The Best Social Media Trends for Solopreneurs Who Need to DIY Their Marketing in 2022

Are you exhausted hearing all of the many social media trends that you must do right now?

As a solopreneur, your goal isn’t to try every marketing trend that you hear about.

Instead, you want to focus on the best marketing tactics for your business. Minimal marketing is about doing the most effective tactics that you can manage and sustain without killing your marketing productivity or your spirit.

That’s why my list of social media trends differs from the rest. These are the most impactful AND manageable social media marketing tactics for solo entrepreneurs. No team needed.

When I first started out, I wasted so much time and money chasing tools and tactics. Sure, the super successful experts know what they are doing. But you’re at a different point in your business. Don’t let their advice be another shiny object to overwhelm you!

It’s time to get realistic about how to DIY your marketing with a few of the more attainable social media trends working today.

Social Media Trend #1: Video and Live Streaming

Your audience wants you to talk to them directly, and their preferred medium is video.

According to Invideo, video is outperforming other forms of content on social media:

• Social media video posts get 48% more views.
• Instagram video posts receive twice as much engagement as compared to other types of posts.
• Tweets with videos get 10x more engagement as compared to tweets without video.
• Video posts on LinkedIn are shared 20 times more than other content formats.

And live streaming, which is a form of video, has equally impressive stats:

• Daily live streams on YouTube grew by 45% in total in 2020.
• Facebook users spend 3x more time watching live videos than uploaded videos.
• Brands get 24x more comments and 7x more reactions on LinkedIn live streams compared to a published video.

People are consuming videos above all other content formats. And the best part about video—other than its effectiveness—is that you don’t need expensive tools, video editing experience, or a studio. Your smartphone, good lighting, and decent sound are good enough, especially for live streaming.

With live streaming, there is no editing or second takes (which is just what the doctor ordered for the perfectionist in you). Plus, you can stream live video to multiple platforms at one time. This is a great way to be on multiple marketing channels simultaneously. Talk about a productivity win!

That said, although you should be jumping on live video like a Black Friday Walmart shopper on a flat screen tv, it’s okay to opt for recorded video because they still help you connect with your audience.

“There’s no better way to get your audience to know, like and trust you than with video. Make videos and share them far and wide in your social media feeds. It’s well worth your time.” – Madalyn Sklar

Who’s a Pro at Social Media Video and Live Streaming?

• Marketing That Grows Your Business – Kim Garst
• Social Media News Live – Jeff Sieh, Grace Duffy, Erik Fisher
• The Jim Edwards Show – Jim Edwards
• The Tim & Jim Show – Tim Sohn and Jim Fuhs
• The Prepared Performer – Molly Mahoney

“Consistency is key when it comes to live video. The Tim & Jim Show has generated leads for my business. Hosting a live show lets people get to know your personality as well as demonstrates knowledge in your industry. By having guests on your show, it also expands your network.” – Tim Sohn, Sohn Social Media Solutions

My Experience with Social Media Video

As an introvert, I’m much more comfortable without a live audience! Here’s what I learned from my recorded videos when I was running Smart Bird Social.

• Videos performed better and attained much higher engagement and reach than text, link, or image posts.
• My videos with captions outperformed those without captions.
• Unscripted videos performed about the same as scripted videos.

Key Takeaway

Video of you will catapult your personal brand faster and cheaper than almost all other social media tactics available right now. If you’re interested in exploring social media videos, go for it!

Social Media Trend #2: Artificial Intelligence

Admittedly, I look upon AI with skepticism. There’s a reason movies like The Terminator, iRobot, and The Minority Report warned us about the possible outcomes of AI on the human race!

Once I silence my inner worrier, though, I admit that AI is a helpful social media trend for solo entrepreneurs who are trying to keep up with marketing. The ability to automate routine, recurring tasks saves you time and hassle.

AI is an invisible assistant that helps you write, design, and post social media content. It can also help with advertising as well as monitor social data, analyze it, and offer insight. AI tools complete some of the marketing tasks while helping you get ahead of your content so that you have time to spend on other things.

Once you get ahead of your social media content creation and publishing, you’ll look more consistent, which increases trust in your brand.

AI Time-Saving Tool for Social Media Marketing: MissingLettr

There are plenty of AI tools to choose from. However, some of them aren’t affordable for solopreneurs on a budget. (Over $100/mo.) But if you have a blog and $19 a month to spare, then one of my favorite tools is MissingLettr.

Every time you publish a new blog post, MissingLettr leverages AI to extract quotes and images from your content to create social media posts.

