INFLUENCERS, LIVE-SHOPPING AND NFTS - 2022'S SOCIAL TRENDS ARE JUMPING ABOARD THE E-COMMERCE ROCKET SHIP - Communicator ...
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INFLUENCERS, LIVE-SHOPPING AND NFTS
-
2022’S SOCIAL TRENDS ARE JUMPING ABOARD
THE E-COMMERCE ROCKET SHIP
2022
2022
With another year of uncertainty behind us, looking forward
to bigger and better things has never been more exciting.
Especially in the world of social media where things are always
guaranteed to change.
2021 saw marketers fully embrace TikTok, delve deeper into
Gen Z consumer habits and take to purpose led marketing in
an ever-uneasy world. At Communicator, we’ve pushed full-
steam-ahead into Instagram Reels, partnered with influencers
across the creative spectrum, and looked deeper than ever
into what makes our audiences tick. But where are we headed
next?
2022 is set to be the year of social commerce. Online shopping
in the midst of a global boom, with 1 in every 4 purchases
now being made from a social app. It’s no surprise that
brands are therefore looking for the best ways to take
advantage. We’ve come a long way from posting a product
and hoping it will sell – it’s all about creativity and tactics.
FROM THE WAY WE PARTNER WITH INFLUENCERS
02
TO THE NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT’S AVAILABLE
TO HARNESS, IT’S SAFE TO SAY THAT THE NEXT
12 MONTHS ARE GOING TO BE INTERESTING FOR
SOCIAL, HERE’S WHAT TO KEEP YOUR EYE ON...
INFLUENCER LED
04 SOCIAL STRATEGY
THE RISE OF
05 LIVE-COMMERCE
SOCIAL
06
CONTENTS
E-COMMERCE
AUGMENTED
07 REALITY
08
NFTS AND
SOCIAL
SOCIAL STRATEGY Missguided recently announced that influencer marketing now takes the highest
percentage of their advertising spend, and is looking to turn to influencers not just for
content but ideation, production and distribution too. With the intrinsic agility of the
INFLUENCER LED
influencer workforce, and their insider knowledge of their consumers, their speed
and authority make them perfect partners for brands like Missguided.
When it comes to taking on an influencer-led model, Missguided is in good company.
From PLT’s hiring of Molly-Mae as their Creative Director, responsible for creative input
from buying to influencer partners, to In-The-Style’s continuous influencer ranges, it
would seem the fast fashion industry have the influencer economy well and truly tapped.
At Communicator, we know that Millennials and Gen Z are more switched on to social
trends and influencers than any other generation. Starting and ending your social
activations with influencers – and sometimes even leaving the creative process in their
hands – is a sure-fire way to guarantee you engagement and land the sales you need.
For brands to keep up, influencers need to be brought into the forefront of what we
do best; gone are the days of last-minute influencer budgets or that panicked end of year
influencer spend. Brands should be taking a leaf out of Missguided’s book and working
their influencer needs into a more holistic approach to social strategy, from bringing
04
influencers into long-term roles, giving them true creative control, or letting them in on
the ground floor of your brand to help shape it alongside you. In such a fast-changing
industry, new ways for influencers to get involved pop up every week, and newest to the
list is influencer led live-streaming.
Worth an estimated $66 billion dollars in China alone, live-stream shopping is
taking consumers by storm, and influencers are cashing in. Selling anything from
cosmetics to mattresses, these QVC-style live shows are being built into dedicated
social networks, targeting fans in their millions. Consumers can purchase within the
interface and chat with other viewers, never having to leave the comfort of their
home.
LIVE-COMMERCE
When it comes to the West, ever-so-slowly the market is catching up.
YouTube have outlined plans to bring live-commerce to all their users in the
coming months. Having already launched several live-streams in the run up to
Christmas, their goal is to ‘allow anyone with a mobile device to easily host a live
THE RISE OF
shopping stream.’ Pinterest have announced live shopping, where viewers can
shop the items used in live broadcasts hosted by their favourite influencers and
crafters alike. Most recently, TikTok launched live shopping, promising large and small
brands alike the opportunity to further target the Gen Z audience. With ecommerce
integration becoming more and more sophisticated across social platforms, we
suspect it won’t be long before Instagram take notice as well.
But are UK consumers ready for it? Well, maybe. With influencers releasing merch,
edits and hauls, there’s no doubt that their followers are buying what they’re selling
and in YouTube’s case, we’ve found that’s certainly true. 87% of people say they get
05
the best information about products from YouTube, and 89% trust YouTubers
to give good recommendations on what to buy. This is not surprising given the
millennial trend towards a reliance on influencers, and a resurgence of late in
long-form video content. When ad-fatigue is a growing problem for brands, and
consumers are becoming more and more savvy to being sold to, live-stream shopping
may be the wind under marketers’ wings, exposing audiences to something fresh
and exciting that gets the job done. With social e-commerce also on the rise, there’s
plenty to be looking to for help.
