Consumers are transforming the online world faster than ever before so it’s never been more important to keep track of upcoming trends. We delved into the social media trends for 2022 and found that consumers are now at the heart of everything online brands are doing. Whilst we knew this already, we’ve seen a significant shift following the pandemic in how consumers are dominating, putting them in centre position for 2022.
Following increased online activity over the last 24 months, consumers are now craving more from a brand, from seamless experiences to quick delivery and service. So, where does social media fall into this?
Social Media Selling
With consumers craving a quicker, more seamless experience, we have seen a shift in the capabilities of social media apps, where we can now purchase products without having to leave the app at all. If we thought online shopping on our mobiles was easy, it has now reached another level.
We’ve all experienced first-hand the ability to shop via Instagram, and Instagram stories, giving us the opportunity to purchase a product using a product sticker. This shows exactly how brands are continuing to leverage social media selling, targeting their consumers anytime and anywhere.
Following the announcement of Google phasing out cookie tracking, there will now be a change in advertising strategies over the next year, some of which you may already have noticed. Despite cookie’s being phased out, there are numerous successful advertising strategies that can help a brand continue to thrive online and on social media. For example, UGC (User Generated Content), through the likes of posting on Instagram and elsewhere online, email marketing, and targeted ads across social media platforms, to name a few. Understanding your user is more important now than ever before, brands now need to understand their consumer on a more personal level.
Influencer Marketing
A rise in social media selling brings an increase in Influencer Marketing. Influencer Marketing creates a level of trust that the product reviews or clothing images shared are extremely genuine, making this method of marketing highly sought after. From micro and nano influencers to macro, and mega, the influencer culture is now creating a bond between the influencer and their audience. This is valuable to brands, placing trust in their target consumer to invest in the brand, encouraging repeat custom, brand loyalty, and brand awareness. The line between eCommerce and social media selling is merging, and 2022 is set to bring a large increase in influencer partnerships as part of a wider marketing strategy.
HubSpot recently noted “To see great results, you can run an impact-oriented influencer marketing campaign with 10-30 micro-influencers for at least 6-12 months. If you get it right, you could skyrocket your business growth quickly.”
“[And] to get a higher ROI on social media marketing, I would suggest marketers leverage influencer marketing platforms to collaborate with the micro-influencers.” - Gaurav Sharma, founder and CEO of Attrock
Investing in Content
The way brands produce content for social media is shifting, waving goodbye to temporary content that only lasts 24hrs and saying hello to evergreen content we can re-watch time and time again. Enter, the Instagram reel and TikTok videos. These short snippets of ‘how to’s’, fashion inspo, home décor tips, and workout ideas are designed to educate the consumer whilst grasping their attention.
We are naturally curious creatures and enjoy watching snippets of interesting content that doesn’t last too long. Accompanied by quirky music and transitions, videos are the new thing that is engaging our audiences and will continue to thrive over 2022. Essentially, brands are now creating bite-sized content that engages a user, encouraging and developing relationships between the brand and the audience. Reels on Instagram and TikTok videos are predominantly inexpensive to make and are an effective way to engage an audience, making investing in your social media content favourable for 2022 and beyond.
Social Media Apps
Unsurprisingly, TikTok is going to continue to dominate the social media market throughout 2022. We are used to seeing online applications with a surge in growth start to plateau, however, with TikTok, there has been a significant increase year on year, with over 3 million downloads worldwide. Brands simply thrive off the engagement and being the number one app for engaging with your consumer and other users, TikTok gives you the opportunity to reach a wide audience very easily. Consumers are likely to buy into a brand they feel connected with on a personal level, and the level of content you can achieve on this app allows brands to show their personality, humour, and quirks to engage their target consumers.
###Can I Utilise this?
Absolutely! To engage your audience and increase online growth, ensure you have time set aside each week to concentrate on creating engaging content for your social media. The following steps will improve your brand awareness, engagement, and build a larger following:
- Utilise TikTok videos and Instagram Reels
- Post good quality content, a few times per week
- Engage and interact with your followers and other accounts
- Remember, people buy from people, so be less robotic and more personable in your engagement
- Where possible, explore a variety of social media platforms to give your business the best chance of reaching a wider audience
- Fun and interactive posts such as how to’s, infographics, quotes, and polls are ideal to run as well as videos, switch it up and have fun with it
Knowing what works for your target audience and putting that into a strong social media strategy is crucial, especially as we move into 2022. If you’re looking for advice or support with your upcoming social campaigns, get in touch with us today to speak to one of our social media specialists!
