HypeFactory has analysed the results of this year and identified trends that brands should keep in mind when planning their marketing and advertising strategies

To help companies better navigate the creator economy, HypeFactory examined these trends in more detail and derived three conclusions that are provided below.

Conclusion 1: Although the number of creators will continue to grow, micro-influencer marketing does not work for every brand.

There are 50 million content creators in the world, and this number is going to grow exponentially with social media channels introducing more monetization options.

According to HypeFactory, although micro-influencer marketing will be on the rise and the pool of creators will become deeper and wider, brands should not be blindsided by this variety. Content quality and relevance will remain key success factors, and brands that focus on their target audience will start seeing results in the nearest future.

Anna Puzakova, Head of Brands at HypeFactory, mentions that “Partnerships with micro-influencers are becoming increasingly popular but they work best for brands with niche or premium products. If your company offers products or services to a wide audience, you need to scale your campaign to reach more people.”

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Conclusion 2: While social media platforms offer brands a variety of similar tools, content should be tailored to the specifics of each channel.

In November 2021, HypeFactory launched HypeMatrix to closely monitor recent changes in the social media world. During the last few months of 2021, social media channels introduced a variety of new features giving creators more control over their content. For example, LinkedIn expanded its creator’s toolkit as well as TikTok. In November, YouTube also rolled out new video editing features.

According to HypeFactory, these updates provide opportunities for brands to leverage their internal creativity besides expanding partnerships with external creators. As 2021 showed, brands can publish high-quality viral posts too. “But it’s not enough to copy and paste content from one platform to another. There are different audiences on different channels and their expectations also differ. For example, on TikTok brands might launch a dance challenge whereas on Instagram they will probably consider posting an eye-catching image,” says Anna Puzakova, Head of Brands at HypeFactory.

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To help brands navigate social media trends, Instagram, TikTok and other platforms started collecting and sharing insights. For example, in December 2021, Instagram published the first edition of the Instagram Trend Report that also contains predictions for 2022.

Conclusion 3: While social media platforms have similar tools and features, their content monetization approach will become the key differentiator.

There have been a few changes recently. Instagram is bringing back the chronological feed in early 2022 while Facebook is introducing more control for users and brands over their News Feeds.

According to HypeFactory, these relatively small changes represent a serious shift. Although social media companies are still the dominant power, at the end of the day, it is user-generated content that helps these companies earn billions of dollars every year. Therefore, 2021 was also the year of social media monetization.

Regina Tsvyrova, COO at HypeFactory, highlights that there is “a lot of potential in TikTok and in those social media channels that are helping creators monetize content. The more content a social media platform has, the bigger its audience is. The channels that invest money in the creator’s economy will win the competition.”