The past two years have forced major changes to the way that we interact with others on a personal, professional and social level. But the rapid developments of the COVID-19 pandemic – and the effects these have on the social world – don’t seem to have slowed our social media consumption, so what social media trends should we be expecting in 2022?
There is lots happening but like a TikTok video let’s make this short (how short is short though in 2022) …
Video is getting bigger and longer thanks to TikTok
The young social media star, TikTok, rose to fame during the first leg of the pandemic, and soon became the first non-Facebook app to reach 300 million global downloads. At the time, short-form video content had already gained popularity with Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and Twitter Spaces, but TikTok really cemented the trend.
But TikTok is evolving. In the beginning, TikTok app limited videos to 15 seconds but that limit has been increased twice since – first to 60 seconds and now to 3 minutes. The other social media sites quickly followed suit and now consumers are comfortable with the long form format, no matter where you post your content.
Irrelevant of the platform or whether you are looking for the engaging 15 second video or an informative 3 minute one, the bottom line is that you need to be creating video content. A study published by CISCO suggests that in 2022, 82% of all content posted onto social media will be in video form – make sure you are part of that statistic.
Ecommerce and augmented reality takeover
Snapchat was an early adopter of augmented reality but expect to see more augmented reality and virtual “try before your before buy” ecommerce experiences brought to you from the Meta family of social apps (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp). It’s not a surprise that Meta will be doing creative things in the ecommerce space when Zuckerberg himself said late last year “our three product priorities remain our focus on creators, commerce and building the next computing platform.”
How it will take off is still to be seen, but as a company thinking about ecommerce, don’t wait. Instagram is already a great place to get a taste of the online purchasing environment and is sure to stay popular long into the future.
Authenticity is still everything
The textbook influencer which we have all grown to know is – almost – a thing of the past. Since the pandemic hit, we have seen a new class of people rise on the social media platforms; the “everyday influencer.” With so much change and discomfort over the past two years, consumers are no longer looking for the unattainable standard but rather an authentic person, who is almost unbelievably relatable.
Going hand in hand with the rise of video content, authenticity is going to be a big seller in the social market of 2022. When posting content think, “would I speak like this to my friends?” If the answer is no, its time to rework the angle. But if the answer is yes, you are on the right track to master 2022.
To find out how to best incorporate these trends into your social media plan in 2022, contact us today.