Top Social Media Trends for 2022

Social media marketing of services and products has drastically transformed in recent years. There are different factors at play here that have made the shift to digital means almost necessary for businesses and brands. In the world of digital marketing, also known as online marketing, social media marketing has risen up the ranks as one of the most effective and popular ways of promoting and selling products or services. The global pandemic, which has confined people to their homes for their own safety worldwide, is one of the major reasons why businesses are looking for new ways to reach their target audiences.

Since the widespread use of the internet and smartphones, social media platforms have found continuous growth, gaining more than 3.7 billion users around the world by the end of last year. Businesses and brands are constantly brainstorming for fresh and new ideas to maximize engagement and interaction with such a massive audience. But this isn’t the only thing on their mind. The world of digital marketing and, specifically, social media marketing is constantly changing and evolving. New trends come and go in matters of hours and days. Staying up to date with every rising social media platform and trend is extremely important for marketers as well as businesses and brands looking to expand.

User behavior is constantly changing and new features are being introduced on different social media platforms in order to improve their performances in various aspects. All these changes have kept every entity that can benefit from digital marketing on edge, wondering what the new year will bring and what trends will take off this time. Every trend provides businesses and digital marketers with the chance to improve their relationships with their target audience and drive more leads.

Many brands and businesses, especially smaller businesses, lack an inbound team that looks over the company’s digital marketing. These businesses don’t have to miss out on the golden opportunities that social media platforms provide. They can always look outwards for more professional and quality support when it comes to any type of digital marketing. The most important thing is that, nowadays, businesses need an online presence in order to survive, sustain, and succeed. Hiring a trusted social media marketing agency, such as LeadzExperts, can significantly improve the positions of businesses. It doesn’t matter what the size of the organization or brand is, or what industry it branched out from, the team of highly professional and experienced social media marketers at LeadzExperts are dedicated to taking businesses to the next level of success.

Social Media Trends for 2022

The Rise of TikTok

Among the fastest-growing social media platforms in the world, you will definitely see TikTok in one of the top positions on the list. Initially, TikTok was launched in China, under the name of Douyin in 2016. In the following year, TikTok was launched worldwide by ByteDance. Due to the Chinese censorship restrictions, both applications share the same software. The pandemic helped this one-of-a-kind social media platforms gain popularity among the younger generation mostly. In just a short span of time, TikTok became the first app, after Facebook, to have 3 million downloads in the world. With such a spike of popularity, many people thought that the app’s spark would die out just quickly, but that was far from the case. In the last two years or so, TikTok has become widely popular and in 2022, it will just garner more attention.

The CEO of Influencer.com, Ben Jeffries has said this about the growing social media platform, “ in 2020, TikTok was the world’s most downloaded app and with more and more consumers choosing to use the creative and humorous entertainment platform, brands are waking up to the opportunity to capture a new audience and showcase their brand personality.” He adds, “This popularity has also encouraged the more established social media platforms, including Instagram and YouTube, to experiment with new content forms that will grab the attention of the TikTok generation.”

The short-form videos that are easily digestible and engaging for users are what made the app so popular, leading other social media platforms to get inspired and introduce similar features. Many brands and businesses have leveraged the popularity of TikTok in order to market and promote the services or products they provide. As the app garners more attention from internet users around the world this year, businesses and brands will be exploring the different ways they can utilize its addictive features to raise brand awareness and expand their reach.

Social Commerce is Essential

For those who are wondering what social commerce is, Investopedia defines it like this: Social commerce uses networking websites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as vehicles to promote and sell products and services. In today’s fast and digitally advanced era, customers want a fast and simple shopping experience. Social commerce is the ideal way to do that. People all around the world spend a significant amount of time on different social media platforms, which is why social commerce is becoming an essential part of every social media platform. So far, more than 90% of companies based in the US, have utilized social media platforms as their e-commerce channels. It is predicted that social commerce will amass up to $80 billion dollars by 2025. Another figure that proves the importance and growth of social commerce is that 60% of Generation Z has utilized the popular social media app, Instagram, in search of new businesses and products.

The growing popularity of social commerce is something that marketers need to keenly focus on this year. Brands and businesses need to utilize the features available on popular social media platforms, such as Instagram Shops and Facebook Marketplace, to display their products or services in a way that is easy to browse.

Tell a Story

Have you wondered what makes content go viral? Well, the answer is simple: a story. A story that evokes emotions and compels users to share the content with their loved ones. Producing story-driven content requires excellent writing skills. You can provide users with useful information or just pure entertainment, but it needs a powerful story to engage users. With such content, you can give your brand or business a voice that will be remembered for a long. Reports show that more than 90% of customers are looking for a story when it comes to advertisements. 55% of these consumers have admitted that they would buy the product or service if the story resonates deeper emotions within them.

Countless brands that are known all across the world have produced story-driven content that has gone viral. If you want to get your business in front of a broader audience, you can use the story-driven approach with your content.

Influencer Marketing is Getting Stronger

Since the pandemic, social media users have relied heavily on the opinions of social media influencers rather than placing their trust in brands and businesses. This is precisely why influencer marketing is setting stronger roots this year. As we discussed before, e-commerce and social media are becoming a powerful duo this year. Due to this fact, more businesses and brands should be looking into influencer marketing and all the perks that come with it. It’s important for businesses to partner up with influencers that hold some relevance to the products or services they offer to consumers. This means that influencers with even a small following, but dedicated followers, can help businesses expand their reach and maximize sales.