Austin Rotter, PR and Media Relations Strategist

It’s that time of the year as marketers and PR professionals begin planning projects for 2022. Their eyes are focused on the upcoming media strategies that will be most prevalent in the year to follow. If the current pandemic has taught the industry anything over the last 2 years, these individuals must keep a constant eye on the ever-evolving media landscape in order to best serve their clients and businesses. 

As you look ahead to 2022 and try to predict what will have the most impact in the new year, keep an eye out for the following media strategies.

AR/VR Finally Becoming More Mainstream 

Mark Zuckerberg recently announced his plans to take Facebook into the metaverse. Although this uncommon term struck some skepticism among many communities, Zuckerberg showed no sign of backing down from this vision. 

He plans to transform his social platform from two-dimensional space to the metaverse, but it is a plan that must incorporate almost the entire industry. In this vision, Zuckerberg plans to make virtual reality and related aspects part of this new environment. Although 2022 may not be the year that this takes off, the internet will take a more serious approach towards AR and VR and begin introducing them to everyday practices. For early adopters and believers, the metaverse can become the holy grail for marketers over the next decade.

Social Apps Driving E-commerce Boom

With more and more consumers leaving traditional, brick and mortar storefronts and searching for digital options due to COVID, the uptick of online businesses and digital shopping destinations, e-commerce sales have grown in record numbers over the past year.

Social media platforms have been a leading driver in this fundamental shift as sites started reformatting their apps to allow for e-commerce sales within the platform itself. As we have already seen this take place starting with Instagram, it is predicted that many other social media platforms will soon follow suit. This presents businesses with the unique opportunity to expand their sales efforts in a more interactive way. As 2022 appears as if it will continue on in current media usage trends, companies will need to take advantage of broader e-commerce first options.

Trends Are Just Getting Started 

Trends are a huge part of what makes social media marketing a success for a company. In 2021, many companies began taking one of the newer social media platforms, TikTok, more seriously. This platform sees new trends picking up in popularity each week. Between trending songs, dances, audios and topics, it presents marketers with endless opportunities to be a part of the overall conversation and stay relevant to a younger audience. This has become a large part of Reels as well, as taking hold of these trends has helped grow many accounts. One small look at these statistics goes to show that these trends will not slow down any time soon but will instead be a crucial part of branding efforts in 2022.

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