Eight Social Media Trends to Adopt for 2022

Andie Phoon

Andie Phoon

2022 is right around the corner. If you’re like me, then you’re probably panic-shopping for the holidays or rushing to finish up the last round of 2022 marketing predictions blogs. Nevertheless, I wish you God-speed.

However, regardless of what stage of marketing planning you’re in, it’s never too late to adopt these upcoming social media trends into your social marketing strategy for 2022. 

It’s no secret that over the past two years, we’ve seen a dramatic shift in the way brands promote their products, services, or content on social media. Social media has always been popular and it’s not going to stop. In fact, we’ve now reached over 3.7 billion social media users globally in 2021.

Many will continue to jump on the social media bandwagon, which leaves plenty of brands wondering: “How can I successfully engage my audiences while retaining the flexibility needed to thrive in an ever-changing landscape?” 

Well, you’re in luck. In this article, I’ll be sharing evidence-backed social media trends that you need to adopt in 2022. Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

1. Demand for more authentic communities is on the rise

Digital communities are increasingly becoming richer and more influential in our daily lives, and it’s no surprise that many of these communities are being created on social media. 

Let’s take a look at some numbers! Over a billion people engage regularly with groups on Facebook. Meanwhile, plant fanatics, fitness girls, witches, fandoms, and coffee connoisseurs are carving out their own communities on TikTok by sharing experiences and interests that resonate with others. In fact, because communities are continuing to populate the digital space, social platforms–like Twitter–have already started testing a new feature called “Communities”, where it’s “a dedicated place to connect, share, and get closer to the discussions people care about most.

If that’s not already a sign of this trend being a demand for 2022, I don’t know what else will suffice. While this should be great news for marketers, it has struck a chord of fear into the hearts of smaller brands that have less resources to allocate toward what seems like a gargantuan task. 

I get it. It’s hard to create an engaged and active digital community. However, it’s not impossible to do so. In 2022, the key to creating successful, authentic communities is to partner with the right digital creator.  

The tide of social media is shifting away from mega-influencers and is now turning toward more authentic creators. Statista reports that the market of partnering with digital creators will be worth $15 billion by 2022. In order to prepare yourself for this change, you need to wisely partner with creators that are connecting with your audiences. By partnering with more genuine creators, you’ll be able to earn your audiences’ trust and culture capital.

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Now, I know that sounds great in theory, but how can you put this into practice? Well, let’s say your company sells gaming products and you’d like to promote your products in a way that resonates with your audience. Now, you’ve already implemented the traditional marketing strategies and seen some ROI for them, but you’d like to keep your brand awareness and sales on the up and up. What will be your next course of action then? Perhaps you could take a look at partnering with Twitch streamers who are already adding value to their communities.

Source: TikTok

I know what you’re thinking–I already know all of this! While partnering with influencers is not a new strategy, partnering with creators is different. Not only are the approach and outcome different, but the job scope as well. Influencers influence; creators create.

Every big boy social network has already boarded the creator train, and it’s going to continue on that trajectory. Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, etc., have already included features that help creators monetize their work to sustain and grow their communities.  

The best way for any brand, big or small, to succeed in this area, is to tap into creator communities to expand their knowledge about their customers, build brand awareness, and streamline their content creation.

Some examples:

Karen Cheng | Instagram

Karen is an award-winning director with over 500 million views and 1 million followers. Not only has she created amazing video content for brands like Apple, Gucci, Gap, Adobe, and more, but she also has unlocked the secret of creating viral social content. 

If you’re a big fan of everything creepy, spooky, funny, history, and culinary, then Watcher is a great channel for you to subscribe to. Watcher Entertainment is a digital media studio composed of several talented digital creators that develop high-quality content that “aims to bring joy, inspire curiosity, and genuinely connect with their audience”.

QPark | Facebook

QPark has amassed 10 million followers on Facebook by posting creative and funny skits for millions to enjoy. Well-known for his reaction videos, pranks, challenge, and comedy videos, he creates content that is memorable, enjoyable, and genuine.

