As we step into a new year after settling into the new normal after the pandemic, marketers have been scratching their brains hard for coming up with new marketing strategies to take their business to new heights. Unfortunately, several companies took a hit because they didn’t keep themselves updated and didn’t adopt the trending approaches. So it’s time to evaluate the performance of previous strategies and study how you can get on the bandwagon of trends in the future.

As a savvy marketer, you need to be aware of all the trends to keep your business at the top of the game. So here are some social media trends that you need to watch out for in 2022.

1. TikTok is Still Growing

The app saw its prime point in 2020, but it hasn’t slowed down since then. In September 2021, TikTok reached the milestone of 1 billion monthly active users. Research has shown that 90% of the users log in to the app every single day, and they spend an average of 89 minutes each day. The platform also launched features like business profiles and creator marketplace in 2020, 2021. In addition, there is news that the company is working on an ad platform that can enable brands to sell their products or services directly. This platform can be helpful for your brand, primarily if you cater to a younger audience.

2. Increased Investment in Social Commerce

Social commerce means directly selling or buying products and services on a social media platform. People have been searching for brands online for quite some time, but with stay-at-home situations, people have started shopping on the same platforms too. Research showed that this would continue to grow in the coming years as they can quickly check out without going to the website and completing another step. It is estimated that 97.2 million buyers, which accounts for a good percentage of internet users, will use social media platforms for shopping in the US. The increase in this type of e-commerce makes you think about it; hence you should start creating a social commerce strategy that suits your brand.

Livestream shopping is another trend gaining popularity, especially in the fashion and apparel category. This combines the ease of shopping from home and the personalized attention in a live-streaming.

3. Content Collaboration

Several people switched to content creation in the pandemic. Brands can look for collaborations to get higher engagement rates on social media platforms. Whatever your niche is, there will be a creator with a follower base. You can start by defining your audience and collaborating with influencers to reach your target audience.

4. Developing a Social Audio Strategy

Audio strategies have had an increasing audience since Clubhouse, a social audio platform, became popular in 2021. Even when it fell out of popularity, the idea got incorporated into several other social media platforms. For example, Facebook launched audio features like Soundbites, Rooms, and podcasts, while Twitter created Twitter Spaces to host audio-only discussions. This can be a great addition to your marketing strategy as it can expand your channels at a lower cost.

5. Short Videos are Popular

Short videos are a significant trend in 2022, except on YouTube. It all started with the popularity of these on Instagram and TikTok. Content in the video format is trending on all major social media platforms. Research showed that more than half of video viewers watch the video till the end if it’s under one minute in length.

6. Social Media Crisis Plan is Important

With things going viral in a few minutes, you need to focus on social media risk management and mitigation by creating a solid public relations and social team. It can be anything from negative feedback to site outages; going viral for negative reasons can harm your brand image instantly. Hence, it’s crucial you have effective strategies in mind to tackle such situations. Keep yourself updated on sensitive topics and be ready with sensible communications.

Each day brings new opportunities of trying unique social media strategies for your business. Last but not least, you can outsource your social media needs to an agency like LRF Enterprises. A dedicated account manager can create the perfect strategy for you with quality posts, blogs, videos, etc., that will keep you trending!