Social media advertising trends are rapidly shifting, meaning advertisers are constantly changing and evolving their tactics. Just this year, Instagram company head Adam Mosseri explained that: “We’re no longer a square photo-sharing app.”
Video Over Photos
TikTok, a short video app that has gained popularity throughout the pandemic, dominates the social media environment today. The platform has become so popular that it triggered a heated competition to introduce short videos and live streaming capabilities, such as YouTube’s introduction of YouTube Shorts and Instagram declaring its emphasis on video over images will reels (DeBois, 2021).
TikTok is suspected to surpass Instagram in users with 1.5 billion users over the next twelve months, while Instagram will remain closer to one billion (Hutchinson, 2021). TikTok is also the most used social media platform of Generation Z. These results confirm that people are increasingly using social media to discover and share videos. Marketers should monitor how these changes affect engagement with their brands’ videos (Neher, 2021).
Refined Customer Service
The majority of customer service interactions will happen via social media in 2022. Social commerce is a growing trend that can benefit businesses by offering a direct line of communication to their customers and streamlining the purchasing process (DeBois, 2021). The way we buy goods and services is rapidly changing, but how brands use social media to meet customer expectations evolves even more quickly. As a result, marketers will have to adjust their customer service strategy, the most significant shift being the amount of time and effort spent on customer service (DeBois, 2021).
Transparency, Authenticity, and Privacy
The ongoing pressure on major social media platforms to improve the way they handle content and data privacy will continue in 2022. This high-stakes environment will produce some positive results for marketers but also introduce a new set of challenges.
Not only platforms will continue to be pressured to be transparent, but businesses and influencers as well (DeBois, 2021). While investigating Facebook and Instagram’s negative influence on young users, the Wall Street Journal reported that “32% of teenage girls surveyed indicated that when they had negative thoughts about their appearance, Instagram made those feelings worse (DeBois, 2021).”
While the debate will continue over the roles of traditional media, it is predicted that more fallout over transparency, authenticity, and privacy to occur with platforms and brands.
Creators are the New Influencers
Creators are a new breed of influencers who leverage the proliferation of creative tools to publish their original content. This content is gaining traction with younger generations and is ultimately redefining what influences are valuable in a world where gathering opportunity is scarce (DeBois, 2021). Creator’s advantage over traditional influencers is that they can captivate a crowd or clientele without having to leave their homes (Neher, 2021). This ability has led to the rise of the micro-influencer and the impending death of the traditional influencer.
Algorithm Shifts Will Continue
If you are a social media advertiser, you know the algorithm constantly changes, meaning that implementing a long-term strategy is difficult.
As mentioned before, video will dominate in 2022. It is predicted that Instagram users will gain most of their followers through reels while maintaining their existing follower base with photos and regular content (Sehl, 2021).
This is major for businesses who do not have social media help or knowledge, meaning more companies will be turning towards professionals if they want to keep up with everyone else. This also means advertisers must acknowledge that graphics and photos are not enough anymore and need to emphasize video more significantly.
DeBois, P. (2021, December 7). 10 social media trends marketers should watch for in 2022. CMSWire.com. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://www.cmswire.com/digital-marketing/what-social-media-trends-will-emerge-for-2022/.
Hutchinson, A. (2021, November 14). New report suggests TikTok will surpass 1.5 billion users in 2022. Social Media Today. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/new-report-suggests-tiktok-will-surpass-15-billion-users-in-2022/610018/.
Neher, K. (2021, December 7). Council post: Twelve Digital Marketing Trends for 2022 and how to take advantage of them. Forbes. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2021/12/07/twelve-digital-marketing-trends-for-2022-and-how-to-take-advantage-of-them/?sh=4564e8087138.
Sehl, K. (2021, October 7). Experiment: Do reels improve your overall Instagram engagement? Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-reels-experiment/.
