera, I actually plan to post fewer photos and graphics in 2022.

And the reason is much the same as my reason for reducing my posts on the feed. Photos and graphics simply aren’t reaching and engaging as much as they used to. Especially for business. And that may be more about what kinds of photos we businesses have been posting. Consultants tend to post far too many photos of themselves and others standing in front of pull up banners. Obviously not the most fascinating content on the internet. Retailers take photos of their wares and post them with features and pricing on the caption. Again, nothing particularly exciting about that.

Remember back when Facebook used to stop us from posting ads that were covered in text? We seem to have interpreted Facebook’s rollback of that restriction of meaning that they were wrong and that we should now fill our images full of text and stickers. However, I’ve noticed that the more than I format, brand and put messaging in my images, the less reach they get and the less engagement they attract.

So I’ll be doing more video. And photos that don’t have a lot of text or branding on them.

Infographics, as well, are something I am completely dropping. They haven’t worked in years now, so they are essentially a waste of time.

Less blog writing

With this many blogs and this many posts, is it wise to keep investing in blogging?

I’ll need to explain this one more carefully, as blogs are the biggest source of new traffic to my website. I won’t be produce less blog posts. In fact, I’ll likely be producing more of them. I’ll just be writing shorter blog posts. But these posts will be of a more topical nature, be better linked to my other work, and better linked to the sources of information that I have used.

Why do this? The key work is quality. And quality doesn’t come from length, necessarily. It comes from how well you are answering a question that is being asked — and whether the question is being answered with citations and refences to other places that back up that answer.

So while I will be aiming for daily posts, these will be shorter, smarter and more connected. Which also means my podcast epsiodes, which are based on my blog posts will be shorter and more frequent.

What does this mean for your business?

Doing a review of what you’re doing now will help double down on what works and reduce what doesn’t

Apart from my delivery schedule affecting my workflow, what does anything here mean for your business? It means that you need to look at what you’re doing with your digital assets and properties right now and review it all. Do you know what is working and what is not? What kinds of social media posts are performing best for you. Are pre-scheduled pieces of content filling space or fulfilling a purpose? By reviewing all your digital platforms, properties and activities you can save yourself more time, more energy and love your business a little bit more in 2022.

Dante St James is the founder of Clickstarter, a Meta Blueprint Certified Lead Trainer, a Community Trainer with Meta Australia, a digital advisor with Business Station, an accredited Digital Solutions advisor and presenter, an Entrepreneur Facilitator, and the editor at The Small Marketer. You can watch free 1-hour webinars and grow your digital skills at Dante’s YouTube Channel.