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Over the past year, 424 million new users have joined social media. That equates to an average of over 1 million new users per day! 

Social media is always growing and changing. With new platforms, features, and ways of sharing always arising, social media marketing can be intimidating to keep up with. Yet, with social media gaining more and more users and being used more often for brand research and shopping, the investment in this evolving world is definitely worth it. Here are five social media marketing trends to follow in 2022!

 

1. Create Short-Form Videos

Short-form videos are not only the most engaging content form, but they also produce the highest ROI. In fact, people have been shown to share these videos at twice the rate of other content. In addition, 84 percent of people are convinced to buy a product or service based off of a brand’s video. 

These videos can be anything—from a TikTok or Instagram reel to a short animated video on Facebook or LinkedIn. According to bestselling author Neil Patel, “Short form videos are brief, engaging, digestible, and can be repurposed in many different social media channels.” Short-form videos are a great way to reach and entertain your audience in a way that leads to sales.

 

2. Encourage User-Generated Content

User-generated content is a great way to gain trust. People don’t trust ads; they trust their friends! In fact, 92 percent of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising. That is why user-generated content is so important. 

User-generated content (UGC) is any content that is produced by people rather than a company. It generates powerful social proof that leads to greater trust and greater sales by showing that your brand is authentic and has loyal fans. UGC is often generated naturally by consumers who want to share an experience or their love for your brand. However, you can encourage your followers to generate even more UGC through contests, hashtags, giveaways, and more.

An excellent example of a brand taking advantage of UGC is GoPro. The brand has an ongoing competition where it asks its fans to submit photos they took on their GoPro cameras. GoPro then selects a favorite photo each day and posts it on their social accounts. The photo below shows an example of what one of these posts looks like.

example of user-generated content: GoPro Instagram post

This competition encourages social media users to share content referencing GoPro and promotes anticipation to see who will win each day. Encouraging UGC is a great way to build anticipation and trust in your company.

 

3. Invest in TikTok 

While you may still think of TikTok as an app full of dance challenges for teenagers, these statistics from Hootsuite may make you think otherwise:

  • TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2021, with 656 million downloads.
  • TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users.
  • TikTok is the top app for consumer spending.
  • TikTok is the most engaging social media app by far, with an average user session of 10.85 minutes.

TikTok has seen explosive growth in the last couple of years, and it has grown to encompass every type of content and community. Many businesses have begun investing time and money into their TikTok accounts, and they’ve seen great success! Because of the way the algorithm is designed, every video posted on TikTok has a chance to go viral, whether you have a large or small following. This makes TikTok a fairly easy place to grow naturally if you follow the right steps. The figure below gives five tips from Hootsuite on how to go viral on TikTok.

5 Tips for TikTok Virality Infographic: (1) Understand Trends, (2) Use Humor, (3) Keep it Short, (4) Try Hashtags, (5) Encourage Interaction

By following these steps, you can gain a following on TikTok. TikTok’s huge growth, high engagement rates, and unbiased algorithm make it a great place to grow your brand!

 

4. Market on Multiple Platforms

Marketing on multiple platforms allows you to get the best out of each one. Currently, 64 percent of marketers are leveraging three to five different social media platforms. If you are worried about how to come up with content for that many platforms, don’t be! Most content can be repurposed to fit almost all platforms with some slight tweaking. Repurposing content allows you to save time and money, streamline your posting strategy, and continually keep each of your platforms up to date. 

 

5. Set Up Your Shop

Social media is turning more and more into a shopping platform. In fact, consumers can now buy products straight from social media profiles on some platforms. And they’re doing it, too! Every month, an average of 130 million people click on an Instagram shopping post. In addition, 81 percent of people say that Instagram helps them research products or services. Not only does Instagram allow you to set up a shop directly on your profile, but it also allows you to tag up to five products in your regular stories and feed posts. These tags are a great way to direct traffic to your shop from your posts! 

Here are four tips from Later that will help your Instagram shopping posts to convert.

4 Tips for Instagram Shopping Post: (1) Use a strong CTA, (2) Maintain your aesthetic, (3) Space out shopping tags, and (4) Add relevant hashtags

In 2022, set up your Instagram shop, and follow these tips to create Instagram shopping posts that convert and direct traffic to your shop.

 

As you follow these five social media trends in 2022, you will see significant growth in your sales through increased brand awareness and image. If you need help implementing any of these trends, try reaching out to a third party. Here at Stage Marketing, we offer digital marketing services, including social media marketing, that can help you generate sales, delight your customers, and grow profitably. Contact us now!