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One of the fantastic things about tech is that it’s changing every day. For instance, Google updates its algorithms about 500 or 600 times a year (that’s almost twice a day). And while social media platforms might not update their algorithms as much (although we can only guess), the reality is that Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc., are continually looking at ways to keep us on their platforms as long as possible.
Sure, with recent reporting about Facebook, for instance, people could become less enthused about connecting on social media, and nonprofits could leave Facebook altogether. But the reality is that people will continue to use social media. It’s an essential marketing tool to drive brand awareness. As we enter a new year soon, let’s explore first some of the top trends and then some of the excellent tools to have your brand stand out from the rest.
Top Trends for Social Media in 2022
These three trends aren’t necessarily new, but they’re here to stay and will only grow in the future. While a lot more trends exist, of course, these are the ones that are the smartest bets for your nonprofit to stand out from the crowd.
1. Augmented and Virtual Realities
In recent news, you’ve heard a lot about the metaverse. However, Meta — the parent organization of Facebook and Instagram — isn’t the only company leaning into the idea that we are entering a reality where the non-digital world co-exists equally and in every aspect of our lives through augmented and virtual realities in a metaverse ecosystem. These realities will only accelerate in 2022.
2. Short Video Content
At the moment, one of my favorite social media platforms is TikTok. And the same could be said for many people. However, what TikTok proved was that short video content could drive high engagement. As we know, video is essential in marketing. However, doing fun, engaging short-form video content will only increase in the year ahead.
3. Community Off of Social
Community is vital for nonprofits, but, let’s face it. There’s just so much content on social media. So, it’s hard to build a community outside of pages and groups. Well, that is, until now. Leading-edge brands use social media to generate awareness and create ecosystems and like-minded communities they control on platforms, such as Mighty Networks and others.
Must-Have Social Tools to Check Out
Now that we’ve established where your marketing team should focus this year, let’s take a look at some of the cool tools that’ll make social media marketing easier and help you stand out with your audiences.
1. Movavi Clips
As I mentioned earlier, video is essential. In fact, algorithms are prioritizing content that’s video-related over still images. Movavi Clips allows you to stitch together quick videos into a compelling story and trim as needed. And, if you have great photos, you could create slideshow videos.
2. MuseCam
If you happen to have an iPhone, then check out MuseCam. This app is an excellent choice to create and edit photos. It’s a great image editor that makes it super easy for anyone to use because of its presets and tools. Moreover, it has advanced camera control for professional-looking images.
3. Ripl
Your nonprofit brand wants to put its best foot forward on social media. Ripl is another tool that could help you enormously. It provides thousands of templates and hundreds of thousands of stock images to make your content look great. Further, for a bit of fun, you could find animated images to integrate into your social media content.
4. Tailwind App
If you happen to use Pinterest and Instagram a lot, well, then Tailwind could be for you. Essentially, the app automates a lot of the tasks for social media. For instance, it allows you to drag and drop content, save pins for boards and pin content to various boards.
5. Boomerang from Instagram
Finally, another great app is Boomerang from Instagram. With this app, you could create fun short moving video content by taking bursts of photos and then stitching them into videos. What’s more, it’s super easy with a one-button function. It couldn’t be simpler.
Buckle up! I think we’re going to see a lot more fun and innovative platforms in the coming year that will enable marketers to do really cool, engaging, and immersive content as the digital and offline worlds start to integrate.
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