Something new pops every day on social media, but our digital team identified four trends this year that have staying power:
- TikTok takes center stage. 2021 marked the third year in a row that TikTok held the title of most downloaded app. Downloaded more than 3 billion times since launch, it currently has over one billion monthly active users. Consumer spending on the app increased 77% last year, also making it the number-one app for driving consumer spending.
- Short-form video sticks. To keep up with TikTok, platforms like Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn are increasingly offering short-form video formats. Short-form has the highest return on investment of any social media marketing video strategy. Thirty percent of social media marketers plan to invest in it more than any other trend in 2022.
- LinkedIn burnishes its status as an influencer platform. LinkedIn is boosting its creds as an influencer platform through the launch of a new feature called “creator mode.” The content marketing tool helps users who regularly create content to grow their following, establish a presence on the platform, build a community and get discovered by more of their desired audience.
- Power to the micro-influencer. Brands are increasingly utilizing micro-influencers (accounts with 10,000-50,000 followers) when running influencer marketing campaigns. Besides being more cost effective than macro-influencers (500,000-1M followers), micro-influencers offer access to niche markets and typically have a stronger relationship with their followers, leading to stronger engagement and conversion.
