The social media landscape is an ever changing beast in the world of marketing & advertising. All businesses both small and large must keep their finger steadily to the pulse. To stay savvy is to stay aware of any new trends that may pop up across social media; then find new and interesting ways to leverage that trend before their counterparts.
To help businesses stay ahead of social media trends in 2022, we have compiled a list of the trends that are already making waves this year. Let’s jump straight in shall we?
TikTok Takeover
TikTok has only gone from strength to strength over the last year – and can definitely no longer just be viewed as the platform just for teens. This social media space, born from the love of short-form video, has garnered a huge reach. Further, according to a report by Hubspot, this undeniably fast growth is set to only lead to further dominance. With TikTok’s launch of new tools, Ads & profiles just focused at businesses it should be no real surprise that 24% of businesses believe that TikTok is the most effective social media platform (taken from a recent study from Hootesuite). That is 700% increase from the prior year, overtaking Pinterest & WhatsApp. The likes of Facebook and Instagram were still ranked the highest in perceived effectiveness – but it is clear they definitely have some strong competition.
“The continued rise of TikTok is unquestionable. The platform offers such a low barrier to entry when it comes to producing creative, bitesize video content, whilst offering the opportunity of huge organic reach & engagement. You can also repurpose the videos & share them on other platforms like LinkedIn, like this. Some of the TikTok videos I’ve shared on LinkedIn have helped generate hundreds of thousands of revenue for our video & social media marketing agency”.
Dan Knowlton – Co Founder & CMO at Knowlton
Paid Ads
With organic reach becoming more and more inaccessible and the phasing out of cookie tracking from Google by 2023 – businesses are having to use other means to reach their desired audience and perhaps even rethink their overarching marketing strategies.
Social media and advertising has matured over the last few years, with marketers not only being able to reach far greater audiences, but also fully integrate the paid social strategy within their wider marketing plans. Not only this social platforms are the key to a treasure trove of data that allows advertisers to reach consumers in even more personalised and effective way. 51% of marketers in fact said that they were expecting their paid social budget to increase this year – with only 10% were not running ads at all (Hootesuite). Paid social ads are no doubt going to be a crucial and growing part of digital marketing for 2022.
User Generated Content
User generated content (USG) is a great way to interact with your customer base, whilst also being provided with (if done properly) a steady flow of ready made content. With the rise of things like ad blockers, it can be tricky to still reach customers, USG cleverly gets around that – as your customers become your advocated and advertisers. Additionally, when you connect with your customers in a positive way this helps generate trust and can even provide you with a new avenue for sales.
Social Media Selling
Social commerce can hardly be considered the kid on the block – but in 2022 it is set to really dominate. This is confirmed from statistics taken from Instagram, which suggest that 70% of ‘shopping enthusiasts’ use the platform to find new products. With brands testing upgraded functionality, for instance Pinterest with their addition of buyable pins, or TikTok where you can now be a registered seller, social selling will be at the forefront of an effective social strategy.
“2022 will see an uptick in social selling as sales teams transition from face-to-face to remote selling and new-age buyers preferring digital channels for making a purchase.”
Shaleen Sehhgal – Digital & Social Media Expert
Customer Service Through Social Media
Building and maintaining strong relationships with customers has always been an important part of running a successful business. While it can be challenging, this is still something companies are keen on pursuing. The key difference now is that now the conversation is being held on social media, and offers another means to engage and communicate with your customers. Over this year it is likely that this trend of using social media for customer service will grow – with a focus on going back to basics.
Influencer Marketing Coming Of Age
Influencer marketing has to some degree benefitted from the pandemic, where many companies struggled to get in front of their customer base, social media starlets if anything had even more reach. This made influencers an ever-more valuable commodity for large businesses, which has helped this form of marketing to grow exponentially. Influencer marketing has now definitely matured into an effective marketing methodology. Within that methodology, there is an abundance of opportunities that most companies would be foolish to not try and seize.
“Influencer marketing is no longer about blindly throwing precious budget in search of influencers with large followings. It’s about collaborating with content creators and developing relationships with them for a variety of mutual benefits to their business and yours.”
Neal Schaffer – Author, The Age of Influence
Authenticity
Last, but definitely not least – Authenticity. It is so important now to show your audience that you are more than just a brand, that there is faces behind the company and that they care. People want to know who your employees are, what the company believes in and its values. Then, even more so how the company chooses to act upon those values. In social media especially all content should be honest and trustworthy, offering a level of transparency that makes the company feel much closer in reach to the customers they serve.
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