2022
Digital Marketing
Trends
@FalconIO
falcon.io events@falcon.io

Pavilion 4 Booth E407
@FalconIO
#FalconEd
#growwithsocial
Your Presenters.
Dino Kuckovic
Director of
Community & Events
Falcon.io
Catherine He
ff
eran
Social Media Strategist
Falcon.io
@Catherine.he
ff
eran
Roberto Lago
Sr. Community
Marketing Manager
Falcon.io
@dinokuckovic @robertolagomortensen
MIA.
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Welcome & Intro
5 social media trends
Audience Q&A
Today’s Agenda.
@FalconIO
#FalconEd
#growwithsocial

100 million online sources
100,000 brands
8 billion pieces of content

Improved Inclusivity
Cross-generational Marketing
Retro Revolution
Noiseless Niche
In
fl
uencer Commerce
2022:
What the
crystal ball
says
Community Content
Social Support
Audio Activity
Content Candy
Mixed Reality

2022/5.
1. Retro Revolution
2. Community Content
3. Noiseless niche
4. Social Support
5. In
fl
uencer Commerce
6. Mixed reality
7. Content candy
8. Cross-generational marketing
9. Audio activity
10.Improved inclusivity

Nothing stays the
same.

1
1

The pandemic has made
consumers crave the familiar.
Nostalgia marketing is already
a trend in 2021, and it will only
continue next year.

Nostalgia Pays.
The COVID-19 pandemic — a time of immense global
upheaval — has made us long for simpler times when words
like masks and vaccines were not a part of our daily lingo. This
collective longing for the years gone by has made nostalgia
marketing a big part of every marketer’s playbook.
People are clearly craving the comfort of the familiar in these
tumultuous times, and it shows.

Tamagotchis have made a comeback. Oreos launched a limited edition packaging
that lets you create your own mixtape.
ABBA announced its
fi
rst studio album in 40 years.

Pepsi hit the right notes for Grease. To celebrate
Grease’s 50th anniversary, Pepsi reimagined You’re
the One I Want, featuring rapper and songwriter
Doja Cat. The brand used this campaign to launch
two limited-edition
fl
avors complete with retro cans
and callbacks to the soda shops of the 50s and 60s.
Per Falcon Benchmark, this video ended up being
Pepsi’s second most engaging of all its videos in
2021 at the time of writing this eBook.
Early Movers.

NYX Cosmetics and the Y2K aesthetic. In July
2021, NYX Cosmetics became the
fi
rst brand to
use Triller’s livestream shopping — another 2022
trend right here — to host a throwback-themed
event. The show featured early 2000s pop stars,
who recreated their Y2K looks using the NYX
Cosmetics Fall 2021 collection.
Early Movers.

Y2K is having a moment on social in 2021, with several brands like
H&M, ColourPop Cosmetics, and DollsKill all publishing posts around it.
Y2K is having a moment.

Starburst
and the little lad who likes berries and cream.
2007 2021
• The Berries and Cream trend blew up, amassing over 1.2
billion views
• Starburst launches an o
ffi
cial “Little Lad” Halloween
costume with a sweepstakes, asking fans to recreate
the original song and dance in their TikToks for a chance
to win the o
ffi
cial Little Lad costume used in the
commercial.

If a trending hashtag appears, can
brands be far behind?
#BerriesAndCream

Now you can’t unsee it
Nostalgia is everywhere!
Source: Pizza Hut & Burger King

• Find the right theme. What retro idea do you want to use
for your next campaign?
• Research your audience.
• Personas
• Demographic
• Which generations do your products or services cater to
the most?
• Be timely and relevant. Is there a current trend you can
associate with your brand?
Marketer Takeaways.
trend one

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2
2

Users increasingly trust peer
reviews more than the word of
brands and our marketing
material. UGC’s always been
important, but it will be a bigger
trend in 2022, in a time where
brand trust is quite low.

