Over the last few years, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin haven’t visually changed that much. If you have been consistently using social media over the last 18 months, you might not have even noticed, and for those who have been on a sabbatical, you’ll find no more changes than you would on your Amazon Prime or Netflix user displays. So what has changed with social media in 2022.
Though the visual consistency might come as some comfort, how we use social media has changed. It’s now more challenging than ever, but then that’s to be expected from an industry that changes so quickly; I’ve been pressing this fact for a long time.
But why the change
As mentioned, social media is forever changing, but not never as fast as in the last 18 months. For me, the main cause has been how the pandemic crisis has either changed or enhanced (however you see it) how people use social media. Working from home, online networking, flexible working hours, the increase in self-employed people, and the growing trend for everyone wanting to become an influencer have all played a part in how to view and use social media. The continued development of social media in 2022 is going to be really interesting.
With so much around how we use it changed, I thought it best to highlight my top five things you should consider in 2022.
Do what TikTok does.
Although Meta (aka Facebook and Instagram) are social media juggernauts, TikTok has been setting the trends over the last few years. In 2021 Tiktok gained had a larger user growth over Facebook, 18.3% to 0.8%, respectively. At the same time, Instagram grew by 3.4%. So whatever Tiktok is doing is appealing to a large audience.
It’s easy to say that “Tiktok is for a younger audience”, but all platforms have to target their largest user base, and the rest of us have to follow. In 2022, Facebook and Instagram’s largest audience was between 24 –35 (around 31%), while Tiktok’s is 10 – 19 (25%). So it makes sense for the platforms to adapt, and the rest of us get used to it. If platforms focused more on their traditional generation than their largest growing audience, we would still have VHS and cassette tapes.
So get on board with the short form video, dancing to music tracks and allowing people to randomly respond to your video with more videos.
Visibility is still important.
Social media platforms are heavily promoting influencers. Consumers are fed up with hearing what their friends and family are doing, and thankfully we’ve gone past that stage of taking photos of anything and everything we eat, so influencers are ‘IN’. Being an influencer doesn’t mean you have to dress up and do some form of Fortnight dance (ask your kids) to be famous, but you do need to keep posting repeatedly across many platforms to become a so-called ‘influencer’. Although I recommend as many platforms as possible, focus on one platform above the rest. You will use this platform to get those on the other platforms back to. Putting everyone in one place makes networking easier down the line.
For me, it’s Facebook; for you, as a decorator, it might be Instagram or LinkedIn. I say to always go with the platform people are likelier to message you on.
Being popular in the eyes of the platform will encourage the platform to send your content to more people with similar interests. Don’t go making random prank videos just to become famous. No sticking the apprentice in the back of the van with tins of paint and taking corners at speed. Just record videos on what you do best, and your audience will find you.
It’s a Gogglebox world.
The biggest kickback we get from clients when telling them to post is, ‘I don’t have any good photos. 2018 that would have been an issue. But in 2022, it’s nothing to worry about across social media. That’s because there seems to be a rising trend in behind-the-scenes content. Image pre-2021 was all about watching a magician throw a card at the window and make it stick on the inside. In 2022 no one cares about how the trick finishes; they just want to know how it was made. Another example is if the first ever film had been made in 2022, the behind the scenes footage would be what we watched at the cinema, and the final film would be a bonus extra.
This is major for you. As someone onsite painting and decorating all day, every day, you have the tools at your disposal to make lots and lots of amazing content. Yes, at the moment, this trend is confined you a younger audience, but as I mentioned above, where the youngsters go, the platforms follow, and we oldies have to jump onboard or be social media less. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready for that just yet.
As this is a growing trend, jump on it early. Focus on short stories sharing them on Facebook and Instagram and saving them in folders. You can then take this content and repost it as a post a few weeks later.
Don’t dodge paid ads.
We all want something for free, but that’s just not how businesses on social media can work anymore. If you can’t get past that, you should either have pushed harder on social media a few years ago when I told you to or just stop using social media and miss out on the amazing chance of clients.
Social media used to be free. You could stick up a Facebook post on your page and have 2000 people see it by lunch. But that’s when Facebook needed you more than you needed it. Social media is a juggernaut, and there’s no way to stop it. As a business, if you want to be seen and move to that influencer status that I mentioned before, you need to pay for a ticket and jump on board. You need to be advertising.
In 2020 I was all about creating ads that pushed people to your website. In 2021 and 2022, I promoted the need to get Facebook page likes, and although that is important and you should be running these ads, I believe 2022 is going to be more around pushing carousel ads. Admittedly, you need to have some imagery of end projects, but only a maximum of 5. If you don’t have those and you have no projects lined up, get out your spray gun and decorate your own home and that of a friend. Spending a day doing this could create thousands in potential income from new customers.
Before running your first ad, make sure you have your landing page, Facebook form, or download ready so that when they click, you can collect that must needed data.
Be the first.
Consumers in 2022 are getting less likely to call. I don’t know if the pandemic made us more isolated and discouraged from speaking to new people or just the way society has gone. But we, as customers, have got extremely lazy in a one-click world. Now, we search for something, find, submit our details and wait to be called or emailed.
I remember when customers would call, believing it was important to show how keen they were to use our services. Now customers sit there, almost expecting us to compete for their custom, and normally the first to call gets the job. This mentality has made Facebook & Instagram direct messages more relevant than ever, as well as WhatsApp and text. Most decorators would have experienced the 11 pm social media message demanding an immediate quote without providing any details.
The crazy thing is the number of leads that get left, forgotten about or deemed timewasters. I’m not employing you need to reply there and then, but don’t forget. They won’t ask twice. I believe (not fact-checked) that most decorators lose around 60% of leads from not following up in time or following up at all. I advise using a CRM that can automatically collect this data and store your leads in an easy to use pipeline until you’re ready to follow up. Most CRM systems can auto-respond while you’re away and keep track of your conversations.
Conclusion.
There’s a lot of information there on social media in 2022, but it’s very relevant. Potential customers are going to focus more on social media than ever before. We’ll see more people hover around the new immerging platforms such as TikTok, so don’t alienate those platforms. Although i often hear, “my customers are on Instagram” which is good for now, it won’t be forever. Build your audience now so that when these platforms are more competitive, you’re ahead of the game. And make sure you collect leads somewhere else, not just stored in your emails or message inbox. Use a CRM.
If you would like to know more, the best thing I could advise is to join the Pro Members group of The Decorators Growth Club for just £25 per month. I’ll be walking you through how to set up everything I discuss in this blog, plus a lot more on social media in 2022 and beyond.
