Every year Meltwater releases its State of Social Media report, a piece of research that speaks to over 3,000 professionals who work in the world of social media, marketing and PR to understand how social media will develop in the year ahead. The report looks at similar themes each year as well as answering key questions that highlight how the previous 12 months have impacted how organisations use social media.
The report gives a fantastic insight into the world of social media and how different organisations utilise the various platforms. For a complete overview of the report, get your hands on the full State of Social 2022 report. Here, I will take a look at some of the key takeaways from the report.
What are the fastest growing social media channels?
All channels have seen an increase, however, unsurprisingly it is TikTok that takes the crown of the fastest growing social media channel in 2022. Of the 3,000 participants, 40% state that they plan to use TikTok in 2022 as part of their social media strategy. Short form video content continues to be one of the top social media trends, and as a result, more brands are starting to jump on the TikTok bandwagon.
Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn make up the list of fastest growing platforms behind TikTok. With the rise in YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, this continues to point to the fact that short form videos are becoming a must in an organisation’s social media strategy.
What is the most used social media channel?
When looking at the most used social media channels it’s the same old names that you would expect to see at the top of the list. 90% of all participants have Facebook as a part of their social strategies putting the social network at the top of the list. LinkedIn (89%), Instagram (82%), YouTube (74%), and Twitter (68%) make up the rest of the top five.
Surprisingly, despite its rapid growth over recent years, and the fact it was highlighted as the fastest growing platform, only 16% of participants use TikTok. It will be interesting to see how this changes over the next 12 months.
What are the top social media goals to track?
Understanding which platform organisations are using is important, however, it’s arguably more important to understand what they aim to get from their social media strategy. Meltwater asked the participants to highlight the top three goals they want to achieve, with brand awareness taking the top spot followed by brand engagement, and acquiring new customers. It’s interesting to note that the top two spots weren’t directly based on revenue or sales. Ultimately, engagement and awareness will hopefully lead to sales, however, increased sa