Happy Belated New Year, and welcome to 2022 🥂

2021 was a big year for social media marketing, and for a social media agency like ourselves, who are always trying to stay across the latest trends and platform updates. There was a lot of them last year!

In 2021 we saw the rise of short-form videos with Reels and the ever-growing dominance of TikTok. We saw a lot of Instagram updates from being able to link to websites directly through Stories, to the ability to publish Instagram posts via desktop, and so many more.

We also saw big changes to paid social advertising with the rise of video being used in advertisements, the removal of 5,000 targeting options, and a shift in the rules and regulations relating to consumers’ privacy. This last one really shook up the industry, with Facebook & Instagram ads now less efficient, and more costly (also attributed to the sharp climb in competition from COVID).

These updates and new trends continue to roll in as social media marketing becomes a more popular space for businesses. 

According to Data Reportal, there are now more than 4.5 billion active users on social media worldwide which accounts for more than half of the world’s population. 

A recent study from Hootsuite shared some incredible statistics social media usage in 2021:

• 200 million people visit an Instagram business page every day
• 81% of Instagram users conduct research on brands products or services via the platform
• 55% of consumers have bought an outfit after seeing an influencer promote it on Instagram
• The average Facebook user clicks on 11 ads every month
• 66% of Facebook users look at Business pages every week
• TikTok has experienced up to 576% growth in traffic each year, compared to Facebook who get 3%

So if your business isn’t using social media marketing in your digital marketing strategy, then you are missing out on billions of potential customers. 

However, with all the new updates and trends emerging every single week, along with the task of creating consistent, high quality social media content to engage and attract your customers, social media management becomes a full time job.

So, to keep you in the loop, we have put together a list of 9 trends you are likely to see on social media in 2022:

1. Reels will continue to help businesses grow on Instagram

Last year, the Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, announced that Instagram was shifting from an image sharing platform, to favour video content. This came as no surprise after the growing popularity of Instagram Reels, and competitor platform TikTok. More platforms are finding ways to incorporate short-form video, with Netflix even having a version based on clips from its shows and movies.

According to Social Media Examiner, Instagram Reels generate 22% more engagement than regular videos, offer more visibility and have a longer lifespan than posts. With many brands claiming their growth is down to Reels, this is one trend that your business should be leveraging in 2022.

2. Using videos for paid social media advertising will become a must

A top tip we have learnt from our paid advertising strategies in 2021, is that repurposing your best performing Reels, TikToks or videos to use in advertising, is efficient and effective. 

Using videos in paid social media advertising has shown to perform significantly better than other ads including images. 93% of businesses reported acquiring new customers as a direct result from video ads in 2021.

Get creative and start testing your image ads compared to a video ad and review the results yourself. 

3. Building customer connections and communities will be vital

The effects of COVID-19 caused many shifts in the values of consumers, including the importance of community and connection. The long term value of building brands and loyal communities on social media has never been more imperative.

Consumers don’t just want to buy from brands, they want to engage with them, see behind the scenes, meet the team behind the products, and feel connected to the brand and other consumers within it.

So how do you build a loyal community?

Whilst social media is a great platform to build a community, did you know that you don’t actually own your Instagram followers? 

Building an email list is much more secure than a social media following and allows you to reach your customers more effectively and efficiently. Engagement, reach and sales are also more consistent via email marketing as you are sending messages directly to your warmest customers instead of relying on algorithms and updates.

Always be encouraging your social media followers to join your email list to stay up to date with your brand and get access to promotions and special offers first.

Learn more about how Email Marketing can help your business here

4. TikTok will continue to dominate

In 2021, TikTok surpassed 3 billion downloads becoming the most downloaded app in 2021 and reaching more than $900 million in consumer spending. 

TikTok recently introduced TikTok for Business to allow business owners to reach new audiences through their short videos. The benefits of TikTok advertising are that the ads don’t look like ads, they seamlessly integrate with other videos in the explore feed, they provide an easy way to build communities as they are more engaging, and it is still a less saturated platform, meaning there are plenty of advertising opportunities for brands. Especially within Australia which is only a very young market for Advertising on TikTok.

