Key trends include TikTok’s social media takeover and how metaverses will be the next consumer connection. On-trend examples from brand trendsetters, including GoPro, Louis Vuitton and more.
Talkwalker, the #1 consumer intelligence company, and HubSpot, the customer relationship management (CRM) platform for scaling companies, have published their latest Social Media Trends Report in 7 languages, tailored for markets worldwide.
The pandemic has accelerated The Age of the Consumer, and for brands to survive, they need to anticipate and respond to consumer demands. The current global situation is challenging but also offers opportunities for certain companies to get ahead. The top trends and consumer insights included in this report will help marketers and top global brands plan successful strategies for 2022.
Trends include:
- How TikTok will take over social media, leaving other platforms to adapt.
- Why brand inclusivity will be brand critical.
- How metaverses will be the next consumer connection.
“Consumers have taken control, with more demands, more urgency, more unpredictability,” said Elena Melnikova, Talkwalker CMO. “They’re driving this year’s trends, but we’re giving brands the power to take back control. By revealing the trends for 2022 using accelerated consumer intelligence, and inspiring actions, Talkwalker is enabling brands to drive business value next year, and beyond.”
“The tumultuous events of the last 18 months have created widespread uncertainty for marketers across all industries. Although we have started to see the light at the end of the tunnel with some of the biggest brands showing signs of recovery from the impact of the pandemic, knowing the trends most likely to define the coming year is one of the best ways marketing leaders can combat the ongoing unpredictability and set their teams up for success in 2022,” said Susanne Ronqvist Ahmadi, VP of international marketing at HubSpot.
Hear about the trends from some of our regional experts…
In Malaysia, it is not just brands that are leveraging TikTok’s dominance to engage their consumers, public figures (including young politicians like Syed Saddiq and Hannah Yeoh) are riding the trend to deliver important messages to young people in particular. As the first non-Facebook app to reach 3 billion global downloads, TikTok’s influence, especially on Gen Z and Millennial consumers, has become hard for brands and organizations of all sizes to ignore:
- Cassandra Tan, Director of Insights & Analytics at Universal Music Group, Southeast Asia and Korea, said, “A platform that embraces diversity, TikTok encourages users to project images of themselves without thinking too much about complying with certain standards. Anyone can be a creator or a trendsetter. With this democratisation, content becomes more hyperlocal and thrives on being ‘receh’ as the Indonesians would say – where content that is humorous, irreverent, snackable.”
The metaverse – an amalgamation of the physical world, the augmented, and the virtual – is also set to be the next consumer connection. As Malaysia catalyzes its digitalization efforts across various industries in the post-pandemic world, advertisers are realizing the unique potential for metaverse-type engagement to fulfil the consumer’s need for increasingly immersive experiences.
- Tania Tai, Managing Director at DIA Brand Consultants (Malaysia) shared, “The Metaverse is becoming the future playground for brands, where real and virtual worlds converge. It’s exciting to see how this extended reality has evolved and how brand owners have responded. Expect more action in this realm, as a platform to share brand love and reinvent the fabric of society.”
