What's going to be hot in Hong Kong's social media scene in 2022?

We're almost at the tail end of 2021 and one thing that has been clear to us this year is Hong Kong's marketing community's obsession with influencers and of course the power of social media. So undeniable is the power of social media, that in recent times the Hong Kong government has announced measures that will see the punishing of “doxxing” offences if private information of individuals are disclosed online or on social media.

In the marketing community today, no campaign is really complete without a social element.  Data by Hootsuite and We Are Social also found that as of January 2021, over 53% of the world's population was connected over social, which was an over 13% increase from the previous year.

In Hong Kong specifically, there are about 6.44 million social media users as of 2021, said the study by Hootsuite and We Are Social. The number of social media users in Hong Kong was approximately 85.6% of the population. Around 44.2% of users aged between 16-64 in Hong Kong use social media for brand research and 34.3% in the same age group use it for work. 

In light of the rising importance of social media, we asked our industry friends on what some of the trends are that they are looking out for as we fast approach 2022.

Deepa Menon, strategy partner, Asia-Pacific, Wavemaker

When it comes to social media trends in the future globally, in 2022, we will get better at understanding and experiencing the concept of "metaverse". With many big tech companies making metaverse part of their vision for the future of the internet, the conversation is most definitely expected to expand beyond just gaming. The premise of having one identity instead of separate identities across the various social network platforms and having a "presence," that is being able to engage with places physically than through a chat window, will get more people to explore and engage.

We will see changes in small increments and capabilities integrations over time than a complete overhaul. We will also see more brands experimenting with real-world functions like working, shopping and socialising in 2022.

VR and AR are our closest connectors to the Metaverse. It provides us with the much needed engaging, immersive experience that is still not readily available to everyone during the pandemic. Especially now, it has quickly shifted from gimmicks to solving actual pain points for customers. In 2022, I would love to work with clients on a few inexpensive experiments to build “metaverse” experiences, ideally through social commerce. I am keen on reapplying learnings from the many successes with our clients of using social commerce to drive the value of consumer experience than approaching it as a pure-play sales mechanism.

Stephen Chung, creative partner of Secret Tour Hong Kong

There will be three trends in social media. First, due to the declining organic reach of Facebook and Instagram posts, I believe that Instagram Stories will give much more interactive engagement. It is a social polling tool for brands not only to engage but also to collect fans' interests and preferences. I expect to see more interesting Instagram Stories campaigns in the coming years.

Second, there will be co-branding campaigns. There is excessive information on social media. Although we can see good campaign ideas and execution sometimes, the ads cannot stand out. Co-branding could be a way out as brands can leverage synchronised resources and audiences to offer a fresher impression.

The last one is data-driven creative campaigns. Currently, many people talk about data but data-driven creatives are not prevalent. I expect to see more campaigns that can make good use of client data.

Looking ahead, I hope to explore automated replies on Instagram for comments and Stories. For instance, Popcast.ai is doing something like this.

Rudi Leung, director and founder of Hungry Digital

Social commerce will be taken to the next level by both brands and all mainstream social media platforms. Consumers can seamlessly experience the whole online shopping journey through a social media channel, from discovery, research, enquiry, checkout to give a review.

As 5G is becoming more common, more marketers will leverage AR and VR technologies to integrate them into social commerce's shopping experience. AR is perfect for cosmetics and fashion related products. VR is ideal for paid events such as concerts or conferences.

Sunshine Farzan, group head of marketing and communications of Tricor

Influencer marketing will continue to gain momentum in 2022, with bite-sized video content fueling brand awareness and consideration. Short-form video content will enable brands to connect with customers by delivering quick, relevant, digestible content. Marketers will increase their reliance on micro-influencers to reach, engage and retain niche customers.

In 2022, augmented reality will go mainstream, becoming much more prominent on social media platforms.

While AR filters on platforms like Snapchat and Instagram are common, social media platforms will implement additional AR tools which will enable marketers to enrich branded content, elevate customer service experiences, and boost social-media driven eCommerce. Our team is currently exploring how to effectively integrate AR in social media strategies to enhance customer engagement and improve customer service.

Eric Thain, general manager - brand and customer at HK Express

In 2022 and the near future, we will see certain social media trends taking speed as we have never seen before. With the maturity we have seen, with the addition of the perfect storm of the pandemic leading to staying home longer, more time will be spent on social media. The proliferation of live streaming and user-generated content, due to short consumer attention spans, will increase the number of more bite-size content.

Another key trend worth looking out for is social commerce, which is taking centre stage. Although China has seen this adoption earlier on, more global social media platforms have introduced social commerce functions to capture this opportunity. This will fuel the growth of this trend.

Taking cues from above, we will likely explore building our social media platforms as a shopping outlet, adding to the omnichannel experience we have built. This will blend nicely with the digital behaviour of our target audience who are generally young and more likely to shop on social media platforms. In addition to the potential revenue growth, this also allows us to elevate the brand experience, closing the loop between how our audience engages and interacts with HK Express on social media and the consumption of our product.

Wilson Wong, marketing director of Price.com.hk

Social commerce will be one of the key trends in social media next year. Undoubtedly, eCommerce is getting more important in upcoming years. For marketers, how to make good and effective use of social media to drive eCommerce is always a challenging topic. For example, livestreaming content on social media to drive eCommerce sales start becoming popular now. It is expected that more brands will create social commerce campaigns in 2022.

Next year, we will explore a good eCommerce performance tracking tool for social media. To stay competitive in the eCommerce battlefield next year, brands that have better social commerce performance will be more likely to gain more market share and attention. Conducting new trials with continuous performance evaluation and optimisation is the key to success. Thus, a good eCommerce performance tracking tool for social media could help.

(Photo courtesy: 123rf)

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