Gear up to take your social media marketing strategies to new heights with Mindstorm’s predictions for 2022! In this article, we will take you through the five social media marketing trends that will dominate in 2022.
We have gathered proven research, reliable statistics, expert advice, and some instances for you to understand the practical applications of these trends. As we step into 2022, it’s important to understand how unpredictability and social connections were shaped in 2021. Amidst the unprecedented situations of COVID 19, brands found new ways to market their products through social media, while nurturing their social connection with customers online. More than ever, people now feel the need to be heard and stay connected, even if it’s via social media. From body positivity to sustainability to social injustices, people across social media are now talking about everything and feel the need for acknowledgment as never before.
A global digital insights info organization, half of the world’s population is actively engaged on social media platforms. Around 4.66 billion people around the world use the internet and an average of nearly 2 million new users are joining social media every day.
Datareportal
The above-mentioned statistic would be sufficient enough for you to understand the constantly evolving social media market and the diversity in culture, opinion, and habits it is bringing to the virtual world. Well, we are here to help you! Check out our comprehensive list of 5 trends that every social media marketer needs to look out for to keep pace with the social media world.
If you need to shape up your Social Media Marketing, get in touch with us at aniketh@mindstorm.in. And we will help you meet your desired social media marketing goals.
Get ahead in the social media game, with these five trends–
1) Short-form Videos
Short-form videos have been around for quite some time and will continue to drive entertainment value for a much longer time. From this or that challenges to driving inspirations from a favorite social media influencer’s makeup look, videos are loved by all. Social media is redefining the way businesses advertise their products. Through efficient use of Instagram Reels, TikTok, or Snapchat’s Spotlight, brands are communicating their messages in creative ways to attract consumers online. Moreover, with the consistently decreasing attention span of audiences, short-form videos have gained popularity in a short amount of time. A Facebook Study showed that six-second ads had 11% higher ad recall, provided a 12% rise in return on ad spend, and improved video completion rates by 271% over longer-form ads. Let’s have a look at the best practices, that marketers can implement in 2022, to make the most out of short-form videos;
What’s in it for marketers?
- Focus on User-Generated Content (UGC)
Get social media influencers on board to talk about your products and services through Reels, Tik Tok, etc. Find people relevant to your niche, share customer testimonials, and FAQs in form of short-videos, and extensively promote them across social media platforms. Such content will serve as social proof for your audience and there are high chances that people will engage with the brand more enthusiastically. Source study suggests 90% of consumers are more influenced by UGC for their buying decisions rather than promotional emails and even search engine results.
For instance; check out the Instagram Reel by Fashion influencer, Leonie Hanne for Louis Vuitton!
Share customer stories through social media platforms-
- Share Micro Content
Cut-short your promotional ads and Youtube videos into smaller pieces of content and share them on your brand’s social media handles. You can use innovative technology like Bumper Machine, by Google which uses machine learning to create 6-second bumper ads from longer videos (90 seconds or less) to display throughout YouTube.
- Embrace Trends
Enhance your social media interaction by keeping your short-form videos relevant to current social media trends. Buzz challenge, this or that challenge, etc…, such trends increase the probability of your customers engaging with the band.
Invest in video shooting cameras, microphones, train and encourage your employees to create attractive short-form videos. And if your company budget allows, definitely invest in enhancing customer experience through immersive content. Use short-form videos to build your social media empire for communicating the value proposition and enhance brand awareness.
2) Rise of Social Commerce
One of the significant changes that 2020 has seen is the rise in e-commerce. And with social media platforms continually introducing new features and innovations, “Social Commerce” has emerged as a new trend. From Facebook stores, Instagram stores, to Pinterest, brands are efficiently leveraging such platforms to sell products, drive engagement, and influence buyer’s decisions. Social commerce has paved the way for brands to directly sell their products on social media, eliminating the need for redirecting consumers to the sales pages/ website. By allowing in-app purchases, the process steps are reduced, meaning an enhanced user experience and no more disowned shopping carts.
What’s in it for marketers?
According to the Source, Social commerce is an $89.4 billion market and is quickly expanding. Hootsuite estimates that Social Commerce is projected to grow to $604.5 billion in the next seven years. While last year, Facebook’s advertising revenue jumped to almost 30% (Facebook). These statistics effectively prove the importance of Social Commerce in the year 2022!
Let’s dive deeper into the practices that might be beneficial to your business-
- Maintain your Social Storefront
Audiences are extensively viewing social media, so make sure you have maintained your social presence to hook your audience. Update your Social Storefront now and then, and run sales campaigns to drive traffic to your social media accounts. According to Facebook, 81% of shoppers research products on Instagram and Facebook, and shopping is a top priority for 48% of Pinterest users. So, why not provide customers with what they are looking for?
Check out Sephora’s “try before you buy” Virtual Artist, which allows customers to try on their products before they purchase.
- Engage with customers online.
Become part of your customer’s journey and engage with them online. For instance, reply to their queries, reply to their comments, repost customer stories, and share UGC on social media platforms. Listen to your customer’s needs, expectations from products and timely analyze their responses for future reference. Not interacting with your customers online would raise a sense of alienation between you and your customers. So, hire social media managers and assistants to actively engage with customers via social media.
Remember! Customers are continuously checking up on your social media feed. Make sure you maintain it aggressively and consider UI and UX while creating your social “Storefront”. The better the user experience, the more likely are your customers to make in-app purchases.
