As you may have already seen, this month of January we have dedicated ourselves to compiling the trends of 2022 for you. Last but not least, today we bring you this year’s social media trends.
Do you want to discover them? Keep reading!
10 social media trends for 2022
In recent years, social networks are an almost essential tool for any type of business, so it is worth keeping up to date with what is new and trending in order to apply it in the digital strategy.
1. Sales on social networks and livestream selling
The pandemic caused online purchases to skyrocket and social networks noticed this boom. That is why one of the trends that we have seen in 2021 and will continue to see in 2022 are the purchases within the app or social network.
Later you will also see the rise of eCommerce, which is linked to the phenomenon of network sales. Because? Well, because that way users do not need to leave the platform they are using to be able to purchase their products or services.
In networks such as Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest, you can already buy and sell within their apps.
On the other hand, we also want you to take into account purchases in stream. It is a phenomenon that has already been seen during 2021, especially on Facebook and in Asian countries.
Streaming sales consist of selling during live and direct broadcasts. Here is a video that explains the phenomenon, and then an example of Live Streaming with Kim Kardashian’s products in China… This woman is in everything!
Do you think livestream selling will prevail in the West?
2. Influencer marketing is more alive than ever
As we have already told you in several of our articles, digital marketing and network influencers are good friends.
Thanks to influencer marketing, your business can target a broader and more appropriate audience, always making sure that your brand’s vision and values are in line with those of the chosen influencer.
The trend continues to focus on micro- and nano-influencers, who have 1,000 to 100,000 followers. For that reason, the trend of the networks will be to focus more on the content creators than on the brands themselves. How about?
3. Video marketing
The rise of TikTok will also be a trend this 2022. We know that this year, 80% of global Internet traffic is expected to come from downloading and viewing audiovisual content.
This content is one of the most effective channels to inform, educate and understand your customers.
That is why we will see more and more how social networks have added video options. We have seen it with the Instagram Reels and also the rise of Twitch.
In addition, the trend will be mostly short clips or videos. Here is an image of how the Youtube shorts look in the APP.
Will you join this trend?
4. The metaverses
Surely you have heard the word Metaverse recently. Facebook has changed its name to Meta. You’ve probably already seen it somewhere, for example, when you open the Instagram app, instead of “created by Facebook” it says “created by Meta”. But what is that metaverse thing?
Metaverses are virtual universes with a large number of advanced and gamified features through which users build and interact with each other.
In short, metaverses try to compete with the real world, much like a video game. Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg has already said that his intention is for users to become avatars and participate in the company’s metaverse.
Technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality, also trends for this 2022, will allow social networks to have a wide variety of options to expand into multiverses.
We’ll see how that trend evolves!
5. User Generated Content or, in English, the “User Generated Content” (UGC)
Last year we already saw how the UGC trend, and this year we highlight it again. We tell you why.
As you already know, UGC is the content that users create on social networks of their own free will. Users create quality content for the brand and also value this type of interaction.
UGC is a tool that provides you with 5 very important advantages:
- Promote brand image
- Improve the SEO of your website
- Improve user experience
- Improves brand reputation
- Reduce investment in content creation
There are countless UGC options, we give you some ideas: reviews of your company, product or service, posts on your social networks, use a hashtag, make product unboxing videos, promote discount codes…
Kiabi, for example, does not generate content for its networks but rather uploads images that its clients publish on their networks. Did you know? Here you can see it!
6. Community development
A trend that we have seen from companies in general is the importance of having a project. Companies with a social purpose are the ones that shine the most these days.
Users prefer companies that have a social purpose and, consequently, a community behind it. And social networks help a lot to build this community. The approach of your business in social networks must be strategic to develop content around the interests of the consumer.
Is your goal to establish loyal and engaged communities? If your answer is “yes” we will tell you what we know: social networks create very powerful communities outside of brands and those social communities can come together and grow very quickly.
If you have the right message and intention, have no doubt that your community will grow and be loyal to your brand.
Here we leave you an example of a brand with a purpose that has a community closely linked to them
7. Audio and podcasts
Some studies indicate that the increase in listening to podcasts is unstoppable. Insider Intelligence predicts that by 2023, 25% of digital audio will be in podcast format in the United States.
The ClubHouse app has been on the rise since Elon Musk interviewed him. Twitter has also launched its Spaces audio platform and Facebook is also trying to gain a foothold in the ephemeral live audio format.
8. Investment in new social networks
We know that advertising on social networks is very common. For that same reason, costs have skyrocketed in the best-known networks and, consequently, used at the moment.
That is why this 2022 your company may consider investing in new platforms. It is true that TikTok is very “new” in the world of company advertising, but since it has boomed, it is no longer very cheap.
On the other hand, we see that investing in platforms such as Twitch, Reddit, Discord or Kwaii are very valid options to promote your products or services.
Do you plan to invest in new social networks? Or do you prefer to stick with what you already know?
9. Rise of eCommerce
As we have already commented in previous points, the rise of eCommerce is a reality. You already know that with the pandemic everything took a turn and the increase in this trend was exponential.
Did you know that electronic commerce has reached the levels expected for the year 2025? Well yes! And this has led to the emergence of new consumption habits and online purchases. This also entails changes in the development of online sales integrated into most social networks. And it is expected that online sales this 2022 will be much more social.
What does that mean? Well, as a normal part of all eCommerce, the presence in social networks of businesses that were previously physical stores has increased and will continue to do so.
Therefore, if your company is not yet on the right social networks, this is a very good year to start.
10. Youtube Gaming
¿Más novedades de Youtube? Well yes! The truth is that this platform is up to date with everything. But, what is that of YouTube Gaming? We tell you!
As you may have seen, Twitch, the streaming platform, is being a success. And YouTube may be affected by it. Why? Well, because YouTube has been the social network par excellence for, among other communities, gamers.
Gamers like Ibai Llanos started on YouTube and continued on Twitch. That is why YouTube has updated its streaming platform, which has been running in Spain since 2016, to make it more attractive to the gamer world.
Do you want to know what those updates are? Here they are:
- New pay methods for creators similar to those on Twitch
- Subscriptions with different payment levels
- Ability to gift subscriptions
- Option to redirect chat from one channel to other streamers (on Twitch this is called “hosting” and “raids”).
Here is the link to Youtube Gaming:
What do you think of these trends? Did you intuit any or have they all come to you again? Are you going to implement any of them?
If you have any questions or would like to start working on any of these trends for your company, do not hesitate to contact us! We will advise you in a personalized way according to your needs and objectives.