As shopping becomes more When it comes to Instagram, When it comes to adopting
and more experience driven, this form of shopping has been these functions, it can be easy
we’ve found that consumers around for a little while and for some brands to get left
are relying on their shopping offers a similar click-through behind. Fashion and beauty are
platforms to provide the ability to purchase online. However, primed for this type of shopping
to shop easily, hassle free. In as demand grows for a better thanks to pre-existing consumer
2022, this is something that shopping experience – does
favour towards them when
social platforms are going to anyone actually like the in-
shopping online, and there’s
have to grab hold of with both app browser? – Instagram are
hands. looking to continue developing opportunity for other types of
their output. This development D2C brands to take this space
E-COMMERCE
TikTok has recently begun would allow consumers to not as their own, having grown up
integrating shopping into their just click through to purchase, in a digital landscape already.
platform, giving influencers but to purchase within the app
the ability to share their itself. As this develops, it will be
favourite products, and interesting to see how these
followers the chance to click 60% of consumers are using brands grab hold of other
through to purchase. On Instagram to discover new e-commerce trends, from
TikTok the difficulty has always products, and with the gateway subscription models to AR.
been with measuring ROI. to purchase becoming easier
SOCIAL
From a consumer point of view, to navigate, this is an exciting
CONSUMERS ARE
there has been a disconnect development for brands and
between favourite TikTokers impulse-buyers alike.
06
RELYING ON THEIR
recommending items and being
able to find them to purchase;
consumers, brands and
influencers have all been missing
out and will benefit hugely from SHOPPING PLATFORMS
these new updates.
TO PROVIDE THE ABILITY
TO SHOP EASILY, HASSLELow barriers to purchase aren’t the In a study conducted by While Instagram’s AR ad
only part of social commerce that ThinkMobiles, 63% of online options are limited to beauty and
are getting us excited. AR in the consumers say that AR enhances sunglasses for now, retailers like
guise of virtual try-ons are taking their shopping experience, and IKEA and John Lewis have been
the digital world by storm, and 40% say they would pay more for using ‘try before you buy’ AR
L’Oréal is currently leading the a product if they were able to try for a while; both retailers allow
way. With more brands looking it on via AR. While social platforms you to view certain items in your
to include AR into their social- have been trialling AR ads for a home prior to purchase, with great
commerce experience, we can little while, and AR filters have success. Once Instagram expand
expect only bigger and better things been around since Snapchat’s peak, their AR offering to more brands
from AR moving into 2022. TikTok has intensified their use. and functionalities, and with
More options are being brought into consumers at home more than ever,
AUGMENTED
the mainstream digital ad space there will be no limit to what we can
and it calls for brands to upskill in try on from our sofas in 2022 and
these areas if they want to be a beyond.
part of the action.
REALITY
07What would a trend prediction roundup be Two of the biggest social platforms have
NFTS AND SOCIAL
without mentioning the internet’s newest begun their own work on bringing NFTs into
buzzword – NFTs? One of the more polarising the forefront of their interface. Instagram are
trends to come out of 2021, conversations working on a new NFT display option, and
around NFTs and social are never too far away. Twitter are ‘in development for an updated
profile image display process’. This feature
Enter Octi, the NFT-first social platform set will enable users to show off their NFTs, found
to rival Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. in their crypto wallet, on their Twitter profile in
Combining the metaverse, digital coins and the form of a hexagonal display picture. Once
NFTs under one roof, Octi is well and truly the the profile picture is clicked, the owner will be
social app for the ‘uber-online’; we’re not just tagged as well as the original artist to ensure
posting brunch on Instagram anymore. Another providence is upheld.
app playing with AR trends, Octi allows you to
create video content and earn online currency With brands like adidas and whiskey brand
when that content is engaged with. The app Glenfiddich getting involved with the NFT
also allows users to import their own NFTs for hype we’re looking forward to seeing how more
others to use in their creations – every time your and more brands play this out on socials, from
NFT gets used, you get paid. Brands can even auctioning off brand-made NFTs to bringing
drop new releases in NFT format in-app. NFT art into their social asset banks. Still, with
only 39% of Brits thinking that NFTs are the
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This is a bit advanced for the general social art of the future, brands might have to rely on
media user, so where can we interact with capturing attention in a traditional sense for a
NFTs without having to look too hard? little while longer.As far as years go, 2022 is set to be a
2022
2022
2022 IS GOING TO
busy one and brands and marketers
have a lot to get their heads around. On
BE A BIG YEAR...
one side, influencers will continue to sit
at the top of the social food chain; from
influencer-led brands to becoming the
face of live-streams, there seems to be
no stopping them. Looking down towards
channels, social led ecommerce is set
to rocket as the shopping experience is
brought in-app and brands explore new
was of connecting with their consumers
through the likes of AR. Finally, NFTs are
going to go fully social, accessible for
the world to set as their profile markers
across platforms or as a social media in
themselves.
If all of this isn’t enough to get you excited
09
for the year ahead on social, I don’t know
what is?INTERESTED IN HEARING MORE?
If you would like a complementary social audit to see how your brand can benefit from our audience
first approach, or even just a chat please contact danielle.smith@communicatorlondon.com
ABOUT COMMUNICATOR LONDON
Communicator is a social first creative agency that focuses on the person behind the platform. We
pride ourselves on social thinking with an audience first approach, with a client portfolio spanning
the likes of Jack Daniel’s, BrewDog, PepsiCo, Chicago Town Pizza and Lavazza. Working with
clients we provide strategy, creative, content production, influencer marketing, paid social media
management and more.
Part of the Captivate Group and based in the Tea Building in Shoreditch, London, we’re a perfectly
blended team with big ideas and big ambition.You can also read
