Predicting the Future: 6 Social Media Trends to Watch in 2022 to 2023

What does the future hold? Well, I'm not so sure. But we can predict the future trends for social media based on this year's popular trends and dominating digital media! One given of the future shows the continued growth and domination of internet use throughout all demographics and segments of the market. However, consumer preferences continue to evolve by reflecting the changes in consumer and user behaviors. While the development of augmented and virtual reality will provide the fastest growing trends in the future, many digital trends will provide opportunities for marketers and users to build stronger relationships, improve consumer experiences, and boost shopping behaviors online.

Since social media users are beginning to demand "better and more engaging experiences" with the continuous release of innovative technology, the forecasted social media trends for 2022 through 2023 include (Geyser, 2021):

#1: Social Media Emerges as Primary Shopping Platforms

Social media platforms are turning to the primary source of online shopping, with many platform leaders offering application shopping and purchasing, such as Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. Other platforms highlight small businesses and directly connect consumers to the brand via short-type videos and posts, such as TikTok. The new keyed term social commerce coins the increase of online shopping and behaviors on social media, including product discovery, click-to-purchase, post-purchase support, and brand connections (LaterBlog, 2022). Recent studies and data show:

• “60% of Gen Zers in the US use Instagram to discover new brands and products” (LaterBlog, 2022).

• “Social commerce in the US is predicted to grow to nearly $80 billion by 2025” (LaterBlog, 2022).

• "71% of small businesses are looking to sell on social media" (LaterBlog, 2022).

• “As many as 18% of US consumers hit a ‘buy’ button on a social media platform in 2020” (Howarth, 2022).

• “Younger people are significantly more likely to hop on social media platforms” (Howarth, 2022).

With current trends showing the increased value of social commerce, the future trends can be predicted to show an outburst of social commerce potential across platforms. Many consumers will begin to expect better and more engaging content or interactions with brands on media. Both large and small businesses should expect online shopping to grow across social media platforms with access to millions of brands.

#2: Short-form Videos are Here to Stay

With attention spans getting shorter by the day and TikTok's dominating content style, the short-formed, virtual videos are here to stay. TikTok has opened the door to short storytelling clips that connect viewers directly to the brand with increased small businesses and prominent brands across the platform. The short-type videos allow brands to tell their story quickly and effectively to capture the viewers' attention and then direct consumers to brands-owned media.

These short-form, virtual videos allow the brands to highlight products, raise awareness, build deep relationships with viewers, and develop trust through personal videos. In 2021, a study found that about "82% of online content [consisted] of videos," and Instagram videos "received twice as much engagement as photos" posted (Howarth, 2022). Need some tips on creating short-formed videos or want some information on TikTok? Check out my first blog for information on the growing platform and how to use its content to best promote your brand!

#3: Growing Usage of User-Generated Content

As I previously discussed in last week's blog, the usage of user-generated content, UGC, is on the rise through brands using consumer-created content to promote their services or products. By using user-generated content, brands can build a strong, trusting relationship with their audience, develop a sense of community, and contain access to unlimited, shareable content for all social media platforms. Since authenticity and trustworthy brands are increasingly important to consumers, UGC builds relationships from user to the consumer, allowing consumers to trust the promotional content and stories users like them.

Recent studies have shown that UGC has seen a "20% increase in return visitors and 90% increase in the time consumers spend on their websites" (Howarth, 2022). Today, consumers are "2.4x more likely to find UGC authentic than traditional branding" (Howarth, 2022). Since consumers trust other customer reviews and rely on consumer reviews before making purchases, user-generated content promotes the brand's products through the advocacy of its customers. Last week's blog for tips on incorporating user-generated content into your marketing plans!

#4: Personalization will Prevail

The internet and social media have dramatically changed advertising and personalization forever. With algorithms and AI, almost all online ads and marketing are personalized to the consumer interest and data provided by recent search history, likes, dislikes, etc. Personalization will continue to prevail throughout 2022 and beyond, with consumers expecting more and better-personalized marketing messages that predict their desires, needs, and wants.

So, what do we do with this? Well, businesses and brands should be leveraging their target marketing through its delivery in ads. Marketers also need to develop advanced targeting and customization to reach the right audiences and at the correct times across the best platforms for their target audience. But, with all brands competing for audience attention through personalized, targeted marketing, marketers must showcase their competitive advantage against competitors.

#5: Paid Advertising is Essential

With more and more businesses focusing their marketing efforts online, prime real estate with paid advertising is essential to stand out against the growing competition. Especially with users’ attention spans shrinking, brands must utilize paid ads to capture the consumer’s interest and attention to direct users to the brand’s website or social media pages. Paid advertising is also critical in competing against SEO ranking algorithms to appear as the top search results when users organically search for products or keywords surrounding your business.

A recent study from Hootsuite in 2022 showed "more than 40% of respondents indicated that the decline in organic reach and the need to spend more on paid advertising were their biggest challenges" (Geyser, 2021). According to data, the survey presented that "the average organic reach for a Facebook post is just slightly over 5%" (Geyser, 2021). Therefore, paid advertising will be essential for brands to gain high reach, exposure, engagement, and retention among their target audiences.

#6: Bring on the Memes

More, more, and more memes. In 2022 and beyond, memes will continue to take over the internet in many forms, from photo to video types. TikTok trends will become more "meme-like" and offer more sharable content across other platforms. Many memes are made for mass communication and enjoyment, while others are formed for a niche group. Memes are easy to create, share, and personalize to either brand or individual's point of view, which feeds into the memes' shareable, viral nature.

Memes don’t need to be fancy, either. They are a fantastic way for “brands or creators to connect with their audience and join trending conversations” (Thomas, 2022). In a nutshell, memes are here to stay and will continue to provide endless creativity or enjoyment online. Don't be afraid to create your memes- the more imaginative and wittier, the better.

What social media trends do you predict for the future of online marketing? What direction are you most excited for in the future? Comment below or email me at grace.martin@email.saintleo.edu to share your prediction ideas. Also, join me for my next blog, where I will be sharing tools for gamification for your brand.

References

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Geyser, W. (2021, December 14). 17 social media trends for 2022 and beyond. Influencer Marketing Hub. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://influencermarketinghub.com/social-media-trends/#toc-6

Howarth, J. (2022, January 19). 8 important social media trends (2022-2024). Exploding Topics. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://explodingtopics.com/blog/social-media-trends

Kenitz, D. (2021, September 6). TikTok videos: A simple guide to creating simple content. Skillshare Blog. Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://www.skillshare.com/blog/tiktok-videos-a-simple-guide-to-creating-simple-content/

Reeves, D. (2020, November 22). 100 killer Instagram ads examples in 2021 (curated selection). SH1FT. Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://sh1ftdigital.com/blog/instagram-ads-examples/

Thomas, M. (2022, January 7). 10 social media trends that'll be huge in 2022. Later. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://later.com/blog/social-media-trends/

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