While fashion trends come and go, you don’t have much to lose if you don’t follow them. Ignoring the leading social media trends, on the other hand, could negatively impact your company’s bottom line. If you wait until your competition has gotten on board to join in, your timing could be too late. The smarter move is to plan, see what the new year might have in store, and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.
Social Media Trends in 2022
Social Media Examiner looked at the most-used platforms and asked some respected marketing experts for their opinions on their predicted social media trends in 2022. Instagram’s Adam Mosseri said that audiences want more entertaining video content. This desire for video means that the old methods of sharing plain, uninteresting, or hard-selling videos have quickly become obsolete. Instead, videos must be more imaginative and attention-grabbing to stand out from the competition.
Since audiences have such short attention spans, the most important things are for videos to be new and quick. You can quickly search on Instagram Reels to see what he means. TikTok and YouTube shorts also both exploded in 2021. This trend is not to say that all videos will be short form in the future, though. Quick does not mean that there’s a 30-second time limit for videos. Experts note that the time limit on Instagram Reels is up to one minute, and TikTok has expanded to three.
You should also pay attention to Facebook’s evolving social media trends in 2022, as it is still the number one social media network on the planet. Businesses can focus on the three main areas: Facebook Groups, Facebook Live, and their Live Audio Rooms. You can break the Groups into free and paid subgroups for community fundraisers, shops, and more. Facebook Live streams live video to help you connect with audiences, and the Live Audio Rooms can also help you establish bonds with members.
More 2022 Social Media Trend Predictions
TikTok is also on Influencer Marketing Hub’s radar for 2022. During the past two years, TikTok has launched several useful tools explicitly aimed at businesses, like ads and business profiles. The application has matured since it was only used by people showing their “dance moves.” It is now poised to turn into a robust platform for brands to reach Gen Z and millennials.
Another key trend for 2022 is digital communities, which are thriving on social media. More than a billion Facebook users engage with groups regularly, and there are even more communities on Twitter, TikTok and other platforms. These communities are where people with similar interests (gardening, soccer, non-fiction books, you name it) meet to connect and discuss what they care about most. The most successful ones have been built by global brands over time, but smaller businesses can now have more opportunities to engage with their loyal followings.
Using Social Media Platforms to Sell Products
The practice of marketing products on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram is nothing new. Still, we are starting to see brands selling things directly on social media. You’ll soon be seeing more and more Instagram Storefronts and shoppable posts, amongst other things, as companies update their sales strategies. This is not a trend to ignore: some experts estimate that the social commerce industry is targeted for exponential growth, possibly as much as $80 billion within the next three years.
Augmented Reality (AR) is another one of the leading social media trends. If you’re not familiar, it is an interactive user experience that adds computer-generated information onto real-world environments. For example, if you’re looking at a real-time map of a street, AR might feature icons that show how far it is to the nearest coffee shop, the prices there, and other helpful information. HootSuite posts that 51.4% of the surveyed marketers plan to increase their paid social spending this coming year. While they still plan to spend on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, they will increase their spending on TikTok, Snapchat, and Pinterest, too.
This change is due to the latter three growing at such impressive rates (TikTok now has 1 billion users) and not being as saturated with so many paid ads. These platforms also encourage companies to create content that fits more organically into their platforms. It makes sense: users do not like to be interrupted by annoying ads and are more receptive when the messages flow more naturally. This is the same strategy that you should use for effective content writing.
Contact out dedicated team of experts at Wordsmyth Creative Content Marketing today for help with all of your social media needs.