The world of social media marketing is constantly in flux. So our social media management experts want to give you a heads up on what we predict will be the leading social media marketing trends for 2022.

Social media use increasing

While there may still be some holdouts who resist social media, surveys find it’s occupying a larger and larger number of people. One study found 71 percent of people can’t resist its lure. And this is true across all age groups.

According to one survey, social media use has increased 78 percent for Gen Z over the past year. It’s gone up 77 percent for millennials, 75 percent for Gen X, and 54 percent for baby boomers.

And users are increasingly turning to social media to help them make purchasing decisions (57 percent). Now, 47 percent use it to stay in touch with favored brands.

Live content

This is one of the top trends in social media. The GenZ and millennial cohorts are flocking to live streaming content the way their parents looked to QVC and HSN to make purchases.

Instagram, Pinterest, Amazon, and YouTube have all added live shopping features to their platforms. Live content offers an immediacy that canned content can’t begin to match. It also provides a way to interact with followers through comments, and provides a sense of intimacy with audiences.

You can go live through audio chat rooms or streaming video, both of which have shown significant return on investment (ROI), according to recent surveys.

Permanent video content

If you’re not yet prepared to incorporate live content into your marketing strategy, you’ll be happy to learn that pre-recorded video content is nearly as successful at increasing engagement and boosting ROI.

In this category, short-form is best, according to several surveys, because attention spans on social media are notoriously short.

At the same time, users may be growing tired of ephemeral content that disappears in a matter of hours. Some brands are reporting that permanent content—whether live or canned, videos or posts—appears to be garnering more engagement than fleeting images.

Ephemeral content has its place, however, because the fun aspect of quick videos combined with amusing content are still firmly embedded in the culture of social media, and proven to increase engagement.

Augmented reality

The technique of augmented reality (AR) is a relatively new but growing part of the social media purchasing experience.

A survey by ThinkMobiles found that:

  • 63 percent of online customers say augmented reality enhances their shopping experience
  • 40 percent say they would pay more for a product if they were able to view it through AR technology
  • 35 percent would buy more if there would be a possibility to virtually try products before buying them
  • 23 percent who used AR technology while purchasing a product reported they were delighted with the experience

Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat have all begun integrating augmented reality into their platforms, so it’s likely to become more widespread in the future.

Influencer marketing

Influencers have been a big factor in social media marketing for several years now. The reason this type of social media marketing is so popular is because it works. Studies show that people are much more inclined to buy from someone they know and trust.

The newer trend, however, is leaning more toward nano- and micro-influencers and away from the big celebrity names. This is good news for smaller brands that can’t attract the mega-influencers.

Nano- and micro-influencers are those with knowledge in a certain niche who have fewer than 25,000 social media followers.

According to one recent study, engagement rates for influencers on Instagram with fewer than 25,000 followers were more than double those with more than 25,000 to a million followers.

Customer care

As we’ve said many times, the relationship between customer and seller is critical to keeping current customers, as well as obtaining new ones. This includes the use of DMs and chatbots to respond rapidly to customer complaints.

Along these same lines, in the wake of the Facebook data collection scandal last year, one of the newest social media trends is leveling with your customers about what you’re doing to protect their privacy and data. Transparency about what data is collected and how it’s being used is critical to building trust with users.

We carefully monitor these top 2022 social media marketing trends and keep an eye on what’s coming up next. So turn to us when you want to get the most out of your social media marketing efforts.