2. Enrich social ad experiences for stronger influence

As marketers, we can all attest that we are no strangers to ads. And while marketing budgets are being tightened for many organizations, 51.4% of surveyed marketers stated that they’re planning to increase their paid social spend in 2022. 

In fact, savvy marketers are moving to incorporate TikTok, Pinterest, and Snapchat as part of their social media marketing. While Facebook and Instagram is ranked as one of the most effective platforms in the Hootsuite 2022 survey, the chart illuminates some interesting insights into TikTok, Pinterest, and Snapchat. TikTok went from 3% of perceived effectiveness to 24%. Now, it may not seem like it’s a lot, but when we do the math, it’s a 700% increase.

Source: Hootsuite

As more and more ads go out into the world, consumers are starting to become fatigued by what they see on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. So how do they avoid these overly saturated platforms? Move to a different one, of course! With other platforms like TikTok gaining more users everyday, their algorithm and advertising capabilities are evolving to fit these users’ behaviors. In fact, these networks are encouraging advertisers to produce content that fits organically into their platforms. 

It makes perfect sense that networks like TikTok, Snapchat, and Pinterest would be concentrating more on their users’ wants and expectations, since many consumers are over intrusive ads that bother them at every turn. Not only does that make brands look boring, but self-serving as well. 

My advice:

  1. Understand your target audience’s mindset before considering where your ad spend needs to go toward.
  2. Get clear metrics and information for a better data-driven strategy.

 

If you’re a smaller business and need to be wise with your ad budget, then look into investing and experimenting with the platform where your audience resides the most. If it’s TikTok, then make the move toward that platform. If it’s Pinterest, then start implementing the necessary measures to achieve that goal. 

Most importantly, remember that consumers are now holding brands to higher standards of creativity, authenticity, and relatability.

The best way to start is by understanding your users’ interest and preferences on a deeper level. 

If brands want to succeed and stand out in 2022, then they’ll have to work harder in creating strong ads that enrich their audience’s experience.

3. Socials will be the go-to platform for online shopping

The pandemic has made it very clear that social shopping is here to stay. During the pre-pandemic days, social commerce was just a new opportunity that was tested out by the biggest retail businesses. When 2020 unwittingly became the year where millions of people were in lockdown and TikTok exploded with dalgona coffee trends, social commerce became a big part of our life. 

We saw a shift then; small businesses began to thrive and rely on social media to act as their storefront as many other individuals (1 out of 4, in fact) began quitting their jobs and started their own businesses instead. Meanwhile, larger companies were forced to restructure their best laid out plans and reimagine how their consumers will interact with their brand now. 

Fast forward two years and social commerce is an integral part of any consumer and business. Prospects are now relying on social media to help them in every stage of their buyer journey, from discovery to purchase. 

Knowing what we know now, small businesses will need to enhance their customer experience on their social platforms, while big enterprises need to consider testing the limits of the online shopping experience. 

Some notable strategies you can implement for social shopping:

Livestreaming

Livestreaming is very popular among TikTok and Instagram users. Many businesses will be able to leverage these features to influence their buyer’s journey as part of their growth and nurture strategy. Savvy marketers should be quick to adopt livestreaming–if applicable–as means to drive revenue. 

TikTok, for example, is an extremely viable platform for social commerce. In 2022, they will be implementing great in-app shopping features like Shopify integration and product tagging to help business accounts opportunities to increase sales. 

Social Checkout

Enabling the social checkout feature is something I would highly recommend. Not only does it make it easier for customers to buy directly from your social media platforms, but it also eliminates the awkward shopping experiences of days past–the days where shoppers had to traverse on an expedition in order to locate the product they wanted. 

The social checkout feature helps neatly tie up the process of allowing customers to streamline their shopping experience on their favorite social media app. 

