Trends and forecasts in social media marketing in 2022
By 2021, the number of social media users has reached approximately 3.8 billion. That is, in 4 years (since 2017), the percentage of people with at least one social media account has almost doubled. Analysts predict that this number will grow steadily and that platforms will evolve more rapidly. This article will look at the major trends that social media platforms will follow to keep up with the needs and preferences of their users.
Marketplace integration
Over the last 5-10 years, the number of ‘Instagram shopping’ queries has increased by more than 78%. The pandemic has forced the shift to online shopping. Some 37% of all young people have clicked on “buy” on social media, and just over 30% have shopped from Instagram, VKontakte or Facebook stories at least once.
It is predicted that platforms will improve the functionality of embedded shopping platforms to make shopping more convenient for their users, and other social media marketplaces will emerge.
Introducing a short-form content service
The social network TikTok was downloaded 320 million times worldwide in a few months in 2020. People can sometimes sit on TikTok all day watching short videos. Large corporations have incorporated “their” TikTok into social media apps.
For example, video hosting YouTube added YouTube Shorts, Instagram added Instagram Reels, and VKontakte added VK Clips. Analysts suggest that other social networks will follow suit by adding their version of TikTok to apps.
Increase in social media activity
At the moment, there is not only a trend of growth in the number of users, but also in the time spent in the networks. People now spend on social networks approximately 2 hours per day.
The amount of time spent on social networks and messengers is increasing by 20% between 2020 and 2021. For this reason marketers are interested in using social media to achieve their goals.
Facebook will remain the leading company
Facebook is still considered the most popular platform, followed by YouTube. To date, the development of Facebook has not stopped. People are still communicating on the social network and new users are emerging. According to experts, Facebook is likely to continue to hold its position.
Emergence of new companies
Some famous companies have been formed by “unbundling”. Craiglist, for example, was split into Airbnb, Indeed and several other niche companies. Now the same thing is happening with Reddit. From Slack of Gaming came Discord, now valued at $15 billion.
The spread and development of augmented reality
The augmented reality market is also in its infancy. But according to forecasts, by 2022 more than 45% of consumers will use augmented reality in some form, and by 2023 the market will generate $70 billion a year.
Using unique user-generated content
Companies are increasingly using UGC (or unique user-generated content). The number of repeat purchases or visits when using it increases by more than 20% and time spent on viewing content by 90%. It is likely that more and more companies will resort to using unique user-generated content in the near future.