Like any good community manager, you are already thinking about your social media strategy for 2022. And you are absolutely right, because it is getting ready! Want to learn more about the top trends that could affect the way prospects use social media? Find out 8 2022 social media trends to watch now…
1. Social networks are becoming an e-commerce platform
As shopping has become even more virtual during the pandemic, social media has become an increasingly popular e-commerce platform. For example, in the United States, the number of online shoppers increased by 25.2% to over 80 million. This number is projected to exceed 100 million by 2023.
2. Development of Short Videos
Tiktok is a social media platform dedicated to short videos. In the first three months of 2020, it was downloaded 315 million times globally, setting a record quarterly downloads.
To compete with TikTok, Instagram launched Instagram Reels in 2020, which allows users to record and post videos up to 30 seconds long. This is in addition to Instagram’s two other video options, IGTV and Stories.
According to a study, up to 82 percent of online content will be video by 2022.
3. Social networks are part of everyday life
Social media is far from a new concept, but research on the topic has grown by 17% in 5 years. Not only is the number of social media users increasing, but the amount of time they spend there is also increasing.
On average, people spend about 145 minutes a day on social media, which is about an hour more than in 2012.
4. Facebook Remains #1 Social Network (For Now)
Facebook remains the most used social network in the world, followed by YouTube. The platform currently has about 1.845 billion users per day and had a total of 23 billion visitors as of January 2021. The average user spends about 58 minutes on Facebook every day.
5. Less attention is paid to smaller content
People spend more time on social media, but they spend less time engaging in individual posts. Studies show that the average duration of attention a person has on social media today is 8 seconds.
Platforms are adopting this by offering more and more short format content options, such as short videos and ephemeral content.
6. More Augmented Reality Options
Searches for “social media AR” have increased by 81% in 5 years. The augmented reality (AR) market is still in its infancy, but it is expected to accelerate in the coming years.
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are expected to become more mainstream as mobile networks become stronger and faster. By 2023, the augmented reality market is expected to generate $70-75 billion in annual revenue.
Thus social networks have been in trend since a long time. For example, augmented reality has been included in Instagram filters since 2017. In 2019, Instagram stepped up the AR game even further with the option for users to create their own filters.
7. Increasing Use of User-Generated Content
Companies are increasingly integrating user-generated content (UGC) into their social media marketing strategies.
Brands that integrate UGC have seen a 20% increase in the number of repeat visitors and an 80% increase in the time consumers spend on their websites. UGC images are also 81% more likely to be converted.
By the way, here are 16 tools and resources for creating images for social networks.
8. Reddit’s “Unbundling”
Ten years ago, the Craigslist classifieds site was essentially “unbundled” into dozens of different verticals. Dozens of big companies have emerged including Airbnb, Zillow and Ind. The same is happening on Reddit.
Source: Red Website Design