While there is no easy route to success on social media, one possible cheat code is to follow and practice the latest trends across thee mediums. Here is a compilation of seven of them that every marketer should be mindful of.
The rise and rise of social media is an ever-emerging trend. What started as hobby projects about two decades back have now changed the landscape of advertising and communication for ever. As our name suggests, at Sociapa, our fundamental strategies are based on the trends and practices that define success in these mediums. It’s crucial to be relevant and be cognizant of these trends to be effective on these mediums. Here are a few that every marketer should watch out for.
Experts have long been suggesting using video as the preferred format of content. There is no doubt that video content ensures better engagement over static or other forms. However, live videos even surpass the engagement of video content. Primarily because it presents an opportunity to live chit-chat with the community. Surprisingly, the popularity of live videos has surpassed the demand for video content in general.
While the celebrities started this trend, the brands are catching up. This is a good opportunity for marketers to engage the brand with its present and prospective audience. Impromptu live chats are a great way to attract audience’s attention, make important announcements, especially in the times when organic reach has become so limited. Therefore, finding and creating live video moments should be a top priority in the social media to-do list of every brand.
It won’t be much wrong to state that social media today is synonymous to the trending short-duration content that disappears within 24 hours of posting. Better known as stories, these forms of content grab the most engagement on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube.
This short-duration content format is fun, engaging and borderline addictive. We at Sociapa mandatorily include a lot of stories for our partner brands. In the last few years, we have noted progressive growth in the quality as well as engagement for the stories. This personal and informal content makes the brands more accessible and lovable.
Gone are the days of waiting on the call to get through a customer service executive. Customer service is about instant solutions. Every brand should wake up to this reality. A lot of leading brands have already launched social media bots that bring quicker and more personal resolutions for customers. Backed by AI-powered technology, these bots are quickly replacing customer service executives and in quite an effective way.
2022 is being pegged as the year when AR/VR will take a defining turn. It dramatically alters user experience and interaction with a brand and its products. Many leading e-commerce brands, like Lenskart, have already adapted to AR-powered shopping. Through interactive technology, they allow users to try-on products before purchasing them. This immensely helps customers to make thoughtful purchase decisions and build brand trust.
Social media platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook also allow users to try on different filters that involve AR/VR technology. Very soon, with affordable VR gears, the interaction with brands will shift to virtual spaces. The next disruption is waiting to happen – Metaverse!
This is another interesting project in our to-do list. We are exploring how we can use this for our partner brands. Once done, we are sure it’s going to change customer experience and perception for the brand forever.
Already a strong grabber of the marketing budget share of brands, influencer marketing is going to flourish, albeit in many different ways, in the times to come.
Brands are going to engage a lot with micro and niche influencers since the front running influencers are already over exposed in the media. At the same time, the influencers will also need to put in effort to build personal brands. This means deeper and longer collaboration between the brands and the content creators. In the coming times, more meaningful content around the brand need to be created instead of regular updates and announcements.
At Sociapa, we take the influencer medium very seriously and regularly tie up with a lot of them for promoting our partner brands. In the future, we are going to expand this pool and craft more collaborative campaigns with the influencers.
Podcasting is a legit occupation in 2022! Brands are increasingly investing in audio-only content. Platforms like Spotify and Clubhouse have already made it big with audio content ranging across genres. Facebook has also recently launched Live Audio Rooms to bolster user interactions on the platform.
This is a clear sign that this is another trend that’s going to go big in the coming times. One good way to start off is to share utility content in the audio form.
There are multiple trends that are going to emerge and decide the direction of social media marketing in 2022. These ones are top of the charts. As they impact both users as well as brands, as marketers we need to tweak our strategies to adapt to these trends. We look forward to creating some interesting campaigns following these insights. Exciting times ahead!