Social Media Trends of 2022

Social Media Trends of 2022

As we enter 2022 in a full-fledged feeling of renewed hope, social media has been bigger than ever in importance for brands. 

 

So what are we really looking at in trends for this year? Let’s break it down. 

 

Short-form Video Content: As TikTok, Instagram Reels, Youtube shorts, (etc., etc., etc.,) grow in popularity, we’re going to see an uptick in brands using short-form video as an effective method of growth. It gives brands a unique opportunity to humanize and to come across in an authentic manner, which is ever important in a world of ad-conscious consumers. Not only that, but attention spans are shorter than ever with easily consumable content–long gone are the days of long-form content. 

 

Our recommendation? Get in where you can. Integrate short-form videos on platforms your brand already exists on–if you can expand outside of those and get on TikTok, even better! It’s best to set a goal of how many videos you’d like to post a week, and stick to it. 

 

Micro-Influencers: Speaking of ad-conscious consumers, the days of celebrities touting ads for brands are passing us by. Consumers want to relate to people–smaller influencers are making their way into the space by doing just that–anyone has the potential to go viral these days; not just a select few. With less of a pricey spend, higher engagement rates, and more impact on consumers, there’s going to be a huge uptick in the use of micro-influencers in marketing campaigns. Included in the many trends listed by Sprout Social in their recent report, influencers aren’t going anywhere anytime soon and you can expect to see more as we move into 2022, though they will need to keep their content fresh in order to stay ahead of the pack. 

 

Our recommendation? Start the hunt for influencers who have 20k followers or under. See who’s interacting with their content and how. These smaller influencers have a massive relatability aspect that followers love and trust more than that shiny influencer with a million followers and a 1% engagement rate. 

 

Accountability and Transparency: As consumers become more conscious of where their money goes, and who they’re supporting, there’s going to be massive growth in holding brands accountable in terms of ethics. Brands who say they’re going to do the right thing (and follow-through) are going to see more income than large corporations that perform in ethically questionable ways. 

 

Our recommendation? Think about what your brand is doing for diversity, environmentalism, or ethics in general. If you haven’t thought about it yet, now’s the time. Create measurable goals, be open about them, and work your hardest to achieve them. 

 

Memes: Memes have always been a great way to join trending conversations. In 2022, we’re going to see even more brands join in on the conversation, letting loose from the chains of serious, curated feeds. With a massive uptick in brands trying to relate to their consumers (and be a little less serious), consumers are going to be enticed to interact with social accounts that like to have a little bit of fun–that’s why we come to social media. 

 

Our recommendation? Find a way to integrate this in a subtle way. If you suddenly jump into making your page 100% memes, it’s going to show up in an unauthentic manner to your audience. Slowly integrate memes that you can easily incorporate into your brand and niche. 

 

LinkedInfluencers: Two words you never thought you’d see together, but it’s true; after working from home, people are seeing the value of growing their personal brand with LinkedIn outside of their job. With think-pieces and personal content, we’re going to see an increase in personal brands, and more engaging content than ever before on LinkedIn. Another great reason for the rise? LinkedIn influencers have key decision-makers in their audience

 

Our recommendation? Think about what your personal brand’s niche is. What interests you about where you’re at? What’s your story? There are no limits to what you can share nowadays on LinkedIn–it’s a great place to grow a community of folks who relate to and understand you. And if you need help, be sure to reach out to us! 

 

What are your favorite social media trends? And how is your brand going to effectively implement the usage of them? If you’re having a hard time nailing that down, be sure to let us know; we’d love to give you a hand.