Social Media Marketing Trends for Summer 2022
How to cut through the noise and maximise your efforts as a marketeer
Today, more than 3.9 billion people use social media worldwide. This is projected to rise to almost 4.41 billion in 2025, while the world’s population is expected to grow to around 8 billion by 2025.
While this makes it easier and more cost-effective for businesses to reach their audience at scale, it also poses a new challenge for marketers to cut through the noise.
So which platforms should you be focusing your efforts on in 2022? What new features should you be prepared for? And how often should you be posting?
Here are our top tips from Verse’s marketing strategist extraordinaire Mehrnisa Khan:
Most popular social media platforms – 2021 data
Last year, the most used social media network worldwide was Facebook followed by YouTube which both have over 2 billion monthly active users. That’s a third of the world’s population.
YouTube is also the second most popular search engine after Google. Instagram and TikTok have half the amount of monthly active users but are the fastest growing platforms.
Should I be using TikTok for marketing?
TikTok users entertain others and express themselves using short-format videos. It is the top growing social media platform and the most downloaded app in 2020 and 2021.
It has a high average engagement rate of 17.9%. In comparison, Instagram’s average engagement rate is only 1.2% while Facebook and Twitter are both under 0.1%.
Statista:
TikTok is most effective at reaching a younger audience of 13 to 29 year-olds and currently, half of its users are under 34. However, adult users grew 5.5 times in under 18 months over the pandemic.
Between 2020 and 2022, monthly TikTok usage in the UK has grown, with a peak of 9.2 million monthly active users in October 2021 across iOS and Android devices combined.
TikTok – Key Features
Still popular: FYP Algorithm, Video editor, Duet, Stitch, Music library, Effects, Live
Rarely used: Shoppable content, TikTok Creative Centre
Latest updates: TikTok Stories, TikTok TV (being trialled in North America, it is built for a TV home-viewing of content from ‘For You’ and ‘Following’ feeds on the big screen).
How to use Instagram for Marketing?
Instagram users inspire others with creative photos and reels that follow the popular TikTok format. It’s great for connecting users with brands, celebrities, friends and family.
The audience is 51% female and mostly aged between 18 to 34 years old. Over 70% of teenagers use Instagram which is why the “Higher Education” category has the best engagement rate.
Shoppable content makes it ideal for businesses selling products or services to consumers as 60% of users discover new products on the platform.
Instagram Strategy
Over half the marketers surveyed by Takumi planned to use Instagram for influencer marketing in 2021. Micro-influencers, with 10k-50k followers, are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to celebrities as user-generated content achieves a 4.5% higher conversion rate.
Instagram – Key Features
Still popular: Reels, Lives, Story polls/stickers, Carousels
Unpopular: IGTV was scrapped & the app was only downloaded by 1% of users
Rarely used: Guides and Time Lapse
Latest updates: Subscriptions (being trialled), multiple3 feed views; “Home” which is the current view with Instagram’s content recommendations, “Following” which shows content in chronological order from only followers and “Favourites” which lets users pick which creators to show.
Instagram is still the main social media account for 16 to 24 year-olds, while Facebook reigns for the 65+ audience
Is Facebook still the “king of social media”?
Facebook is still the top used social media platform but it is growing slower than Instagram and TikTok. Facebook’s algorithm prioritises creating connections with friends and family, co-workers or groups with shared interests.
56% of males use the platform and it is most popular with 25 to 35 year olds. A majority of college/university graduates use Facebook.
Facebook Strategy
83% of marketers use it as part of their social media strategy to connect with their audience. Facebook videos get 135% more organic reach than images.
Facebook – Key Features
Still popular: Event Pages, live streams, status posts, post reactions, catalog
Rarely used: 360 photos, Facebook WiFi, FAQs, Gaming platform
Latest updates: Reels
Is Twitter still relevant in 2022?
Twitter users share thoughts with a big audience in up to 280 characters. The key to the platform’s success is providing real-time commentary on trending events and topics.
