What’s Hot (and What’s Not) for Social Media in 2022
By Jess Begg
We all know the social media marketing landscape is ever changing, and it’s hard to know which new trends to incorporate into your business strategy. We all want to know that our time, energy, and money are going to the right places and make sure that we’re successfully leveraging the myriad of social platforms available.
As a PR and social media agency… we get it. That’s why we’ve carefully curated a list of top social media trends for 2022 that are sure to be game changers in your approach.
1. Tik Tok
You can be sure that Tik Tok is hot right now. It’s currently ranked the 6th most popular social media platform, with over 1 billion monthly active users! The stats reveal that the average user spends 52 minutes per day on the app, with an average of 8 app openings*.
Last year, it was the most downloaded app with 656 million total downloads. Of note, comparatively Instagram only saw 545 million downloads. It would be an understatement to say that TikTok is growing rapidly! 47% of users are between 10-29 years old, 57% of these are male and 43% are male*. This becomes imperative information when thinking about who you are targeting with your marketing strategies. Looking at TikTok through a marketing lens, it’s safe to say that you will not regret investing into this platform.
2. Social Audio Advertising
Social audio ads on the rise. “What’s this?” we hear you ask. Audio advertising refers to strategies such as hosting/leading live streams, partnering with influencers on audio-based content, creating podcasts, buying ads on existing podcasts, etc. A 2022 social media survey reveals that the majority of businesses believe that it is worth investing in (74.2%)*
It’s certainly an area of investment if you have the budget, as the benefits are huge in regards to connecting with your audience/potential audiences, as well as build trust in your brand. An important consideration with audio advertising is the time and skill involved (and it not necessarily being a cheap investment), therefore it may not be viable if you are a small business. Either way, it’s worth having a brainstorm about how your business could leverage some social audio ad strategies for growth.
3. Long-form video is redundant.
A recent study revealed that 60% of all videos published on the internet were under 2 minutes*. Short and sweet is where video content is at! Two years ago, Instagram launched IGTV and with its subsequent success, we saw IG reels and stories taking the lead. But users aren’t just looking for any short video content, they want entertaining and engaging content. Close to 40% of companies say that they use short-form videos to sell their products and services. It’s definitely worth saying goodbye to longer videos and leveraging shorter video formats, such as the above making use of all of the above options for marketing and advertising!
4. Learn paid advertising!
It’s important to know the how and why behind paid advertising if you’re looking into engaging in this sphere. In a recent business survey of small to medium sized businesses, 44% of respondents said that the decline of organic reach and the need to increase paid advertising was their biggest challenge on social media. But in this day and age, you have to pay-to-play! Organic advertising is on the decline (with the average organic reach for a Facebook post is as low as 5.2%). Even if your budget is small, it’s worth considering putting ad spend behind content to get the maximum brand awareness and exposure as possible!
Watch this space for our next blog which will give some further insights into TikTok and some steps to start using this platform in your marketing strategy!