30 Jun Whats going on in Social Media?

What are the trends for Social Media in 2022 and beyond?

What will the rest of 2022 and beyond have in store, in terms of social media?

1. TikTok will become even bigger

It has already made a good start to the year, with Meta feeling the need to compete with its “reels”. You can now have adverts and business profiles too, making it more use as a marketing tool. In addition, there is a general feeling that longer videos are becoming much less popular – the short sharp reels and TikTok videos are much more digestible. Click here for more information.

2. Smaller platforms will become more popular for advertising

Smaller platforms like Snapchat and Pinterest, as well as TikTok, are gaining in popularity with advertisers. Meta and Twitter are imposing more regulations on advertisers, so more brands are looking for alternative places to advertise. Smaller companies are often willing to offer better deals, in order to secure your business. You should also check out what they all offer in terms of tracking and boosting ads. Click here for more information on social media advertising in the UK.

3. Social commerce will keep growing

The last few years have seen some brands allow you to buy directly from social media sites. This trend is likely to continue and grow as more social media platforms evolve to become stores, selling both their own products and other big brands that can buy in to it.

4. Reaching new audiences will become a primary goal

According to recent research, the primary goals of most companies using social media in 2022 will be to reach new audiences, grow existing relationships with customers, and boost customer service. In essence, that means that company’s focus will shift from using social media purely for advertising to using it to build and maintain relationships with its customers.

5. Micro-influencers on the rise

We are likely to see companies putting more and more marketing budget behind social media influencers to endorse their brands, with a move towards using several micro-influencers, rather than spending all their budget on one or two major players. This means more engagement for much less cost. The big challenge is in identifying the influencers that will give the greatest reach and that will be best for your brand. Check this out for more information.

6. Location targeting will become more popular in adverts

Geotags have been around for ages on social media posts, but more and more brands are using these in their social media advertising to target people from a specific geographic location. Some social media platforms (including Facebook and Instagram) allow you to search for posts from specific areas, so adding a location tag will help local people find local products and posts. Geotargeting works very well for promoting or boosting posts or tweets as this can help you target the right audiences in the right area. Some companies also use geotargeting to promote local conferences or events to the appropriate audience. There are a lot of benefits from this type of targeting, as long as you know how and when to use it. Have a look here for more tips.

7. Personalising content will be a next big thing.

Personalisation of content has been around for a while for a variety of media, but it is still relatively new in social media. It would be difficult to personalise content to an individual level, however, you can customise your posts to target as many groups as you wish.

This is particularly true with social media advertising. Many platforms now offer advanced targeting and customisation options for brands, allowing the correct advert to be shown to the correct people at the correct time. Not only will you be shown the types of products you have shown interest in before, but you will also see ads for similar products from different brands, and the more ads you click on, the more the algorithm (the automated bit that “learns” your preferences)  will understand your online preferences and behaviour, and the more ads appropriate to your tastes you will see.

8. Paid advertising will become a necessity

Organic reach is on the decline, (one estimate stated that only 1 in 19 fans of a Facebook post will see its non-promoted content) but brands are finding they have to spend more and more on paid advertising, and this is one of the biggest challenges of social media marketing. With that in mind, brands are trying to find better and more creative ways to maximise organic reach.

9. Augmented Reality Will Become More Mainstream

Despite being around for a few years, it is only recently that augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are finding a space in social media. Users are demanding more engaging, more exciting experiences, and brands are using these technologies to give them it.

You will have probably seen the filters on Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok that allow you to add bunny ears, or makeup to your photos and videos – this is AR in action. Whether it’s to make you more beautiful, or not, everyone seems to be using them, and sharing them. Brands are now leveraging this technology too, to give an integrated, interactive shopping experience. You can see how a lipstick colour may look on you, or how a suit can look. Some stats claim this can give a boost of up to 33% on click through rates. Like it or hate it, this trend is only going to grow in the coming years.

10. More brands will incorporate social listening

Social media can provide a wealth of information, data and insights that brands can use to refine their social marketing strategies. There are many social listening tools available, making it very easy for anyone to access this information. From understanding the impact of a social media campaign to understanding how people perceive a brand, you can get a lot of information using social listening.

Given the ease with which you can tap into social conversations to draw meaningful insights, social listening has made its way into every marketer’s strategy. Data shared in Hootsuite’s 2022 Social Media Trends survey found that the majority of respondents felt that social listening has increased their organization’s value over the past year, making it an integral part of their social media strategy.

And then…

So, to sum up, at the end of the day, you need to remember that social media is both dynamic and competitive, and what worked before has no guarantee to give you the same results next time. You need to keep on top of what is happening be ready to adjust your social media plans.