The world of social media is constantly evolving. New platforms emerge to challenge the established pantheon; algorithms are tweaked to impact the way a platform functions; and consumer taste shifts like the wind, providing businesses with ample opportunities to engage with consumers digitally.
That being said, brands that seek to leverage social media as an essential staging point for their overall digital marketing strategy must keep their finger on the pulse and then be ready to adapt on the fly.
So, what’s happening this year?
Let’s discuss three of the top social media trends for 2022.
#1 TikTok Is the New Social Frontier
If your target audience is Gen-Z, then you need to be on TikTok.
Last year, the video-sharing social media platform capped a year of meteoric growth, reaching more than a billion monthly active users (MAU), and making it the third most popular social media platform in the world across all age demographics.
Along the way, it surpassed Instagram in popularity with Gen-Z, boasting 37.3 million MAU in the U.S.
For B2Cs especially, TikTok is one of the most subtle forms of digital marketing since it’s less invasive, more fun, and makes it possible to transform users into content creating brand ambassadors. And recently, TikTok launched a number of marketing and advertising tools that brands can leverage to further increase visibility.
#2 Influencer Marketing Will Continue to Grow
Influencers on social media offer some of the best ROI of any marketing strategies today, promising between $5 to $20 dollars in return for every dollar spent, depending on which marketing study you cite. This is why analysts project that the total market spend will increase by 12% in 2022, surpassing $4 billion.
We’ve seen this type of word-of-mouth marketing works incredibly well.
Consumers have demonstrated repeatedly that they prefer to hear from people they like, know, and trust—and whose content they wish to support—over traditional advertising. In 2021, an ION study discovered that more than 40% of survey respondents purchased a product or service online after seeing it used or promoted by an influencer.
But brands aren’t just using the platforms of mega-celebrities to share their story.
Rather, they’re utilizing a range of influencer types, all the way down to the micro-influencer scale—those with less than 100,000 followers—to reach out and engage their targeted audience. And this type of messaging is especially effective when brands yield control, trusting the influencer to create authentic branded content that actually resonates with their audience.
#3 Paid Social Will Account for 1/4th of Total Ad Spend
Paid social spend is expected to increase by 16% in 2022, reaching $56 billion in paid advertising on social networks. At that rate, nearly one in four advertising dollars will be spent on paid social.
For this method, brands pay third-party social networking platforms to display sponsored advertising content to reach their target audience.
But why are so many brands moving to paid social?
Because it works. Handled strategically, social media ads enable brands to:
- Show ads to an engaged audience
- Conduct interest-based targeting
- Increase brand visibility and awareness
- Engage in location targeting
- Retarget consumers
Put simply, paid social drives faster results. Additionally, these platforms provide businesses with the data and analytics tools they need to continuously monitor and optimize each ad.
Up Your Social Media Game with Semgeeks
Social media has rapidly become an essential part of a brand’s overall digital marketing strategy. Going forward, a brand that engages on TikTok, leverages influencer marketing, and invests in social ads will be able to put itself in a much more favorable position to target and convert customers.
But that’s just the start. So, do you want to know how to get the most value out of your social media strategy?
Semgeeks is a social media agency New Jersey that has worked with countless brands to drive their social marketing strategy. We’ve shown them how to unlock the secrets of custom content creation and utilize each platform’s unique marketing capabilities to their utmost potential.
If you’re ready to up your social media game, let’s talk.
Sources
Emarketer. More Gen Zers now use TikTok than Instagram in the US. https://www.emarketer.com/content/more-us-gen-zers-now-use-tiktok-than-instagram
Insider Intelligence. US influencer marketing spending will surpass $4 billion in 2022. https://www.insiderintelligence.com/insights/us-influencer-marketing-spending/
Ion. Recommendations From Influencers Rival That Of Friends. https://www.ion.co/twitter-has-released-a-report-showing-consumers-seek-product-recommendations-from-influencers-almost-as-much-as-they-do-from-friends
Statista. Social network advertising spending in the United States from 2016 to 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/736971/social-media-ad-spend-usa/
