New Year. New Trends.

2022’s Evolving Social Media Landscape

With the new year comes new social media marketing trends, including those which are gaining their momentum from 2021! We’ll explore some of these ideas and you can determine which will fit into your 2022 plans to make for a stronger outcome when the next new year — makes its way here.

The Power of User Generated Content

With the continued advancement of technology and the savvy of users, one very strong trend is that your customers want to hear a great deal more from each other, rather than a corporate entity. In fact, user generated content images alone are likely to convert 81 percent more often. Think about it … that’s a big deal! How should you respond? Start encouraging (and potentially rewarding) customers for publishing their own posts after they purchase a product or service.

User Generated Content (UGC) continues to gain power because it’s the perfect third-party endorsement. Who do you listen to? For example, a salesperson or your neighbor? Taking advice from someone who shares your same position as a consumer (and doesn’t have a financial motive) is going to provide stronger leverage from the perspective of a shared bond of trust. In other words, after reading a user’s content, a potential buyer may say, “They took the plunge and made a purchase, I think I will too.” Seeing a happy customer is a strong influencer.

True or False: Studies show 75 percent of people don’t accept advertisements as truth?

True or False: 63 percent of social media users feel consumer ratings are #1?

These statements are both true and the stats couldn’t be clearer. User generated content is trusted far more than any content developed by a business, or other profit-seeking entity. There is immeasurable value in developing a marketing approach which builds trust with your social media audience. Turn on your social media reviews. Ask for testimonials and reviews at the end of each sale — from both the buyer and the seller. This isn’t scary, it’s a new and unique opportunity.

The Value of Video Posts or “Mum’s the Word”

The moving picture has been a powerful tool for quite a long time. It can motivate engagement, emotion and most importantly … action! Consumers are known to be inspired by a properly produced and well-placed video. However, half of video is audio. Were you aware it’s estimated 85 percent of short videos reviewed on Facebook are watched without sound? Indeed.

Traditional video production has given way to an evolution of creating motivating videos without sound.  Searches for “video captions” have increased 156 percent in the past five years. Consumers are certainly not backing away from this trend, which is why you need to potentially alter the way you produce video. Video marketers are using captions, context and other “no-audio” tactics to convey information. It’s critical to include contextual graphics and subtitles on every video you produce for any of your social media channels.

As much as 41 percent of online video would be incomprehensible to viewers without sound.

However, there is an exception to every rule.

The unique exception in this case is live and recorded webinars making the case for a fundamentally broadcast like production on the web. Often, using all the elements of a television style broadcast, live presentations via video and sound made a big splash in 2021 and are expected to continue throughout 2022 and beyond.

So, is someone in your business ready to become a star? This is the year of taking existing content and modifying it into a format which has been successfully delivering to clientele. Especially when live, this thrilling format for presentation has a great deal going for it. The excitement of your experts in your field, sharing their knowledge and experience in an interactive formula with a real audience, has gained a great deal of momentum. Customers across the internet, in every category, are seeking this style of content.

Is a live webcast in your business future? With today’s technology, they are very doable and can make an extraordinary impact on your bottom line. The sky’s the limit. Give it a try. Listen to your audience. Find out what they respond to and maximize your live and recorded content to meet them where they want to learn.

Other important tidbits …

The simple statistic regarding social commerce is telling us the number of social commerce buyers in the U.S. has increased by 25.2 percent, reaching over 80 million. This number is forecasted to exceed 100 million by 2023! It’s a strong case for optimizing your B2B video content on YouTube to be found by new prospects. In fact, 68 percent of consumers want to learn about a new product through the short form video. All other forms of self-education like test-based articles and pitches score below 15 percent for raising interest.

So, in light of these trends for 2022, what are your next steps likely to be? The frank Agency sees many more tendencies appearing and disappearing in 2022. We touched on a few here, but we’ll continue posting our latest and greatest observations. Stay tuned for other tips and tactics to get the most from your marketing dollar. We’ll keep it frank, folks.