Recent data from Surge Global reported that 52% of TikTok users discover new products on the app, and most users feel the ads blend well with other content.

Want to learn more about how you can use TikTok Advertising for your business? Read about our paid advertising social media services here.

5. Social selling will increase

Over the past few years we have seen a huge shift in social selling, including Facebook and Instagram integrating shop features into their platforms to allow consumers to buy directly through the apps.

Recently Instagram introduced the ability to share links via Stories, a feature that was originally only available to profiles with more than 10,000 followers. This feature means businesses can promote sales, specific products, share blog posts and much more on their Stories and send followers to a direct landing page.

In 2022, social platforms will continue to increase seamless shopping experiences so that users don’t need to leave their apps, and we will see more brands leveraging these features to reach users who are ready to buy. Yep, the rise of omnichannel marketing is underway!

Do you need to integrate your online store with your social media platforms? 

6. Snackable content will be preferred

The attention span of consumers is getting shorter and shorter as more and more content is shown to them on a daily basis. In recent years there has been a major shift from long-form content such as YouTube videos and Blog posts, to now favouring short, “snackable” content such as TikTok videos, Instagram Reels, SnapChat and YouTube Shorts.

Some “snackable” content your brand can leverage that is quick and easy to consume, could be memes, quote tiles, infographics, Instagram Stories and of course, Reels or TikToks.

Instead of spending hours and hours trying to come up with content ideas for these, we suggest repurposing content – a real time saving hack. This means, using content from old blog posts or YouTube videos or previous Instagram carousels, to break the information down into several smaller posts that are tailored for each platform.

Consumers’ attention span is only going to get shorter and shorter, so it is worth taking time to review your content strategy and work out how to jump on the “snackable content” bandwagon. 

7. Personalisation will be a must

Last, but not least, is the importance of personalized content in 2022. With content marketing becoming more saturated, brands can stand out by creating personalised content for their audience.

Whilst it’s difficult to create content that is personalised to every individual, it is possible to use personalisation in social media advertising. 

This means creating more ads that are niched to specific segments, with more benefits and features that will appeal to them individually, leading to more sales.

Want to create more personalised social media ads but aren’t sure how?Read more on our social media services here.

To Summarise:

There is no doubt that 2022 is going to be a very busy year for social media marketing, with new updates, emerging trends and new technologies. 

So how can you keep up as a business? Invest in social media services with a social media agency that knows what’s going on! Here’s why:

• It’s a full time job to stay up to date with trends, continuously create engaging, high quality content that is personalised to your audiences and builds a connection with them
• Outsourcing social media management means you will have more time to focus on other important aspects of your business
• We are a qualified and experienced in the field, so you are making the best decision by leaving the social media tactics to the social media experts

A common misconception of brands is that hiring a social media agency means you no longer have to do anything. However, social media marketing should be a partnership. 

As a social media agency, we lay the foundations with customised strategies and content, but brands still need to be putting in the effort to work with us on creating quality content and engaging with their followers. As a brand you need to make time to communicate with your social media agency to ensure you are on the same page and your branding remains aligned with your business goals and vision.

The long term value of social media marketing is in how it builds your brand awareness in the market, communicates your USP’s and authority with your audience, and builds a community who are loyal and can become long-term customers.

So, are you ready to invest in social media marketing to elevate your brand’s online presence in 2022? 

Book a free consultation call with us today.

References:

Lyfe Marketing, 2021: https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/facebook-advertising-in-2021/

Hootsuite, 2021: https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-statistics-for-social-media-managers/#Social_media_usage_statistics

Growthoid, 2021: https://growthoid.com/instagram-reels-statistics/

Influencer Marketing Hub, 2021: https://influencermarketinghub.com/social-media-trends/

Hubspot, 2021: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/social-media-predictions-2017 + https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/snackable-content

Social Media Examinder, 2021: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-trends-for-2022-predictions-from-the-pros/

Social Media Today, 2021: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/tiktok-becomes-the-first-non-facebook-owned-app-to-reach-3-billion-installs/603364/

TikTok, 2021: https://www.tiktok.com/business/en-AU

Social Pilot, 2021: https://www.socialpilot.co/blog/tiktok-for-business