64% of the audience is male mostly aged between 25 and 34 years old. 80% of affluent millennials use Twitter.
Twitter Strategy
Over 80% of B2B marketers use Twitter for content marketing.
Twitter – Key Features
Still popular: Explore page, Twitter Lists, Moments and Polls
Rarely used: GIFs have 55% more engagement but are only used in 2% of tweets
Latest updates: Spaces, a place to host online discussions, is being opened up to all Twitter users. There will also be more focus on shopping modules to help users take advantage of the popularity of shoppable content.
Top 5 social media platforms in 2022
How popular is YouTube?
Users find answers from videos on YouTube and share longer-format videos like tutorials.
The audience is 56% male mostly aged between 15 – 35 years old. 70% of watch time comes from mobile devices and the average time spent on YouTube is 18 minutes a day.
YouTube Strategy
It is used by 55% of marketers for content marketing although only 9% of small businesses make use of it.
YouTube – Key Features
Still popular: Subscriptions, Playlists, Live Streams, YouTube Studio
Unpopular: The dislike button was dumped as part of a cyber-bullying initiative
Rarely used: 360 videos, YouTube Shorts
Latest updates: Auto Chapter and Places Mentioned to provide better contextual information about videos.
How should I use LinkedIn for B2B Marketing?
LinkedIn users network with over 57 million companies and 690 million professionals to generate B2B leads. It is best for sharing long-format content like articles, finding professionals by job role and connecting with companies.
The audience is 57% male mostly aged between 25 and 34 years old. 80% of LinkedIn users drive business decisions.
LinkedIn Strategy
96% of B2B marketers use it for organic social media content and lead generation. The average cost per lead is 28% less than Google Ads and message ads have a 40% conversion rate.
LinkedIn – Key Features
Still popular: My network, InMail, Groups, Job board, Carousels, Post reactions
Unpopular: LinkedIn Stories were scrapped as they couldn’t replicate the success of the feature on Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook.
Rarely used: Showcase pages, Events tab
Latest updates: Linkedin Live are bringing popular features from other platforms to B2B marketing. A new “Cover Story” feature lets premium users add a 3-second video to their profile.
The percentage of people who say they use social media mainly to find inspiration (things to buy or places to visit)
Should I be using Pinterest?
Pinterest users find visual ideas and products to plan events, holidays and DIY projects. 77% of the audience are female and aged between 30 and 64 years old. 86% of millennials use it to plan.
Pinterest is used by 25% of social media marketers which means lower competition than other platforms. This is good news for B2C brands because 77% of weekly users discover a new product or brand on the platform.
Pinterest Strategy
On average, Pinterest ads deliver £2 profit per £1 spent and drive 25% of retail website referral traffic.
Pinterest – Key Features
Still popular: Visual search, pinboards, Lens, Chrome extension
Rarely used: Pinterest Trends, Collaborate
Latest updates: Pinterest is focusing on adding more shopping tools to help users find and buy products or services. A new AR try-on feature will enhance visual shopping experiences and reach customers earlier in their decision-making process
How to create a strategy for social media?
Once you’ve chosen your platforms, the next step is to determine your objectives, goals for each platform, how you’ll be measuring this and who your audience is. Research what topics they have shown an interest in based on hashtags or trends, challenges they are facing and what content currently performs well for your niche. Based on all this information, you can start to create a solid content calendar to attract your audience.
What is the best time to post on social media?
Mid-week posts tend to perform best on social media. Platforms aimed at inspiring and entertaining like Pinterest usually perform better in the late evening. Posting on weekdays between 10 am to 3 pm is good for building consistent engagement.
Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Pinterest are platforms that favour quantity over quality and the best strategies involve posting multiple times a day and reactively to real-time events.
Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn are platforms that reward better content over quantity. Long-form content with 1900+ words performs better on LinkedIn. The strategy should be to post 1 – 3 times a week while maintaining high standards for quality.
Download: 2022 Social Media Cheat Sheet
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