Hootsuite Report: What are the top 5 social media trends in 2022?

Hootsuite has released its sixth report presenting the top 5 trends in social networking in 2022. Through the analysis of 18,000 marketers, this report highlights behaviours and new rules. But what are these new trends? And how to adapt to them? Let's take a look together!

The importance of Tik Tok

Tik Tok has become the 7th most popular social network in the world. The application has more than one billion users as of September 2021. Excluding messaging networks, Tik Tok is the 4th most popular social network in the world, after Facebook (2.7 billion), Youtube (2.4 billion) and Instagram (1.2 billion). 

The number ofusers continues to grow. Indeed, in January 2021, 689 million monthly active users with an increase of 45% in less than a year. In comparison, Instagram has seen its number of monthly subscribers increase by 6% in 2020.

Another indicator of Tik Tok's success is the number of searches on search engines. In the last 12 months, the number of searches has increased by 173%, while the demand for searches for Instagram Reels has increased by only 22%, and even decreased by 33% for Stories. 

Despite these impressive numbers, companies are still hesitant to invest in the network. Businesses continue to invest in networks such as Instagram and Facebook, but 35% of respondents say they plan to increase their investment in Tik Tok in the next 12 months.

These figures reflect the importance of Tik Tok, and the place that this network will take in the marketing strategy of companies. 24% of respondents believe that Tik Tok is the most effective social network to achieve their goals, an increase of 700% compared to 2020.

So, in order to meet this growing demand, Tik Tok is introducing useful new business tools in 2020 and 2021 for business profiles, advertisements and a designer marketplace.

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Advertising expenditure directed towards small social networks

The impact of advertising is evolving, and is becoming more and more effective on networks such as Tik Tok, Pinterest or Snapchat. Indeed, these networks are less saturated with advertisements than Instagram or Facebook for example.

Hootsuite chart decrypting social media investment in 2022

This new trend is confirmed in particular by the following three studies: 

  • The study KantarA study commissioned by Tik Tok found that users liked Tik Tok ads more than ads on other networks and found them to be more inspiring and enjoyable. 
  • The study of Nielsen, commissioned by Snapchat, proves that ads on Snapchat have a greater effect than TV ads. This is reflected in increased awareness and purchase intent. 
  • The study Pinterest Business indicates that ads on Pinterest have a higher return on investment and lower conversion rates than ads on other social networks.

These studies confirm the trend towards smaller networks for the delivery of advertisements, which appear more natural, entertaining and attractive to users.

A trend towards buying directly from social networks

The period of teleworking has generated an increase in the use of social networks. As a result, purchases via social networks have increased. According to the eMarketerSocial commerce will be an $80 billion industry by 2025. 

Most social networks are integrating integrated shopping solutions into their platforms to meet the growing demand.

The success of paid advertising

Paid advertising complements natural reach, which is declining. Indeed, 44% of those surveyed indicate that increased advertising budgets are needed to address the decline in natural reach on social networks. 

It is still possible to go viral without allocating a budget, on Tik Tok for example. However, it is still necessary for companies to learn how to boost their content, regardless of the budget allocated, in order to continue to develop the communities acquired on the various social networks. 

You can activate paid sponsorship on the networks in different ways. For example, it is possible to sponsor your filter in a story on Instagram and Facebook. So by sponsoring your filter you will give it more visibility. It appears in the stories feed, to ensure a wide distribution and an increased number of impressions.

Customer service by telephone is tending to fade away

According to a Nielsen study commissioned by Facebook, 64% of respondents said they would rather send a message than call a business. In addition, Gartner states that 60% of all customer service requests will be handled via digital channels by 2023. As a result, effective customer service on social networks is becoming a necessity in order to meet growing user demand.

Hootsuite business graphic

According to the Trends 2022 Hootsuite report, 36% of organisations have not yet started investing in customer service on social media, and 34% do not even plan to do so. The report also suggests that this trend is evolving and changing. Indeed, 59% of respondents agree that customer service on social networks has increased in value to their organisation.

Thus, the importance of Tik Tok, the rise of advertising expenditure on small social networks, the rise of purchasing via the networks, the success of paid advertising or the customer service by telephone which tends to disappear are the main social network trends to be retained for 2022.

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