You know the old saying, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got?”

This might be true in some aspects of life, but it definitely doesn’t apply to social media marketing!

Things change very quickly in the social sphere. Just because your social strategy was successful last year doesn’t mean it will be successful in 2022.

An effective social strategy is one that evolves and updates right alongside the platforms you use and the customers you serve.

It’s time to talk about why you can’t rely on the way you’ve done things in the past, what to expect for 2022, and how to develop a new social strategy.

Let’s get stuck in!

WHY YOU NEED A NEW KIND OF SOCIAL STRATEGY FOR 2022

What To Expect In 2022

If you weren’t able to stay updated to all the changes to socials in 2021, you’re forgiven! The past year flew by. There was so much going on in the real world, it’s no surprise that your focus may not have been on the big moves happening in the digital world.

To get you up to speed, let’s look at some of the key things you need to know about how social media changed in 2021 and what’s predicted in 2022.

• TikTok gained some serious ground! This platform is a reflection of the success of short-form video. For the third year in a row, it experienced exponential growth and is predicted to get even bigger in 2022.

• Instagram jumped onboard the short-form video bandwagon with Reels, which now outperform other content types in organic reach and engagement. This trend isn’t going anywhere and will only get bigger over the next few years.

• Facebook Ads are performing more effectively, particularly those based around – you guessed it – short-form, educational, and entertaining videos.

• Audio content is becoming increasingly popular. The existing podcast format is booming, and social platforms are creating their own audio opportunities: Twitter has Spaces, and Facebook launched Live Audio Rooms and fully supported podcasting. Even YouTube is embracing podcasts and longer-form audio content. Expect more of this in the future.

• Facebook is still the number one social platform (with an aging user base), but users are being drawn to smaller niche communities within the platform. Businesses may benefit from investing in Facebook Groups, Live Audio Rooms, and Facebook live.

• YouTube is changing the algorithm around search and keywords. Tags are less important, but having the right keyword in your title and description is vital.

• TikTok isn’t just for entertainment. Experts predict it will become one of the most important social platforms for marketing in the near future. The platform now has business profiles, ads and a creator marketplace.

• Consumers will want to be able to buy your products directly on social media instead of having to click through to a website.

• Organic reach continues to be a tricky beast. If you really want to be seen by your audience, your social strategy might need to include paid advertising.

• Apple updates impacted the way marketers track customers online and our ability to do email marketing. It’s more important than ever to understand our audience instead of relying on trackers etc.

• Live video is set to grow bigger. Think about scheduling and promoting live videos as part of your social strategy.

Developing A New Social Strategy

As you can see, things are moving quickly in the world of social media. If you haven’t updated your social strategy in the last year, you could be wasting your resources in the wrong areas and missing out on some valuable opportunities.

But that doesn’t mean you should jump on all of the new trends. It’s still crucial to choose the right social strategy for your business and your customers.

Feeling overwhelmed about where to start? Don’t stress: there’s no need for a complete overhaul or deep dive into the future of social media. Not many business owners have time for that!

Instead, you can look at your existing social strategy, analyse what’s working now, review your objectives, and tweak your strategy to keep it up to date.

How To Create Your 2022 Social Strategy

Here are some simple steps you can take to update your social strategy for 2022:

• Review what has been working for the last half of 2021 and build on that.

• Analyse your different platforms and determine which are getting the best ROI.

• Get clear on the objectives you want to achieve with your marketing. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Increase engagement? Grow your audience? Drive traffic to your site? Or generate new leads and sales?

• Get to know your target audience better. Understand the demographics for different platforms and focus on where your core audience is active.

• Focus on the metrics that matter: i.e. engagements, reach, clicks and impressions over likes and followers.

• Get support from an expert. A successful strategy is one that you can analyse, tweak and adapt throughout the year, but this can feel overwhelming if you’re not an expert in social media. Save yourself some time and stress by getting social strategy support.

If you need some help with your social strategy, I can help you harness the power of social media to increase your brand engagement and grow your business. Book a time to chat with me today.