• Gen Z and Millennials are less trusting of the average brand.
• 19% of consumers
fi
nd brand-created content authentic.
• 56% of consumers revealed that they’re more in
fl
uenced by
social posts when online shopping than during pre-pandemic
times.
• Consumers today are belief-driven and increasingly look for
authenticity from brands.
TikTok made me buy it.
Take, for example, CoverGirl and their Clean Fresh Skin Milk Foundation. The brand went vegan in 2019 and
dropped a new line of makeup which
fl
ew under the radar for many. That is, until a TikToker made a now viral
video declaring that this $7 foundation was much better than higher-end brands she’d tried before. Much like
other TikTok-famous products, this one
fl
ew o
ff
the shelves and went out of stock in a few days.
More and more brands
are realizing the value
of UGC and putting in
measures to scale it.

Early Movers.
Saks embraces the UGC style. Saks Fifth Avenue has
been ahead of the UGC game for years now with a
dedicated hashtag customers can use while featuring
their Saks hauls on social media. The #SaksStyle
hashtag has been used in 118K posts on Instagram at
the time of writing this eBook.

#LulusOriginal and the next viral dance challenge. Online
retailer Lulus partnered with HerCampus and Jalaiah Harmon to
create an original song and dance in a bid to encourage a dance
challenge on TikTok. This contest also included a “$1,000 Lulus
shopping spree, the chance to be featured on Lulus’ TikTok, and a
virtual styling session for the winner + their bestie.”
As of writing this eBook, the #LulusOriginal hashtag has amassed over 10.8 million views on TikTok.
Early Movers.

Clinique says #ZitHappens. In a bid to reach
younger audiences, Clinique launched a TikTok
campaign called #ZitHappens to remove the
stigma that surrounds acne. The brand even
created an accompanying track and got users
to show o
ff
how they use Clinique’s three-step
skincare regime (cleanse, tone, and moisturize).
According to Sameer Agarwal, the vice
president of Clinique North America, this
campaign not only reached new audiences but
also helped drive sales.
Early Movers.

• Analyze what your customers are sharing.
• Analyze the demographic that posts the most about you
• See which product they talk about most
• Identify where they are posting their pictures of your
products (if geotagged)
• Ask yourself more questions about these users and their
behavior.
• Conduct a challenge. Initiate a contest or challenge and
encourage users to participate, by incentivising it.
• Engage with the community. Encourage the users already
posting about your brand through reposts, sharing, and
mentions.
Marketer Takeaways.
trend two
This will help you craft a strategy
to leverage UGC at scale.

FPO
3
3

Users are moving away from
social media and its noise to
niche communities around
shared experiences.

Privacy-focused
Video-centric Live-streaming
Audio-centric
Diversity of Emerging
Niche Platforms

• 24 billion+ views and has even given brick-and-mortar stores
a sales boost.
• Social media is noisy
• Some users are moving away to create niche communities
where they can communicate with like-minded individuals
about shared interests.
• Slack channels
• Facebook Groups
• subreddits, and forums
#Trending On BookTok

The
fi
shing subreddit r/
fi
shing has seen a good growth in posts in 2021.
Jumping on this trend
early can help you build
strong relationships
with your audience
before the competition
does.

433 is the The Home of Football. 433 is a niche football
community that has grown over the years and tries to live up to
its name.
The community is spread across multiple social networks
and creates content that stands out on all of them.
Data from Falcon Benchmark
Early Movers.
61%
433’s Instagram follower
count 2020 growth

• 150 Million Monthly active users
• 19 Million Active servers per week
• 4 Billion Server conversation minutes daily
• Technology and Consumer Electronics
• Sports, Education
• Retail Chains
• Food and Beverage
Hot Topic, Discord, Anime & Beyond
Global Taco Day on Discord
On Global #TacoDay, in addition to its
own Discord server, Taco Bell also
dropped gift cards and special o
ff
ers
in other channels and across various
social networks.

