The main social media trends in 2022
social networks are constant in a world in which we have become accustomed to wanting everything to the second. Professionals in digital marketing and the social media sector have to be attentive to developments so that companies do not lose traffic or customers, knowing the needs of consumers who determine the destiny of brands and expect to be heard. For this reason, in this article we bring you the social media trends in 2022 that will reign during the year 2022, a year in which listening to the consumer must be more than ever at the center of the platforms. Do not miss it and keep reading!
What trends will emerge in social networks in 2022?
The rise of online shopping has meant a change in many companies that have launched a new business model, with social networks playing an important role. Customers expect the attention paid to them on channels like Twitter or Instagram to be faster and more personalized . Do you want to know everything about the social media trends of 2022? We tell you everything!
Everyone talks about the metaverse
The fusion of the physical world with virtual and augmented reality is giving a lot to talk about in recent times due to the announcement of Meta, the new brand with which Facebook is betting on a new reality through 3D avatars that will connect different digital environments, despite the fact that it is estimated that this reality will take between 10 and 15 years to materialize.
However, the conversation generated around the metaverse will continue to make headlines and make social media trends in 2022 virtual reality, digital meetings, filters and augmented reality occupy more and more space in social networks. That reality sometimes exceeds fiction seems to be more true than ever, with proper names like Minecraft or Fortnight in which young people spend more and more time immersed. Companies are not stupid and they are realizing the opportunity that immersive experiences have for their audiences.
Growth of user generated content (UGC)
According to the professor of Marketing and Social Media at IEBS, Eva Rodríguez , «the trends in social networks will be conditioned by two things: by the new functionalities and inevitably by the situation we have experienced with the coronavirus. The current context has made us change our habits and become more active with digital networks and platforms , as is the case with the rise of eCommerce.
In addition, he assures that “ user-generated content will grow exponentially, because users have it easier than ever to create their own content. Thanks to social networks like Instagram or TikTok , it is increasingly easier to make videos and share content, eliminating certain technical barriers. This also affects brands, which must create content using these features, but giving a more professional touch to what they publish.
Knowing how to stimulate user generated content is key to becoming more relevant on the networks, something that can be stimulated with the creation of contests and raffles in which interaction is sought or through similar initiatives that do not stray from the mission and values of the marks. In fact, the tendency for more and more users to install ad blockers and flee from traditional advertising encourages us to generate new types of campaigns to become visible.
An exponential change in the way of communicating
Marketers will continue to adapt to post- pandemic reality . This teacher explains that “brands and companies must enhance digital content to continue replacing face-to-face events , seeking new ways to relate to the community and related companies. They must continue to provide valuable content to an audience that is increasingly accustomed to using tools like Zoom.”
This also implies an adaptation in the way of consuming and in the audience. And it is that with the arrival of COVID-19, social networks increased by more than 500 million users worldwide compared to the same period of the previous year. This is explained by the need for information and entertainment that we need in such troubled times. Digital content will (again) outperform traditional content, due to the change in habits that we have been experiencing in recent years. At the same time, new ways of targeting and reaching new types of audiences will continue to emerge.
Digital selling : sales strategy
No one is unaware that 2021 has been the year of the digitalization of companies , an undisputed protagonist in all types of businesses. The expert Sonia Duro, professor of the Executive Master in Marketing Management, Sales and Digital Strategy , assures that “the economic recovery will be fundamental and, therefore, digital selling will be the sales strategy “. In addition, she adds that “it is no longer enough to limit ourselves to being on the internet, but now companies and organizations have to be visible and differentiate themselves from their competitors. Therefore, combining social selling and positioning will be key to being a successful company in the 21st century. Social networks, SEO and content marketing They are a magical combination.
On the other hand, Duron considers that in B2C businesses , eCommerce will reach very high demand quotas . “Also the B2B (or B4B, as I like to call them) will take the final step on LinkedIn. Social selling and Employer Branding will be the most important demands to sell on social networks, where to attract and retain talent », he explains. «We are facing a year in which all businesses will bring out their best digital weapons and, therefore, we cannot focus on one trend, but success passes through the combination of all, that is, in the creation of a strategy . And we call this mix digital selling .”
