THIS Will Completely Change Social Media Marketing in 2022


- Something is about to change in social media.

Are you ready for it?

Hey everyone, I'm Neil Patel,

and this will completely change social media marketing

in 2022 if it already hasn't.

(upbeat music)

Before we get started,

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Before I dive into what's going to change,

I want you to leave a comment below on what you think it is.

Seriously.

Look, since 2020 with the pandemic,

companies basically were forced

to take digital marketing seriously.

So what do you think it is, that has really changed?

Leave a comment below. I just gave you a hint.

And I already know you're awesome,

and I already know you got it.

Well, let's dive into it.

Lots of companies couldn't rely on foot traffic

any more to generate revenue

because of the lockdowns and social distancing.

This led to huge explosion and demand for digital marketing

and social media is one of the best channels

for businesses to leverage.

Sprout's Social's 2021 index

found that nine out of 10 consumers

will buy from brands that they follow on social.

86% will choose that brand over a competitor

and 85% will buy from that brand more often.

So our competition is expected to grow,

so as consumers willingness to use

this marketing channel to make buying decisions.

You can expect social media to get even more competitive

over the coming year.

And as companies start getting better

and more competitive in social media marketing,

you'll have to compete for attention far more than before.

So here's some things that you can do to compete

in a level playing field.

According to Sprout Social, there are a few key factors

that'll differentiate you from your competition.

The first one is, respond to customer service questions

in a timely manner.

Don't you just hate it when you hit someone up

and you have issues

and it takes them a few days to get back.

You want a answer right then?

No one wants to wait, even an hour.

Time is everything.

A lot of social media users are engaging

with their brands beyond just following up.

You need to demonstrate responsiveness

and answer the customers in a timely fashion.

Next, demonstrate an understanding

of what they want and need.

So what do people want and need?

And as you go about creating content,

you should keep customers in mind

because it's all about servicing them

and providing stuff for them.

It's like I meet some people who are like,

I got the best business idea.

I'm going to make s'more cupcakes.

And I'm like, this is cool, but is there a demand for it?

It may taste good, but if there's not really

a demand for it, it won't do well.

And it's not about you and your brand.

It's about how we can serve your customers

and your audience.

Knowing what your potential customers want and need

is going to differentiate you from all these brands

and other brands that are just churning out content

for the sake of highlighting their products,

their services, and their own brands.

A good way to measure this is by looking

at different content pieces and seeing

which one gets the most engagement.

Whether it's the format, the message type itself,

the content type, whether it's video or text,

it's always good to see what stands out

and gets more engagement.

As you discover the types of content

that tend to perform well, just do more of them.

But here's the thing that no one

really talks about in marketing.

For the ones that don't do well,

don't never do them again.

Every once in a while, whether it's a few times a year,

or once a quarter, test them out again

because trends change and people may like them again.

And then if you do that,

you'll keep staying ahead of the curve

and you'll start doing better.

Next, I want you to create more culturally relevant content.

Today, we can see more and more brands

creating content around cultural events

that mobilized people's attention

like Black Lives Matter and the Me Too movement

and even some mainstream sports events like the Olympics.

So when you create content around

some of these moments and events,

especially the ones that you want to support

and believe in as an organization

and as long as, you know, no one's doing anything unethical

it's great to support events and different people

and cultures and genders.

And what you want to do is leverage them

and show that you're there, and if you can do anything

that ties your company into them.

And not just leverage them to make financial profit,

but leverage them to also help people.

That will resonate with them

and it'll create a win-win situation,

but you should only do it if you truly care.

Don't just do something for marketing.

Do something because you truly care.

You should be listening to what's drawing

your audience's attention and create content

that resonates with those topics.

That includes putting out user generated content

because user generated content is amazing.

Do you want to spend all your time

sitting in front of a keyboard writing content

when other people can do it for you?

That's the example (indistinct) user generated content.

I also want you to create educational content

about products or services that you're offering.

This is where, this is the difference

between selling and showing up.

Look selling is great, but you want to show up

and have that generate sales for you.

When it's about your product,

it shouldn't just be about, hey, let me go and sell this.

It should be about educating

and putting things first for others.

For example, if you have some cool makeup product

and your product helps people

not just put on the makeup quicker,

but just take it off really quick.

Cause sometimes when I do video shoots,

not this one, but for other people,

they make me wear makeup.

And then they'll be like, oh, here's a wipe.

Wipe it off.

And then I go home, still touch it,

I'm like what the heck? This makeup's still there.

But if you can show how product can just get it off

really quickly in one circular wipe,

you're going to get so many sales.

You should be able to show your product

in a way that revolves around your customer's problems,

their needs and their wants,

and not just try to sell to them,

but help them solve those problems.

One brand that does a fantastic job of this,

when it comes to this type of content,

is Whole Foods.

They invest in visual content in the form of images

and videos (indistinct) their audience with recipes

and highlighting factual benefits

and different types of foods that they're showcasing.

And they're super responsive and engaging

with their audience.

And engage with me on social, right?

So it's like, you want to tell people, hey, engage with me.

Just like, I'll tell you right now, check out my profiles.

My Neil Patel ones on Instagram, my NP digital ones.

And this is obvious, but when you tell other people

to engage with you and brands forget to do this,

you'll get way more engagement from your audience.

And you should be actively engaging with them

by answering their comments, their questions,

even looking at their profiles and responding

and engaging their webs on Instagram or Facebook,

or even adding stories or tagging people.

This will all help you do better.

Now, if you need help with your social media marketing

in 2022, check out my ad agency, NP digital.

If you have any questions or comments,

leave a comment below.

I will answer it and I'll help you out.