LetterboxD Breaks
the Box O
ffi
ce.
Introduced in 2011, this social media site just for
movies has blown up in the last couple of years.
The number of users has almost doubled since
the beginning of the pandemic.

What does a #NoBonesDay mean?

Come
#Studywithme

TikTok Updates
• New creative tools to strengthen brand and creator collaborations
• Creative tools to turn brands into creators
• TikTok For Business Creative Center, TikTok Video Editor, Dynamic
Scene, Vimeo Create: Templates, Canva: Templates, Customized
Instant Page, Pop-up Showcase. Gesture Ads and Super Like 2.0.
Story Selection
New branding solutions to measure the value and impact of TikTok
• Reach & Frequency Ad Buying Type, TikTok Brand Lift Study,
Viewability Partners, Brand Suitability Tools
New solutions to connect community, entertainment and commerce
• TikTok Shopping, Product Links, LIVE Shopping, Collection Ads,
Dynamic Showcase Ads, Lead Generation

Pinterest is Still Here
Don’t underestimate its power.
• 14.1 million people use Pinterest
• Generate tra
ffi
c, leads & revenue
• Set it up as a search engine
Source; Statista July 2021

• Redesigned Home Feed to o
ff
er Pinners either “browse” or “watch”
• Takes: a new way to respond to a creator’s idea
• More actionable Idea Pins:
• seasonal and interactive stickers
• thousands of music tracks with new editing capabilities
• new video editing and recording capabilities
• preview mode before publishing.
• Creator Rewards
• Get paid to create content that people are searching for
• Micro-grants for creator projects
• Product tagging tool to include the Amazon Associates Program
so creators in the US can add a
ffi
liate links
• Making Pinterest More Shoppable
• AR Try on
• LIVE Shopping
• Visual search on video for the
fi
rst time
Pinterest Updates

"We’ve been building Pinterest for 11 years, and ever since
our users routinely tell us that Pinterest is the ‘last positive
corner of the internet’…"
- Evan Sharp, Co-Founder, Chief Design and Creative O
ffi
cer
• Be kind: Ensure content doesn’t insult or put others down
• Check my facts: Make sure information is accurate and factual
• Be aware of triggers: Practice discretion when it comes to
visually sensitive content
• Practice inclusion: Never intentionally exclude certain groups
or communities
• Do no harm: Make sure any call to action or challenge is safe
Pinterest Creator Code
Shoppers who visit Pinterest weekly outspend non-Pinners by 2x
every month and have an 85% larger basket size.*

• Identify your goals.
• Who do you want to reach?
• Where do they usually hang out?
• Do you want to create your own channel, or is it okay to participate in
conversations in an existing channel?
• Create a community around your niche.
• Create a Slack channel, Discord Server, Facebook Group, etc.
• Don’t focus too much on making a sale
• Mark your presence in an existing community.
• Run ads on the communities that allow them (ie. subreddits and niche
platforms like Dribble and Goodreads)
• Make sure you’re adding value to the community.
Marketer Takeaways.
trend three

4
4

Consumers are fast turning to
social media for customer service.
Instead of waiting 24 hours for an
email response, the 1:1 aspect of
social media support will only
increase in appeal.

• Consumer crankiness is at an all-time high right now:
adults are throwing tantrums while dining,
fl
ying, and
shopping.
• Irate customers talk; usually on social media.
• Customers expect help and answers in a blink, and your
support team needs to respond just as fast!
• Forrester predicted that digital customer service
interactions will increase by 40% in 2021.
Expanding Beyond the Basics
to using chatbots & providing personalized advice.

(Culture) Kings of productivity. This Australian premium
streetwear brand — and a Falcon.io customer — has
managed to double the number of direct messages and
improve productivity by a mile.
Early Movers.

Spotify really cares.
SpotifyCares has been ahead of the social customer service game
for years and is an evergreen example every new brand should
look up to.
Early Movers.

