5 SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS TO WATCH  IN 2022

Trellis - B2B Article / Blog post

Social media has become an integral part of people’s daily lives. In fact, 57.6% of the world's population use social media. That's 4.55 billion people. It is little wonder that businesses want to take advantage of social media to reach their target audience. However, with so much competing content out there, it is important to understand these trends and have a marketing strategy in place.

We look at five of the upcoming social media marketing trends to watch in 2022:

1. TikTok dominating social media

2. Businesses focus on gaining followers on social media

3. The importance of online reviews

4. Business communication on social media

5. Creating short videos

TikTok dominating social media

​

TikTok, a short-form video platform that has surpassed a billion active users in less than four years, and is the first non-Facebook app to reach 3 billion downloads, is likely to continue dominating the social media arena, growing year on year as the most popular social app internationally in each quarter of 2021.

Reaching one-third of social media users worldwide, the app can help its users engage their target audience and connect with them. To connect with consumers, brands must tap into TikTok's e-commerce features. The pandemic has boosted e-commerce greatly, and social media platforms have jumped in by providing online businesses with new features and channels.

• 500 million TikTok users joined last year alone, accounting for half of all Instagram users.

• With approximately 60% of all users being teens (Gen Z), TikTok already outperforms Facebook's app, putting Zuckerberg on notice.

• Over 150 countries utilise TikTok, meaning viral videos can become global. If a company wants to expand internationally, TikTok is a great way to reach new consumers.

While video marketing isn't going away soon, TikTok is an excellent way to extend video's reach. If a brand isn't already using video marketing, it's a simple way to start.

​

Businesses focus on gaining followers on social media

Businesses recognise the value of social media and are actively seeking ways to leave a lasting impact on consumers everywhere. Increasing a company's social media following can grow its influence.

More followers equals more sales and revenue. Followers don't aimlessly scroll. Every follower is a lead or potential customer. Since people have already shown an interest by following, it’s much easier to get them to take the next step and make a purchase.

​

• Brands wanting to create a following on Instagram must appear genuine and trustworthy. Potential customers may mistrust the authenticity of an account if it only has a few dozen followers.

• Shared content, contests, and discussions are great ways to bring fans to a website, boosting traffic. Once on-site, we can convert them into paying customers.

• Businesses can use social media to learn more about their customers and make changes. It's easier to know an audience when there is a significant following and useful metrics. This will assist brands in determining their target market.

• Improved Search Engine Rankings (SERPs). Google doesn't reveal its ranking algorithms, but many experts think it includes social media. The more active a brand is on social media, the higher its site will rank.

The importance of online reviews

​

Brands will focus their attention on getting positive reviews online. A strong online presence provides several advantages regardless of industry, which is why it's becoming a key aspect of branding. Online reviews shape the digital marketplace. They can help build brands, attract new customers, and increase revenue. The stats speak for themselves:

• 90% of customers examine online reviews before visiting a store.

​​

• 89% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

​​

• 32% increase in a customer’s spending caused by excellent reviews.

​​

• 94% of online customers say a critical review made them avoid a brand, and 86% avoid buying from a company with bad online ratings.

Online reviews are an important factor that consumers should consider before engaging with a business, product, or service. Positive online reviews can launch a business or products' influence while negative or fake ones can ruin it entirely.

Most communication will be over social media

Social media can be a powerful tool for customer communication, like speaking into a virtual megaphone to all their customers. Social media interaction with current and potential customers will overtake communication over phone and email. Live chat, whether that be with bots or real sales reps, will become even more common. B2C communication is quicker and easier than ever through social media.

• Respondents to a Sprout Social survey identified social media as the best communication method for connecting with them as customers.

• 57% of customers who feel linked to brands are more likely to increase their spending, while 76% are more likely to buy from them rather than a competitor.

• 91% of people feel social media has the power to bring people together, and 64% of consumers want brands to interact with them.

• 70% of consumers feel better engaged by brands with socially active CEOs.

It's more crucial than ever for businesses to understand how to engage with customers via social media. Social media allows businesses to create closer relationships with their customers by responding to questions and informing them of exciting news first.

​

Creating short videos

Short-form videos are everywhere. Brands are paying attention as platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts less than 90 seconds long build on their short-form offerings. TikTok’s popularity with its 15-second reels. Short-form video is becoming even shorter as platforms like TikTok, Reels, and Vine emerge, favouring 60-second to 2-minute clips. This content gives brands an edge over competitors and engages audiences. A HubSpot report, data collected from over a thousand global marketers, found:

• 51% of marketers who utilise short-form video aim to raise their investment in 2022. Meanwhile, 38% plan to keep investing the same.

• With the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy, 30% of social media marketers aim to invest more in short-form video than any other trend in 2022. 63% of marketers believe video content generates the best social media ROI.

• People share videos twice as much as other content. It also revealed that 84% of consumers were persuaded by a brand's video to buy a product or service, and 72% of consumers prefer videos to text marketing.

• 68% of people will happily watch a business video if it’s under a minute. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 66% of video ads are under 30 seconds.

​

Where do we come in?

At Trellis, we aim to help you with your inbound marketing strategy. This includes not only keeping up with all the latest trends but utilising them to help grow your business. If you’re interested in finding out more, take a look at our services and packages or get in touch to find out how we can help you.