In this digital age, we are seeing emerging features, social media trends and aesthetics introduced across our feeds, explore pages, and ‘For You Pages’ daily. It can be overwhelming trying to tackle this never-ending cycle of experimental trends within your own social strategy. We’re here to help you narrow your focus.

Below, we’re sharing some exciting industry trends that are relevant across a variety of popular social media platforms to integrate within your social media marketing strategy for 2022. 

In this article, you’ll learn:

• How to take advantage of TikTok’s rise in popularity
• How brands can increase their ROIthanks to micro-influencers
• Why short-form video content is a surefire way tol increase your engagement
• How to humanize your brand through memes

Take Advantage of TikTok’s Rise In Popularity

TikTok offers a number of unique opportunities for brands and creators to communicate directly with their audiences. Whether you’re a beauty guru TikToker or a brand looking to align your business objectives with emerging themes, TikTok is a powerful platform that can help you reach new audiences and grow your brand awareness in an authentic way.

According to AdAge, “if TikTok is going to grow into an advertising powerhouse, it will be through onboarding millions of small businesses that learned social media marketing on Facebook and Instagram.” Today, we see an influx of small businesses leveraging the fun and quirky side of the platform to connect with their Gen-Z, trendsetting audience in creative ways.

For example, Ggita, originally an East Coast deli where three childhood friends moved the business from New Jersey to California, built a captivating social presence by leveraging the humorous and relatable side of TikTok. Combining their hilarious, entertaining content with a consistent distribution strategy, Ggita continues to dominate users’ social media feeds. Their take on TikTok content helped them build a genuine connection with their followers, amassing a loyal following and reaching over 1 million likes on TikTok! 

Not only are small business owners seeing a spike in their viewership, we are seeing bigger brands let go of early misconceptions around TikTok, adopting the platform as a part of their own content marketing strategy. Qiana Allen, the co-founder of Chicago-based Munchiez, spoke at an SXSW panel about TikTok and her initial views of the app.

 “I only thought [TikTok] was for kids that dance,” Allen said. “I was the last one to know.” 

The hilarious videos highlighting @munchiez_store have turned the staff into local celebrities! They’ve grown to over 33.3K followers on the platform in a short time, and Allen has attributed their recent success to TikTok. 

In 2022, brands will no longer be able to ignore the marketing potential TikTok possesses. We will continue to see a rise of content creators and brands adopting the popular short-form video app. TikTok is responsible for many of the trends circling social media—incorporating trending content from TikTok within your strategy will help you quickly tap into the app’s user base of over 1 billion people.

Spend Less & Reach An Engaged Audience Through Micro-Influencers

According to the Economist, “the creator economy and the platforms and tools that allow creative individuals to share content, build audiences and make money, is now worth over $100B”.

Influencer marketing has been a unique way for brands to interact with their audiences on social media, establishing an impactful and genuine relationship with their consumers. In fact, content partnerships with micro-influencers across social media platforms have risen, especially during the lockdown. While micro-influencers may not have massive followings in comparison to the likes of Addison Rae on TikTok, Ninja on Twitch, or Kylie Jenner on Instagram, the small but focused engagement they provide is powerful, and proven to be higher than that of a celebrity creator.

According to Forbes, brands in 2022 will look to micro-influencers for their ad campaigns because of their ability to offer a deeper and more impactful connection to their audience through user-generated content. Audiences engaging with content, whether that’s in the form of using a branded hashtag in a post, participating in social media contests, reviewing products, reacting to content, or sharing their location, is a result of brands and creators providing a great experience for their customers. That’s what micro-influencers are known best for; building trust and an authentic relationship with their followers.

UGC is a creative and effective way for brands to promote their message through organic content, instead of overtly marketing to them. Consumers love UGC. In fact, it influences their purchase decisions. With higher engagement rates, micro-influencers can help usher in an abundance of UGC, giving smaller brands the opportunity to reach their target market in an authentic and cost-effective way. 

How Short Form Video Content Can Increase Your Engagement

Short-form video has and will continue to grow in importance for brands’ and creators’ social media marketing strategies in 2022. Short-form video should be an integral part of your social strategy not only to drive sales, but also to grow your brand awareness. 

• 68% of People will Happily Watch a Business Video if it’s Under a Minute
• ​​Videos on Instagram get more engagement than other formats
• Tweets with videos generate 10x more engagement than those without
• Pinterest reported a 240% increase YoY of organic video pins

Consider leveraging visual-storytelling through available short-video platforms such as Instagram Reels, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts. Learn all about the key similarities and differences on how you can strategically create, repurpose and integrate short-form content and engage new audiences here. 

Humanize Your Brand With Memes

Chances are you’ve probably sent or received a few memes in your online lifetime. Whether it’s a quote, an infographic, or a meme, we’ve all grown accustomed to sharing these easily digestible bite-sized pieces of content to our friends and followers. 

Without hurting your brand guidelines or stepping over any existing red tape, consider a funny and relatable meme to push your content to the next level. Want to join in on relevant moments? Memes are a great way for your brand to connect with audiences in a trendy way! You don’t need to be a graphic design expert, all you need to do is find a meme generator you can count on that provides endless memes you can enjoy; we use ‘memetic’! This is a simple, yet entertaining and effective way to grasp the attention of your audience while benefiting from users sharing your posts.

Today, the most viral content is a result of its relatability; this could be in the form of our favorite T.V. shows, music, fashion interests, hobbies, and much more. From TikTok’s popularity and the importance of short-form video content to memes and micro-influencers, these four social media trends will help you grow your brand awareness, expand your reach, ultimately converting to sales and new followers in an authentic and relatable way. Need a hand? Connect with our Ad Sales team for social media trends, topics, content, and even our creator network to effectively advertise your next brand campaign in a meaningful way.