6 Tips To Help You With Social Media In 2022

Social media is always evolving… always!

Each year brings more emerging trends, new platform features and exciting updates. We’re sharing six major themes of the last year that you can use to create engagement in the year ahead.

1. Shoppable Social Media

Being able to buy/sell via social media has revolutionised the way people shop. Many consumers already research potential purchases via social media so it makes a lot of sense to allow customers to purchase directly from apps they already use daily.

Facebook and Instagram have made it easy to set up online shops. In 2022, social platforms will battle it out to make their features the best. Major platforms continue to invest in shopping features such as links in posts and stories, which make the buying experience much easier and efficient for its users.

Do you have a product or service you can make purchasable on social media?

Even if you don’t you can create more direct ways for your audience to find out more about what you do using links and tags on Instagram and shop features on Facebook.

You can also consider how you can uplevel your online customer care. 2022 will likely see an increase in Chatbots and automated direct messages as an additional tool to interact with customers and answer frequently asked questions about your business.

1. Short Form Video Here to Stay

Following on from TikTok’s success in the UK, reels became a firm favourite on Instagram last year and short video clip style content has now made its way to LinkedIn and YouTube.

Being highly shareable and attention grabbing, short form video is here to stay. Video content will be king in 2022.

Is it time to think about how your business can use bite-sized clips ( 5- 10 seconds) to engage with your audience?

1. Content That Keeps it ‘Real’

In 2022, worry less about the perfect appearance of your feed and focus more on fostering relationships and connection with your following. Try posting more real life behind the scenes of your business on your stories. Share the processes of your business and use the opportunity in posts to highlight how you solve a problem for your clients in real and practical ways.

1. All Aboard the TikTok Train

With over 17 million monthly users in the UK, TikTok is continuing to go from strength to strength and is a valuable social media platform for brands, creators and businesses.

Facebook, Instagram and YouTube might be the most established platforms but TikTok is quickly catching up.

Google search trends show that the platform totally eclipsed Instagram in relation to searches for short-form video content. As you may have heard in the news, according to web performance company Cloudfare, TikTok was used more than Google in the year 2021. TikTok is a more inclusive space and as it’s for everyone and anyone, more and more brands are joining the platform and embracing the opportunity to try something different to tap into the market. With more tools being rolled old, Tiktok is a place to watch in 2022 and launch your business presence if you haven’t already.

1. Get Visible on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is not just for job hunting or displaying your credentials, it's one of the fastest growing online communities currently.

Last year we saw them diversify their offering by introducing polls, stories & live features to their platform. This has brought about more opportunities to share content and grow an audience. With the platform investing more in creators we think this is just the beginning and LinkedIn is starting to see its own breed of influencer using the platform to create visibility and engagement within a broad network.

In 2022 LinkedIn will be a great platform to grow personal brands and position yourself as experts in your field.

What is your area of expertise?

1. The Theme of Mental Health and Social Media

With more time spent online and the pressure to consistently churn out content, digital burnout is a real issue for both creators and consumers. In 2021, there was lots of discussion online about setting more boundaries with social media use and we’re here for it. We might be a social media agency but it is so important to use these platforms in a healthy and helpful way. We predict more content about self-care and more conversations surrounding our relationship with social media and how it affects us.

Involving yourself in this conversation could be a good opportunity to get to know your audience and how they use social media. It could also be a chance to communicate your brand values to your audience.

Instagram has also introduced a new ‘Take a Break’ feature which is currently being tested in a handful of countries to help people make informed decisions about how they’re spending their time on the platform.

Users will receive a reminder to take a break with suggestions for how to spend that time. We hope other platforms respond to this feature and we’ll keep our eyes peeled for how this shift progresses throughout the year.

These are just a few of the trends that we think will be embraced this year. Undoubtedly, the world around us changes, social media will continue to adapt to its users' changes and needs and marketing basics still apply. Simply hopping on a trend without a content and marketing strategy is unlikely to pay off in the long run so make sure your marketing goals are defined.

If you’re not sure how to make the most of trends, we can help. Book a complimentary consultation call with us now: https://www.socialfireworks.co.uk/book-a-call