If you follow the same repurposing framework as I do and create loads of blog images that are social-media ready, then the tool is even more robust. You’ll have loads of different images to accompany the text.

According to MissingLettr, their “algorithms will analyze all the context within your content and match it with trending hashtags/popular topics that are being discussed around social media. That way your post will resonate with your ideal audience and achieve higher engagement at scale.”

You can create and schedule up to a YEAR of social media posts! There’s also content curation, a stock image library, and drip campaigns. Plus, MissingLettr tracks your performance and monitors results. (You know I love data!)

I’m only grazing the surface here. So, consider using one of my affiliate deals to give MissingLettr a try.

My Experience with AI-Driven Social Media Tools

I’ve discovered that AI-driven tools can save you time and streamline tasks, BUT they take time to learn. They aren’t as intuitive as more basic apps. However, you may find that the learning curve is much shorter. It’s worth a try.

Key Takeaway

Artificial intelligence automates and streamlines your social media content creation, curation, and publishing. Find a tool that works within your budget and your preferences, and start automating today.

Social Media Trend #3: Audio

Audio is hot and becoming a bigger social media trend. Have you heard of Clubhouse? What about Twitter Spaces? Even Facebook has even incorporated audio in their platform with the rollout of different features.

Audio is gaining popularity on social media, which isn’t a big surprise considering the increase of podcasters and podcast listeners. People probably enjoy audio for similar reasons to why they enjoy video: the personal touch. Plus, it’s easier to consume than video when you’re on the go.

Hearing someone’s voice adds a level of authenticity and intimacy. Audio adds that personal flare to your content so that you can connect with your audience in a more emotional way. If you’re too shy for video, audio may be the next best thing.

As I write this, audio options are coming and going on the platforms. So, I’m refraining from writing too much about specific audio features since they’re changing so often.

I will say that Facebook has recently incorporated podcasts directly into pages on mobile. This is a great option and one we recently activated for The Messy Desk Podcast. But, this is super new, so let’s see how it goes!

Who’s a Pro at Social Media Audio?

If you’re interested in seeing how audio can be used on social media, check out Madalyn Sklar. She is a terrific example of someone who knows how to build communities on social media using audio (and other tactics). Her use of Twitter Spaces is genius!

Key Takeaway

When you’re not ready for video, audio content is a great alternative. With apps like Twitter Spaces or Clubhouse, you can engage with audiences in a live setting to raise brand awareness and build a tribe.

Social Media Trend #4: Automated Messaging

Automated communications aren’t necessarily a new social media trend. However, they are still relevant since they interact with users via conversations and automatically perform actions based on those interactions.

NOTE: On Facebook, these conversations are referred to as chatbots or Messenger. On Instagram, this functionality is called direct messaging. I’m going to refer to both as automated messaging.

As a team of one, you can use all of the help you can get when it comes to audience interactions. And that’s where automated messaging shines since it helps to:

• Answer questions
• Recommend products or services
• Promote a giveaway
• Build an email list
• Take surveys or administer quizzes
• Remind users of upcoming events
• And more!

“Personal brands can definitely increase user engagement through chatbots when done right. Facebook Messenger chatbots have a higher engagement rate than email marketing. The average email open rate is 10-15%, whereas the average engagement with Facebook messenger weighs in at 70%-80%. Brands, personal or business, can broadcast messages to their Facebook contacts through a Facebook Messenger chatbot.” – Larry Kim, CEO of MobileMonkey (now Customers.ai)

Automated messaging improves customer experience through convenience, speed, and ease of use. It reduces your workload. Get started for free or for an affordable investment with these options:

• Facebook Messenger for Business
• ManyChat
• MobileMonkey
• Instachamp for Instagram

Chatbots and direct messages require content and a clear cut lead generation and monetization plan. Don’t fail to strategize how you’ll use automated messaging to communicate with your fans.

After all, your objective with social media is to gain access to people outside of the platform. This is how you turn automated messaging into a meaningful social media trend that grows your business. Otherwise, once they leave the interaction on social media, you may never have the chance to engage with them again.

Who’s a Pro at Chatbots?

If you’re looking for more information or help with automated messaging, check out Kelly Noble Mirabella of Stellar Media Marketing. She even has a free chatbot course to get started with ManyChat.

My Experience

After activating the Facebook native Messenger chat on the Smart Bird Social Page, we received nearly all spam messages. And, the real people who did contact us were unqualified leads who demanded immediate attention.

However, I lacked a strategy and specific goal to ensure that I didn’t get random “contact me right now” type of messages.