3) Socially Relevant Content
The year 2020 has been a rollercoaster ride for brands! Brands felt the need to create socially impactful content, ranging from social injustices to sustainability. Resulting in constant reevaluation, and changes in their social media marketing strategy. In the run of staying relevant to their customers, brands need to adopt a value-based system to meet the expectations of the customers. People are highly influenced by the values, culture, and opinions put forth by the brands. Instead of talking about sensitive and debatable topics, focus on brand values, creating a unique identity of your brand. And later, work on aligning your values with the important issues that matter. This would help your brand create an authentic and unique image in front of audiences. Well, it might seem a herculean task but, with consistent efforts, it will result in a well-established brand that’s bold and clear about its values.
What’s in it for marketers?
- Focus on Social Impact
Create content that vividly describes your values and also caters to the opinions that matter to your target customers. Influence customers with your take and stay confident and true to your values. It will ensure your brand’s unique social identity and enhance brand awareness in the later stage.
- Info-social
Instagram defines info-social as a style of text-based content that aims to educate and inspire communities. Info-social content involves carousel posts, text-based short videos, etc… In wake of digital activism, various brands have leveraged the power of info-social content to educate their audiences. As a marketer, you must mull over the efficiency of such content and try incorporating it into your social media marketing strategy.
Checkout this info-social post to understand how values and effective messaging can be combined to communicate your brand message.
In the long-run, value-based, bold, and conscious content will help your brand portray a trustworthy and unique image.
4) Nano- Influencers
With ever-expanding influencer marketing across social media platforms, nano-influencers will be the new trendsetters for 2022! While the majority of brands are investing their resources in getting social media influencers on board, the hidden potential of nano-influencers is not yet recognized by many. Nano-influencers usually have a follower base of 1k- 5k. Well, not all brands have yet discovered the capabilities of micro-influencers (10k -50k followers) and some innovative brands are already collaborating with nano-influencers. Nano-influencers help drive intimate engagement, meaning higher chances of conversion. Because they are more trusted by their followers and are specialists in their niches. According to HypeAuditor, the engagement rate of nano-influencers is twice as high as that of other groups of influencers.
It’s synonymous with the way we trust our friends. Just think about it, what advice are you likely to follow, the one you were exposed to by some famous influencer or the one that your friend gave you? Well, nano-influencers have a similar impact on the audiences and so brands are shifting their social media marketing strategy from famous influencers to nano-influencers.
What’s in it for marketers?
- Target Nano-influencers
Focus on incorporating nano-influencers in your social media marketing strategy. Nano-influencers are already there, it’s just that you need to find the right one suitable for your niche. While collaborating with nano-influencers, the focus should be on the relevancy of the message rather than the promotional value of the content. The content which is raw, unpolished, and has clear messaging, will lead to a better engagement rate.
- Cost-effective marketing
Another aspect of collaborating with nano-influencers is cost-effectiveness. Nano-influencers charge comparatively less than micro or famous influencers. According to SocialPubli, only 44% of small influencers prefer monetary compensation. Another benefit of collaborating with nano-influencers is that you get UGC for your social media handles at a relatively low cost.
Henceforth, including nano-influencers as part of social media marketing, will result in improved reachability, enhanced trust, and greater benefits for brands.
5) Personalized Social Advertisement
Building a personalized relationship with consumers is inevitable if you wish to nail the year 2022! Merely a decade ago, if you were to create a personalized ad for larger audiences, the idea would have seemed impossible to implement. But, as automation and AI-driven tools keep evolving, the personalization factor is thriving at its best. Moreover, it has become a necessity rather than a strategy. Statistics show 81% of consumers expect brands to get to know them and understand when to approach them and when not to do so (Source). While 75% of consumers are interested in buying from retailers that show personalized social ads.
What’s in it for marketers?
- Use Social Media to build connections
Personalized ads are a great way to create meaningful connections with your customers. Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, etc.. offer various tools and features to advertising relevant products. But, it’s not enough, you need to take a step ahead and talk to your customers personally. You can make use of chatbots, share a personalized video, or directly message them. Checkout Jay Shetty’s awesome way to connect with audiences online;
via-Jay Shetty (@jayshetty) • Instagram
- Tools Recommendations
There are various tools available to help you create personalized messages for your social media audiences. For example, Bonjoro and VideoAsk for personalized video messaging, Alter, an AI-driven tool to track consumer behavior and show personalized messages. Picsnippets to
personalize images in social ads. You can add these tools to your strategic plan and start creating personalized messages for your social media audiences.
Personalized ads are a win-win situation for both you and your customers. It provides your customers with what they are looking for and in turn you as a brand get a chance to convert your potential customers.
Build your social media clan in 2022!
Social media is an extremely powerful tool to build your loyal customer base if used correctly and extensively. These are some of the trends that we believe and statistics suggest, will rule the year 2022! Focus more on user-generated content as it will serve as social proof for your brand and in turn, you will generate compelling visual assets for your brand. Moreover, don’t forget to create more Reels and Info-social content for your customers. Do think about these five trends while you plan your social media marketing strategy and take your business to new heights!
Well, the above-mentioned practices might involve expertise and a need for support. Feel free to connect with us at ANIKETH@MINDSTORM.IN. We are looking forward to helping your business accomplish its desired goals. Cheers!
