Marketing on social media platforms has been a trend for the last few years. However, in the last two years or so, there has been a change in the way businesses promote their services or products on various social media platforms.
Social media is a dynamic industry where rapid changes are taking place. In 2021, there were more than 3.7 billion users of social media globally. Brands and businesses have to think of different, innovative ways of engaging their customers on these platforms.
A savvy marketer has to keep an eye on the latest social media trends and think of ways of marketing the business products/services likewise. You might end up being overly surprised if you are not well aware of the social media trends.
Mentioned below are some prominent social media trends which you can consider in your marketing strategy in 2022:
- The primary goal of any business shifts to reaching new audiences
In the past, the primary ambition or goal of any business was to boost sales of services or products of the company. This is the reason great emphasis was laid on various advertising products. However, in 2022, this trend is changing. As per a current research report, the main concentration now is on reaching out to new audiences.
The focus is also on growing healthy relationships with customers and enhancing customer service. Instead of using social media platforms for advertising, they will be used as a channel for developing deeper customer relations.
- Paid advertising will become necessary
As per Hootsuite’s Social Media Trends Survey of 2022, more than 40% of participants responded that their two biggest challenges were spending more time on paid advertising and a decline in organic reach. As per data, the average organic reach for a post on Facebook is just over 5%. It is quite well understood from this fact that paid advertising will become necessary.
- There will be the dominance of video content
When you talk of engaging and interesting content, nothing beats video content. As per Cisco’s study and research, 82% of online content will be in the form of video content in 2022. If you want to market your business via social media, leverage the benefits of video content.
When you are creating content for your marketing strategy, make sure that you include videos in that. Just see how successful reels, stories, and short videos are; use them for marketing your services and products.
- Highly streamlined social commerce
For many of you, social commerce will be a new term – it is actually a subset of e-commerce. Right from product discovery to purchase to post-purchase support, everything happens on social media. Shopping is revolutionising with social commerce.
Social media is slowly turning into a virtual mall, where you can browse through various products, look for inspiration, and then buy the product with a few clicks. You will be surprised to know that Instagram is the favourite social media platform for 60% of Gen Zers for finding new products or brands.
The social commerce industry is expected to reach almost $80 billion by 2025. Also, 71% of small businesses are targeting social media to sell their products/services.
- Influencer marketing will keep on soaring
Influencer marketing is not a new trend, true. But, this is one marketing trend that is here to stay for a while. You will find many influencers on social media, who promote brands and get exorbitantly paid for the work.
Along with increasing numbers of influencers on social media, there is also a steady increase in expenses for influencer marketing by various businesses. This is because making investments in influencers is cheaper compared to running ad campaigns.
With influencer marketing, generating leads is not the only achievement; many other marketing goals are achieved. Various brands are working with micro-influencers for better impact and results.
- More prevalence of local targeting
Local brands get good volumes of local traffic through local SEO. When it comes to social media, the same concept is known as local targeting. Various businesses and brands use location-based targeting for attracting and reaching out to people from particular geographic locations.
For attracting the local audience, brands generally geo-tag their stories and posts. With a location mentioned in social media content, the local audience is automatically drawn in. There are many advantages of location-based targeting which you can use on social media; you just have to know the ways of leveraging the same.
- Twitter and Instagram will retain their popularity
While talking about social media trends for marketing strategy in 2022, Twitter and Instagram were there and they will be there in 2022 as well.
For B2B businesses specifically, Instagram and Twitter will become more important. As per a recent survey report, 70% of respondents opined that they will increase investment in Twitter by 70% and in Instagram by 63%. Facebook will see increased investment by 49%.
- Increase in social media communities
Social media communities have been there since social media emanated. But, their importance and popularity have increased extensively now. These communities are nothing but social groups, which act as networking platforms. Generally, people with similar interests join a group.
Many businesses or brands use such groups for conglomerating their prospective and existing customers. Various kinds of engaging activities and discussions take place in the group.
These social media communities and groups are also a great place for seeking customer feedback, launching new products and services, and gaining valuable customer insights.
- Augmented Reality (AR) is the new thing
The concept of Augmented Reality (AR) has been there for quite a long time. But in recent times, many brands and businesses are using AR so that customers can test products before actually purchasing them.
Survey reports show that with AR, click-through rates for purchasing improve by almost 33%, which is quite an impressive figure. Snapchat is a great social media platform for testing AR for your brand/business.
Conclusion
The above-mentioned social media trends will dominate in 2022. If you want to have a better edge over your competitors, then you can definitely think of following the trends. You might need to implement certain changes in your marketing strategy to make it more successful.
Lastly, social media is a highly dynamic space with a lot of competition from various sectors. A trend that works for one business/brand might not work for another brand/business. It is a space of experimentation and you will have to figure out what works best for your business.
Also Read: Can Templates Help Your Digital Marketing Strategy?