With marketing moving toward personalized, on-demand customer experiences, automated messaging is one of the social media trends that makes sense for both users and productive solo marketers. I may revisit them in the future!

Key Takeaway

When done well, automated messaging may please your fans and grow your business for a low investment. And, for some, automated messages will be easy to set up and to create customer journeys.

By 2024, Insider Intelligence predicts that consumer retail spend via chatbots worldwide will reach $142 billion—up from just $2.8 billion in 2019. (Business Insider)

However, if you don’t have the time, interest, or aptitude to invest in your strategy and implementation, perhaps hold off for now. Or, if you’re not technical or don’t want to write interactional sequences, hire someone or start small with simple functionality.

RESOURCE:  Facebook Chatbot Examples from MobileMonkey

Social Media Trend #5: Social Commerce

It seems like the pandemic fast-tracked online shopping to new levels never seen before. As such, shopping through social media platforms has become more popular, especially as these platforms start to support direct eCommerce functionality.

Things like shoppable posts, streamlined payment processes, and buyable products in-stream have transformed social media into eCommerce hubs. And, you’re sure to see more of that in 2022 and beyond.

“In 2020, social commerce sales in the United States were estimated at nearly 27 billion U.S. dollars. As social media’s influence continues to increase, U.S. social commerce is projected to reach 79.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2025 and account for 5.2 percent of U.S. retail e-commerce sales.” (Statista)

As augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) advances, customers will be able to better envision products in use. Imagine taking a shirt or a sofa for a trial run before you buy! This is a major upgrade to customer experience.

The real question for you becomes whether or not this social media trend aligns with your business and how (or if) to incorporate it into your marketing.

Key Takeaway

As social platforms like Facebook and Instagram make shopping seamless within the social media feed/stream, you may be able to take advantage of the new eCommerce functionality to grow your business.

Runner Up: Paid Social

One social media trend that’s been on the rise and that will be truer than ever in 2022 is paying to amplify your content.

Organic reach isn’t dead on all social platforms. However, it’s drastically reduced. So much so that counting on organic reach isn’t effective anymore.

Social media networks are inundated with content, and that has squeezed out the small businesses with little to no budgets for paid social media promotion.

For social media marketing to be effective, you’d better start thinking about it as a tactic that requires an investment of money (aka social media advertising vs marketing).

Key Takeaway

To really get the most out of social media for marketing, you’ll need to shell out the bucks!

More Media, Less Social

Many people start their buying journey with an online search online via Google or another browser. However, 45% of internet users are also using social media to research before buying goods or services, according to Hootsuite.

We now know that more people are researching and buying on social media.

That’s not necessarily bad, except that these platforms seem to have morphed into a more traditional media role—sans the social. The corporations behind the platforms influence and dictate what we see and who we engage with as they shovel ads and messages in front of us. Meanwhile, they monitor our behavior and use that data to sell us more stuff.

It will be interesting to see how the social media landscape changes over time.

How to Decide What Social Media Trends to Implement When You’re a Team of One

As a solopreneur, you must choose wisely when deciding which social media marketing tactics to use. Time is your most valuable asset!

Here are a few things to assess before you decide what trends are right for you.

Financial Investment

If a social media tactic is going to push you into debt or cause you hardship, skip it for now. There are likely better uses of your limited funds.

Time

You’ll never recover lost time. Treat your time and your energy with great respect. If a social media trend looks like it’s going to suck up massive time, then consider other tactics that don’t kill your productivity.

Comfort Level

You can tell yourself you’re going to do something, but the more you dislike a certain task, the less likely you are to do it. Choose the social media tactics (or one tactic) that make the most sense for your personality and comfort level. While you did need to push your comfort zone now and then, don’t expect to change yourself overnight.

Expertise

Trends come and go. Should you invest in learning a new tactic that may be a trend that will go out of style quickly?

Really consider your core competencies and where you shine. It may be worth it to hire an expert, outsource the task, or skip a trend that requires too much learning or acquiring a new skill.

Assessing the cost, time, your comfort level, and your area of expertise related to each social media trend will help you determine what makes sense for you and your business. Realize, too, that social media may not be the right marketing tactic for your business.

Start with setting goals and then figure out what tactics will help you attain those goals. A lot of times there are better marketing tactics than social media when you’re trying to generate leads as a team of one. (Yep, you read that correctly!)

But if you’re set on social media marketing, consider the tactics above and choose one that will contribute to your goals without obliterating your productivity or your existing commitments.

UPDATED OCTOBER 12, 2021 |  PUBLISHED  MARCH 26, 2019