New marketing possibilities
While a few years ago the only ways to advertise on the network were ads, these formats today are perceived as highly invasive impacts by users. That is why social networks like Instagram are exploring new features to offer companies, such as different types of ads that allow users to be caught without having to leave the application itself.
That is why brands must consider how to make their products and services visible on the network, taking advantage of the different forms of sale offered by booming formats such as Reels or Stories and taking into account the increasing importance that the public gives to the corporate social responsibility. People want to stay close to those companies that care about the issues they care about.
The moment of micro -influencers
Fortunately, brands have realized that betting all their marketing money on campaigns with influencers that are followed by millions of people does not make much sense when a much smaller budget can be dedicated and better used if they bet on well-positioned micro -influencers in niche sectors that They mean much higher conversion rates.
The rise of influencer marketing is an opportunity and a trend that will continue to dominate in 2022, with nearly 70% of marketers considering putting campaigns of this type at the center of their budget. Conquering new audiences through the content creators they trust on social networks and to whom they give part of their daily time is a success with which to expand your customer database.
The beginning of the end of fake news
Social media trends in 2022 platforms and traditional media have seen how in recent years the democratization of publishing on social networks has been a problem in terms of the ease with which false news can be made to pass as real. They are the famous fake news , which social networks are standing up to in recent months, joining companies like The Associated Press and Reuters to put a stop to it, as in the case of Twitter.
Fighting to minimize false information will be one of the trends in social networks this 2022, something that Facebook has recently joined with the aim of verifying facts, allowing each platform to resort to sources such as those mentioned to contrast and question breaking news. hour, launching warnings to the user and giving more context to the messages to put a stop to the scourge of bots , hate messages and the constant lack of attention with which the user often shares content without going beyond the headline. Fighting misinformation is everyone’s responsibility.
The rise of eCommerce
Another of the trends in social networks for the year 2022 in line with the previous ones is the rise of eCommerce. According to the professor of the Master in Community Management Álvaro Lozano, «2020 was a very hectic year, also in the digital environment. eCommerce has grown exponentially. So much so that it has already reached the levels forecast for the year 2025 . This sharp growth, caused by the pandemic, has forced new online shopping habits on people who have traditionally tried to avoid it. In addition, he assures that «this new behavior implies interesting changes in the development of online sales integrated in most social networks. Digital sales in 2022 are expected to be much more social.”
Undoubtedly, the situation suffered by the pandemic has caused the acceleration of processes that were already underway. For example, the digitization of physical stores , which has already been proposed and carried out by countless small businesses, when until a couple of years ago it had only been implemented in large retail brands . With this, data collection, customer experience and process automation will continue to increase.
The audio will keep looking for its place
The rise of platforms such as Club House or features such as Twitter Spaces are added to the explosion of the podcast , which in recent years has been conquering audiences of all ages with the success of spaces such as ‘Stretching gum’ Ideal Total ‘ , projects born independently that have come to be awarded an Ondas in recent months, a milestone in which the explosion of this format has a lot to do with.
Those who today need to express their emotions often do so through an audio that they send to their friends via WhatsApp, and those who want to learn in depth about science are likely to end up listening to a chapter of the prestigious podcast ‘The Bear Hug’ on Ivo ox, before than opening a Wikipedia entry like we did years ago. Therefore, it seems clear that social networks will continue to adapt to this format in the coming months.
TikTok will continue to grow and inspire
Álvaro Lozano also believes that the use of new social networks will be a rising value in the coming years, where efforts will continue to be made to add more value to the user experience. “Many users prefer to maintain privacy without sacrificing entertainment. That is why networks like Instagram have drifted towards a social network in which we are interested in what our acquaintances or idols do.
This can explain the constant growth of TikTok, the social network adored by Generation Z in which short videos go viral every day, breaking all download records and constantly being shared on other networks. And it is that, in recent months, it has become common for users themselves to upload pieces of TikTok in Instagram stories , causing organic advertising and an interesting paradox when one platform uses the content of another in order to obtain reactions and relevance . Not even the appearance of formats such as Instagram Reels, clearly inspired by TikTok, have managed to stop the virilization of the videos of this last social network.
