The world has seen a shift in the way brands and businesses win their market audience through social media platforms. Social media has sure evolved over the last few years, and it feels like there’s going to be a constant emergence of new, exciting social media trends and features this year. Every brand is looking for ways to attract a significant portion of the global social media user population.
If 2021 social media marketing was anything to go by, you want to be in the loop of what’s most likely going to dominate the social media space this year. As you create your spring cleaning checklist, here are the trends B2B and B2C your business needs to focus on in 2022.
As a social media influencer and digital marketing professional, I’ve seen firsthand how businesses thrive by taking advantage of what’s trending in the marketing landscape. It’s one of the most targeted ways to remain relevant in a market full of competition. In my career as a digital marketer, the latest trends determine the decision-making approach I take for individual clients as I believe in working with strategies that are up to date. Planning upfront can be a game-changer for your business.
I’ve rounded up five social media trends I believe we’ll see in social media marketing this year.
TikTok will likely continue to dominate the digital marketing landscape.
In case you missed it last year, TikTok’s taking social media by storm. TikTok has grown rapidly in popularity over the past two years and was reportedly the most downloaded app in 2020. I anticipate that TikTok will catch up with long-established video platforms like Facebook and YouTube this year. Why?
In 2020, TikTok had a whopping 65.9 million users in the United States and it seems as though that growth isn’t yet stopping. As of January 2021, the app had 689 million global active users. Consider launching your business on TikTok to meet your audiences where they’re at.
The marketing budget on small networks will go up.
As we try to keep 2020 and 2021 behind us, we still can’t forget the kind of financial pressure we went through. However, you might consider branching out to small networks this year.
With the rise in expectations for marketing teams, I expect there will be a significant rise in small network marketing this year than in the past few years. As you note this, be sure to make your budget flexible, efficient and measurable in case of any unexpected changes.
Shoppers will increasingly turn to social media to buy items.
Over recent years, social media channels have given online shopping a key interest and come up with ways buyers will complete the purchase without having to leave the app. Now that every platform is training their efforts to improve the customer shopping experience, buyers are turning their heads to online shopping. For instance, shoppable stories are a feature on Instagram that allows users to select a product sticker and complete the purchase without having to leave the app.
Customers on other platforms like TikTok enjoy a seamless purchase process because of the platform’s top-notch advertising formats and features. Brands on TikTok can now improve their advertising content through an advertising format called Spark Ads.
With the already available advertising and shopping features, it goes without saying that 2022 will see a rise in social media shopping. Businesses and brands can leverage the powerful tools on these platforms to empower their customers to make purchases wherever and whenever they want.
Shorter videos will rise in popularity.
Platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels have dramatically risen to popularity because of their video-focused nature. Short-form videos are the secret power to TikTok’s growth as they are a unique method of captivating as well as engaging buyers. Short-form videos take less time to convey the necessary information about a product than any other format would.
For instance, video tweets are typically more engaging than plain text tweets in my experience. Through videos, brands can get an in-depth connection with their online audience, highlight their products as well as create awareness about any issues of interest. It’s important to note, that there’s a trend of brands making soundless videos with written closed captions.
Market volume could increase significantly.
With the staggering increase in the number of internet users the world over, social media marketers aren’t taking it by chance in 2022. No one wants to gamble around with organic reach when paid advertising has proved a potential jackpot.
Social media advertising is only ripe for the taking and the rules of the game are at your fingertips. As a performance marketer, be braced for a tougher scramble for target audiences this year. You want to be sure you’re at first able to identify your target audience before planning to reach them. This year’s market volume might increase to impressive levels, which means it’s necessary to reach this audience before a competitor does.
2022 presents many opportunities for social media marketers.
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by  CANDICE GEORGIADIS
source: rollingstone.com