Social media has been a transformative force in the world of marketing and advertising. While it offers brands innumerable ways to reach consumers, the smartest marketers keep a close watch on new trends popping up on various social platforms so that they can figure out how to leverage them in their digital marketing before others do.

Here are 10 social media trends every marketer needs in their strategy this year.

Social Commerce
Social commerce is nothing new, but it continues to dominate social media. Consumers want to have experiences in the places where they are already spending time, and brands are responding by testing shoppable functionality on all platforms. From shop buttons to livestreams to ads to influencers, the social sale is at the forefront of smart social strategies

Using Social Channels for Customer Service
Social marketing is getting back to the basics of relationship building and customer service. Marketers need to get back to using social channels to communicate and connect. Organic engagement is tough, even with paid content, but here is a real opportunity for brands to use social channels for customer service.

Interactive Elements in Social Selling
Computer vision applications, augmented reality and virtual reality are become more visible in social media marketing. People want immersive experiences and are turning to social media for more long-form content. This presents opportunities for social selling with interactive tours, self-guided assessments, or instantaneous product demos.

The Birth of New Digital Entities in the Metaverse
New digital worlds, currencies and social platforms are being born and shaped in the metaverse. The advertising of nonfungible tokens and the minting of brand-building loyalty assets are becoming increasingly valuable, as this previously uncharted territory slowly unfolds and becomes more mainstream.

AR & VR based Social Media Campaigns
AR and VR are really taking off, especially in the consumer market. Marketers now need to think about using these technologies to create social media campaigns. It offers consumers a virtual glimpse into what a product will look like in a physical environment as well as boosting customer experience and engagement.

Brands Showcasing their Human Side
Something that is unlikely to change is brands being human on social media. Consumers are sizing up more than a brand’s products in their social feeds and are looking at how aligned a brand is to its purpose, mission and social issues. Marketers need to lean into this and use social media to showcase their brand’s personality and perspective.

Brand Accountability
More consumers are holding brands and companies accountable for customer service, products and promises they’ve made with “receipts” via social media platforms. Keeping a pulse on the conversation around your brand and maintaining an honest and authentic response plan will help maintain validity and accountability.

Engaging with Younger Generations via Live Video
Brands are turning to live video as a way to communicate with their customers. In the past, brands have used social media as a way to share posts and images. However, given the lower attention spans of Millennials and Gen-Zers, brands can take advantage of these two generations by providing them with a more engaging format.

User-Generated TikTok Videos
User-generated videos on TikTok will continue to force businesses to consider it as a primary outlet for brand awareness campaigns as well as a main outlet to share a business’ environment, social and governance commitments.

Ensuring Information is Trustworthy
People are seeking out community and connection on social media. But when it comes to health and wellness, they’ll prioritise being able to trust the information they receive, which will dictate where they spend their time. Marketers need to respond by broadening their reach to those communities to meet people where they are, which may mean diversifying across platforms.