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4. Expect a surge for improved customer service on socials

With the pandemic stagnating global supply chains in 2021, many businesses can expect to receive unhappy customers for 2022. This has caused the demand for good customer service on social media to surge. Many marketers now find themselves taking more responsibility in managing customer service inquiries.

As a result, any marketer expecting this demand to subside is in for a rude awakening. Customers, impatient and disgruntled, are now discovering that they can receive more immediate responses through social media. What was once just a retail platform and a product discovery platform, has now transformed into a customer service channel as well. According to Gartner’s survey, 60% of all customer service requests will be sorted out by means of digital channels by 2023.

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What does that mean for your business? Well, expect a surge of customer requests in 2022. One surefire way that you can get ahead of the curve is by anticipating this new wave and implementing it into your 2022 social strategy. 

It’s not too late for you to get started on streamlining your customer service processes on socials. When you bundle social marketing with the right amount of social care, you’ll be able to have a huge impact on your customers’ buying experience and your company’s bottom line. Say hello to strong business outcomes!

Your interactive content potential is only limited by creativity, so go all out and remember to stay on brand!

5. Augmented Reality will be the preferred way of testing and interacting with new products

Augmented Reality (AR) is becoming increasingly popular among brands as a means of engaging and enabling their customers to have better purchasing experiences. I mean, it makes perfect sense, since AR has proven that they’re highly effective for the business’ bottom line. In fact, The Drum reports that AR can help improve click-through rates to purchase by 33%.

By 2022, there will be around 3.5 billion AR users globally. A majority of those users will come to expect socials to include AR in their purchasing journey. In fact, 49% of online shoppers state that they are willing to pay more for a product that is accessible in AR, while 45% think that AR features save time spent on decision making. 

Check out AR in action:

This may be fruitful for many businesses as AR is a more personal way to reach people and will be more effective at driving results. If AR is applicable for your business or brand, then Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook is an effective platform to experiment on.

6. Organic Instagram videos build trust faster

I’ve mentioned videos multiple times in multiple different blog posts and that’s not going to change anytime soon. 

Videos are one of the best ways to build trust and intimacy with your target audiences. Some great ways that you can use videos on Instagram:

Instagram Reels

Source: Instagram

If you’re a big fan of short-form content that you can consume for hours, welcome to the club. Reels are becoming increasingly popular and they’re more successful in getting the most organic reach when compared to other types of Instagram posts. The best part? You don’t need to be a professional editor to create the wildest effects or transitions. Instead, you can take advantage of the built-in tools Reels has provided for all users. 

Instagram Live

Instagram Lives are great for real-time connection. Through Live, you can create a more interactive and engaging experience with your audience while simultaneously bringing in new audiences to your broadcast. It’s the best of both worlds when done right.

Instagram Video

It’s time to say goodbye to IGTV and hello to Instagram Video. Instagram has officially revamped its video format to combine IGTV and feed videos into one centralized area. With this new update, you can upload videos and get discovered easily. 

Video’s new features include: 

  • Trimming tools
  • Filters
  • Tagging locations and people
  • Previewing your videos on your feed (up to 60 seconds)

 

The idea behind Video is similar to TikTok’s, where you can continue endless scrolling to discover new video content that fits your interests, behavior, etc. It’s a tab on Instagram that showcases all video content in one concentrated space, which is great for both users, businesses, and creators. From there, you can track the performance of your videos in a thorough metric to help with strategizing for future content.

7. Video content on any social platform will drive more organic traffic

I know I’ve been talking a lot about videos in this article, but the reason why I’m emphasizing so much on it is because it plays a significant part in your entire Content Marketing strategy. 

By 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic, while 72% of customers said they’d rather learn more about a product/service through video. Additionally, 84% of consumers say that they’ve been convinced to buy a product, service, or software when they watched a brand’s video.

Needless to say, it’s not groundbreaking news that video is here to stay for the next 10 years—which I’ve mentioned in my previous blog post as well—and if you’re not already on that train, you better get on before it leaves the station. 

