Top 6 Social Media Trends to Prepare for in 2022

Social media plays a huge role in driving business growth. Since the pandemic, social media has become the go-to place for people to learn, connect and shop. This led many businesses to refocus on their social media marketing strategy on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, Twitter and more. We believe that social media will continue to be important as it allows brands to develop loyal fans, generate leads, and increase traffic. Below are the trends you need to consider to apply in your social media strategy for 2022. 

1. Online Contests 

Social media contests have been found to increase conversion rates by almost 189% (Outgrow). This is why a lot of brands have been running contests on social media. Crafting personalised and engaging content can offer you tremendous benefits. The key is to execute something that you know your target audience would want – something irresistible. You must figure out what your goals are, decide the best channel to host your contest and then create your contest. One of the most effective ways to increase brand awareness is to make people share your contest for extra entries. 

2. Minimum Sales Tactics 

Customers want real connections and not annoying sales tactics. A study by Sprout Social found that 57.5% of online users avoid ads and 47% of those users use ad blockers to prevent them altogether (Hubspot). These numbers are expected to increase more in 2022 as customers expect more engaging and authentic content from brands. The secret sauce is to get to know your customers and deliver stories that you know they would truly love or relate with. Once you have gained their trust, they are more likely to buy from you even without extensive promotions. 

3. Short Form Videos 

2021 has been a year full of short-form videos. Producing short-form videos is a great social media strategy as attention spans are becoming increasingly shorter. Short-form videos that are creative and authentic are powerful as it creates immersive experiences for users which in return can drive impressive results for brands. Short-form videos also push traditional sale tactics with a quick and exciting way to consume information. TikTok has been one of the fastest-growing social media platforms and we believe that we’re going to see more immersive short-form videos in 2022. 

4. Direct Shopping 

Gone are the days where you had to go to physical stores to go shopping. Customers expect brands to provide accessibility and convenience for them. Marketers predict that social media commerce will be an $80 billion industry by 2025 (Emarketer). Being able to allow your customers to buy directly from your social media platforms can encourage up to 75% of online shoppers to purchase from your brand (The Drum).

5. Partnerships with Influencers 

Influencer marketing is not a new concept for brands but it’s expected to be a trend this coming 2022. 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations and 40% of consumers purchase something immediately after seeing their favourite influencers on a brand’s social media platform (Mega Plaza). This is because customers highly value the recommendations of influencers. When it comes to influencer marketing, you need to know the influencer you’re going to partner with to ensure that you have similar goals and target audiences. 

6. Use of AR and VR 

Since Facebook has announced Metaverse, brands have been thinking about how to incorporate AR and VR in their social media marketing strategies. A lot of brands have been using AR filters this 2021 to promote products and it is an engaging and entertaining way to attract customers. VR is also expected to become more popular in 2022 since it provides immersive and entertaining experiences that will surely be effective in convincing customers to purchase your brand. 

Parachute is a social media agency in Dubai that would love to help you unleash your full social media potential. Let’s work together.

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