5 Tips to Stand Out on Social in 2022

From the rise of TikTok to the launch of Meta and LinkedIn Articles for Pages, social media transformed (again) before our eyes last year. We saw some companies slay on social media and others go totally quiet .?

What does all this mean for 2022? Our team of social experts compiled five tips to make sure you’re optimizing your social presence and standing out amid the noise and increasingly crowded space.?

1. Consider executive visibility an essential digital touchpoint?

Sixty-eight percent of Fortune 500 CEOs were active on social media in 2021, up from 40% in 2016 . If you don’t have a solid social program for key executives, get one fast. If you do, refresh your strategy to leverage trends and ensure executive content aligns with the quickly-changing times.?

As the pandemic enters its third year, brands need to prioritize digital thought leadership. Customers, partners, investors and employees alike want to hear from leaders — especially during uncertainty. In-person events remain unpredictable, but executives can humanize and provide accessibility to a brand through social media. An effective program builds influence, credibility and relationships.?

Top takeaway: The right executive content can instill confidence and generate brand affinity. Start by creating messaging with a clear point of view, and devise a channel strategy that puts your executives where their most important audiences are listening and engaging.?

2. Stay on top of new premium capabilities

Last year, Twitter rolled out a subscription-based program providing exclusive access to certain content and features. Twitter Blue , for example, enables users to customize their navigation bars to go straight to the content they care about most. They also have access to the coveted “undo tweet” function (albeit you only have a max of 60 seconds to edit). And Super Follows gives users a way to earn money by sharing subscriber-only content with their Twitter followers.?

Brands need to be aware of this gradual movement towards premium, subscriber-based models and how they change the user experience. While these capabilities might not be used by the majority of your audience, consider this a friendly reminder to ensure the content you’re publishing on brand channels is adding value.

Top takeaway: As premium users gain more control over what they see and when, brands may have a harder time breaking through the noise. Social strategies should be adjusted accordingly. For example, tap into the Super Follower trend by partnering with influencers on Twitter. (Note, there are also early signs that Twitter might roll out its own version of business profiles – a feature that will actually favor brands down the line. More to come there.)?

3. Provide a sense of community

For the first time in a while, we expect social media to start bringing people together instead of driving them apart. Facebook groups, Twitter Communities and Reddit subthreads are becoming more popular as the networks release platform updates to improve the community experience.?

The proof? Last year, Reddit’s daily active user count grew 44% YoY . Not to mention 1.8 billion people use Facebook groups every month.?

Brands that want to play a part here should take a more human and personable tone in contrast to the heavily-messaged (and overly-boring) corporate jargon. With a more relatable voice, brands can create a sense of familiarity and connect more organically with their audiences, as seen by the top brand tweet of 2021 .?

Top takeaway: Ditch the marketing speak and talk like a person to people. To build your own group, start with polls and questions that encourage your community to share and help you understand them better. Or tap into an existing group that resonates with your key audience.???

4. Stand out with scroll-stopping content??

Regardless of industry, your audience is inundated with content from brands vying for their attention. As many as 4 million businesses use Instagram Story ads every month. Brands need eye-catching content and social-first formats to really stand out.?

We’ll see a rise in memes, storytelling through video clips, easy-to-digest infographics, compelling quote cards, polls, live Q&As, one-liners and other scroll-stopping content. Remember that each platform’s audience has a preferred way of consuming, so there’s no one-size-fits-all.

Top takeaway: Make sure your social content is actually content made for social. Tap into new formats and avoid copy and pasting without customization. Ensure you’re delivering content that’s important to your audience — entertain, inform, educate.

5. Get ready to tell a bigger story in more ways than one?

In 2021, we saw some big-name social platforms roll out longer versions of their most well-known features. Take Instagram, which launched the 60-second story , and TikTok’s video expansion from 1 minute to 3 . LinkedIn also deployed longform posts for company pages — a feature that was previously only available to individual users.

We believe these formats indicate a broader storytelling shift. People don’t just want sound bites of facts and figures. They want the full narrative and expect greater context from the brands they care about most.?

Top takeaway: New ways to tell stories are fueled by user demand. For brands, there’s a chance to meet these interested audiences with greater authenticity, more empathy and new energy. Your audiences want to see themselves in your content. Show them you understand them and can help them solve a problem. Afterall, marketing is really about building relationships that last and the right stories have lasting impressions.?

We’re Here to Help You Stand Out

The ever-changing social media landscape inspires our team, and we believe a great story can change the world. We’re here to help you tell yours .