If you’re looking for ways to edit your videos quickly without needing to be a professional editor and plenty of time on your hands, you can try out some easy online tools to help you accomplish your tasks. 

Source: MotionBox

Motionbox, for example, can be a great resource for quick video editing. If you’re not familiar with Motionbox, it is an online video editing tool that allows you to add photos to your unique videos with ease. This is the perfect tool for those who want to create engaging videos where an image appears in the video when a speaker is talking about a particular topic. 

Motionbox offers a simple user interface with the simple drag-and-drop editor that enables users to add photos, watermarks, gif images, logos, and integrated Unsplash images to the timeline to create unique videos. With features like music visualization, Meme maker, GIF resizer, video trimmer, and video calendar, it offers unlimited possibilities when it comes to design.

8. Genuine storytelling will be the key to success

Storytelling opens up various opportunities for brands and businesses to engage with their audience and immerse them in a unique experience. They’re great at getting people’s attention in an era steeped with short attention spans, while maintaining a healthy distance from hard-selling promotions. 

Here are some clear cut ways that you can use storytelling in your 2022 social media marketing campaigns:

Data-Driven Storytelling

This type of storytelling gives your audience context into societal issues, business challenges, facts, and more. Data-drive narratives are great for companies that collect information through their business models. 

Let’s take Spotify as an example. If you’re an avid music lover like me, then you definitely use Spotify for your daily music fix.  Now, Spotify collects data on their users to feed their algorithm with the necessary information as a means of personalizing each user’s experience with playlists, suggested songs, and more.

Spotify also utilizes this information to provide a thorough and unique Wrapped for every Premium subscriber. Through these insights, users are not only attracted, engaged, and delighted, but they also receive a deeper understanding into their likes, interests, and behavior. 

Customer Success Stories

You can never go wrong with customer stories. Not only do they make your brand more trustworthy, but also more genuine and authentic. By highlighting your success clients, you’ll be able to set customer-led storytelling in motion.  

Customer-driven stories help new and current consumers relate better to your brand. If used astutely, it can shape your brand in effective and tremendous ways.

Here are two good examples:

Warby Parker

Take a look at Warby Parker as an example. Warby has a long-standing series called Wearing Warby, where Warby Parker features their customers on their main website. The page showcases inspiring personalities in the arts and humanities industry.

Source: Warby Parker

Fabletics

Source: Fabletics

Fabletics is another brand that’s leveraged on customer stories. With their popular #MyFabletics hashtag, they provide customers a chance to be featured on their Instagram and website. These customer photos are also viewable on Fabletic’s product pages, so it makes it easy for consumers to see how an outfit looks on a variety of people.

My suggestion: Find the kind of storytelling that suits you, your needs, your brand, and your goals. If you think that you’d benefit from utilizing both data-driven and customer-driven storytelling, take a moment to evaluate what is feasible and measurable for your team and business. The most important thing is building emotional, human connections with your target audience. I guarantee that they’ll be coming back consistently for more. 

The Bottom Line

Social has become a core channel for many marketers and its reach has expanded beyond just the marketing department. For the past year, brands have had to rely on social platforms to help them simultaneously keep up with their customers, manage service questions, close deals, and grow awareness. 

In order for any business’ social media marketing to succeed, they’ll need to buff up their social media game in 2022. Through a more concentrated effort, marketers will be able to gain more effective ROI, expand their brand’s impact, gather the right consumer insights, and improve the business’ employee experience. 

We hope that these 2022 social media trends will help you make more informed decisions that lead to strong business results. 

Want to share your story? Need some help? We’ve got you. 

If you have a success story to share with us, please feel free to get in touch with us at hello@medianetic.me, as we’d love to highlight how our articles have helped you.

However, if you’re on the other end of the spectrum and you’d like to get some help in achieving your 2022 social media goals quickly, get in touch with us. We’d love to see how we can work together!

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