Online businesses and services exploded during the pandemic and continue to grow. This means that businesses need to work harder to set themselves apart on social media and have high-quality website SEO.
Let’s take a look at the top content types and their trends in 2022…
Using video content to keep your audience engaged and connected is still king. The number of big brands using TikTok and Instagram Reels more than doubled since 2020, and live video usage and shoppable content increased, which highlights an immersive social media experience is building. If you’re a small business you may have noticed that your reach and growth decreased on Instagram in 2021 if you were just posting on your grid. Short-form videos are on the rise, 2022 is the year to think short. You want videos that are easy to consume, highly informative and entertaining.
Instagram has made its plans clear that the platform is moving away from photo-sharing to capitalise on video content, which has made TikTok and YouTube so successful.
Interestingly, TikTok has the potential to engage older and more business-focused audiences. TikTok’s age demographics have been analysed and many older users have the social media habits of a 22-year-old. Adult users of TikTok now spend more time on the platform than adult Facebook users spend on Facebook! A large proportion of TikTok’s users are not active on either Facebook or Instagram, which shows you the potential for a new audience.
So perhaps you’re wondering if you should move to over to TikTok?
Well, there doesn’t seem to a winner between TikTok and Instagram. Many businesses report that despite doing well on Instagram Reels and/or TikTok they’re not creating much more than views and some likes – not much real engagement and not making any more profit. The choice is yours and it depends on the objective for your video, either a quick sell and brand PR or long-term brand awareness and loyalty, which works better as a steady stream of short Reels.
Facebook continues to dominate as the world’s #1 social network with 2.91 billion monthly active users, more and more people are craving experiences in smaller, niche communities and subcultures. If Facebook is your place then 2022 is time to make use of Group, Live Audio Rooms and Facebook Live. Facebook Reels are highly favoured by Meta.
Just a quick one on organic growth, which is proving difficult, especially on places like Facebook, paid ads are more effective. So why not repurpose your Reels or TikToks and use them in your ads?
LinkedIn turned 18 and launched Creator Mode in 2021, which is a tool that helps you to encourage, support professionals and amplify your brand messaging. LinkedIn has been traditionally seen as a more professional networking platform but changed during 2020. This year we can expect to see more features and visibility of this new Creator Mode.
We can’t talk about visual content and forget about blogs, articles, images, workbooks, guides and infographics – there are lots of folk out there that prefer this type of content. It’s still important to create relevant and compelling written content because there is a demand for quality.
Social audio communities became huge in 2021. Clubhouse finally introduced a replay feature last year and podcasts are still very popular, they will widen your reach, whether you have your own one or are a guest on someone else’s. Podcasts can be about absolutely anything and are super accessible. It’s a great way to complement your blog content, especially if you’re giving listeners information or sharing stories. Generally, people tend to feel more relaxed when it comes to podcasts, and it’s a great step to take if you struggle with videos.
There’s no need to be camera-ready, you can join the conversation and make great connections. It empowers you to use your voice!
Podcasts and Clubhouse might be in the spotlight right now but Twitter Spaces is slowly evolving and looking like it could be a real contender in the social audio arena. Unlike Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces doesn’t require an invite to join the party because any Twitter users can see and participate. It’s also available on a desktop app. Last spring Facebook announced it’s joining the social audio explosion with Live Audio Rooms and Spotify launching its own conversational audio app Greenroom.
The fact that so many platforms are putting in huge efforts, shows the appetite for social audio and it’s here to stay, it’s easy to join and people naturally want to engage in conversation, and it allows you and your brand to build meaningful connections, which makes it a powerful format.
Tips:
For each new piece of content you’re planning, can you create other types of content to engage your audience and expand your reach?
Are you on the right platform for your product or service? Are you creating the right type of content for your audience? Ask them or look at your stats.
Is it time to invest in the tools and talent you need to branch out into new content types or just get really good at the type you’ve chosen to focus on?
Balance marketing and storytelling! In 2022 businesses will dive even deeper into content automation and SEO but don’t forget creativity and human connection is really important.
In 2022, really get to know your audience and what kind of content they love, get to the point because their time is valuable. Don’t focus on quantity, instead really think about ways your stories and information are being presented. Could that blog be a fascinating video or would an audio version grow your audience?
Social media content creation (aka your business marketing) is like a part-time job in addition to a full-time job. For example, the constant changes on Instagram is pushing small businesses off social media to focus on other channels, for others it’s motivating them to get smart with their social media strategy. So whichever platform is your focus then I’d suggest understanding all of their features and then deciding which one works best for your business to grow your following, leads, sales and engagement.
*Image by Battenhall London from Jan 2022 –The last quarter of 2021 saw big changes in the social media charts. Both YouTube and Instagram, which haven’t reported any official figures for several years, are now widely acknowledged to have seen major increases to 2.3bn and 2bn monthly users respectively. Telegram and Snapchat also saw strong usage growth of 75m (14%) and 38m (7.6%). Pinterest, meanwhile, has seen its second consecutive quarter of declining figures. Discord, however, continues to grow and enters our chart with 150m MAU.
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