BMW Germany and Whatsapp.
BMW Germany uses Whatsapp to optimize workshop customer
service. This has led to the brand’s callback requests dropping by 60%
thanks to real-time Whatsapp updates.
Early Movers.
60%
fewer callback requests
90%
Recommendation rate
for WhatsApp
3,800
customer messages
processed per month

• Use social listening to communicate with customers proactively.
Look for trends; Jump into conversations with customers; Fix issues
quickly.
• Create a new handle for customer support. Like Spotify with
SpotifyCares, create a dedicated customer service handle to
respond to customers and support them.
• Make sure to document your processes. Edit them on the go so
your support team can put their best foot forward on social.
• Tools like Falcon also allow you to set up custom response
templates to common questions you receive via DMs, making
customer service even smoother.
Marketer Takeaways.
trend four
Only 13% of customers have received
proactive service from brands.

5
5

Consumers increasingly trust
peer reviews more than
branded content, making
influencers drive social
commerce in 2021 & 2022.

While we’ve already looked at livestream shopping and UGC, one
aspect of social commerce that will gain considerable traction in
2022 is in
fl
uencer marketing.
In
fl
uencers can:
• Help you reach a bigger audience and create brand awareness.
• Sway your target customers’ purchasing decisions.
• Improve brand loyalty and trust.
Look to activate in
fl
uencer partnerships on Twitch and TikTok.
Social eCommerce Is Booming
36%
Increase of US social
commerce sales to
$36.62 billion in 2021.

Brands that can't incite word of mouth on their own …miss out on
engaging in the place where we spend most of our time online.
The solution?
Developing relationships with others in social media who have an affinity
for your brand or similar products.
— Neal Schaffer
“
“

Wonderful Pistachios partnered with streamer GoldGlove. This
packaged foods company sponsored streamer GoldGlove’s live streams to
reach his vast audience base on Twitch and YouTube. The brand also ran
exclusive promotional o
ff
ers for viewers in a bid to broaden its clientele.
•
Early Movers.
80%
of esports fans eat or
drink while watching live
streams. This was a
Wonderful opportunity
for this brand to reach
new audiences.

Dr Pepper at zero gravity. To promote its Zero Sugar soda, Dr
Pepper teamed up with Triller to take 20 in
fl
uencers on a zero
gravity
fl
ight. This was de
fi
nitely a unique way to use in
fl
uencer
marketing to drum up excitement about a product release.
Early Movers.

The Charli & Dixie x Simmons mattress. In early 2021,
mattress brand Simmons partnered with the D'Amelio sisters
to launch a memory foam mattress. They also promoted it
through a TikTok sweepstakes. This was a smart approach to
speaking to the Gen Z crowd on TikTok, especially
considering the net follower count the D’Amelio sisters have.
#SimmonsDreamRoom had 47.8 million views at the time of
writing this eBook.
Follower count
Charli D’Amelio: 125.2 million
Dixie D’Amelio: 55.2 million
Early Movers.

Social listening is key
Making sure to keep an eye on social media, and being able
to use listening to see how consumers are talking about your
brand will keep you in the loop and ready to respond to
naturally occuring brand ambassadors!
Unplanned Ambassadors
@trinidad1967
eye
cream
show
&
tell
on
TikTok
Why it worked? Raw, authentic, trusted,
brand relevant, advocate, in
fl
uence. The best
micro in
fl
uencer campaign that could have
happened to (brand) Peter Thomas Roth.

• De
fi
ne your goals. This will help you work backwards and
identify the in
fl
uencer(s) who will help you achieve your goals.
• Find the right in
fl
uencers in your niche.
• Identify the in
fl
uencers operating in the same vertical or niche
as your brand.
• Micro and nano in
fl
uencers, in particular, can help you engage
better with your niche target audience.
• Use analytics to measure results. In
fl
uencer marketing e
ff
orts
need a strong feedback loop.
Marketer Takeaways.
trend
fi
ve

Cast your vote on-screen.
Q: Which of these trends do you think will
dominate the 2022 Social Media Landscape?

@Falcon.io
#FalconEd
#growwithsocial
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