Our 2022 Highlights

Look, we will not pretend this is an objective piece of journalism. This is us, Social+Media, patting ourselves on the back for a year of frankly excellent work, with just enough self-awareness to keep it readable. Consider it the agency equivalent of your auntie's Christmas round robin, except with fewer mentions of the dog's arthritis.

The Numbers, Because Everyone Loves Numbers

In 2022 we took on 34 new clients, launched 19 websites, produced over 2,000 pieces of social content, survived three Instagram algorithm updates, drank approximately 1,400 cups of tea, and lost precisely one stapler. We consider this a win across the board.

Our clients, meanwhile, saw an average 42% increase in organic traffic, doubled their social engagement and, most importantly, told us they felt less stressed about their marketing. That last one is the metric we are quietly proudest of.

The Campaigns We Loved

• The Independent Cafe Relaunch: A full rebrand, new website, opening-week campaign and queue round the block. Chef's kiss.
• The Charity TikTok: We helped a North East charity go viral in the best possible way, with a campaign that raised serious funds without the usual misery-porn tone.
• The B2B Lead Machine: A Newcastle tech firm went from three inbound leads a month to forty. Same product. Better marketing.
• The Local Legend Series: A content series for a client that turned their customers into the stars. Simple idea, huge engagement.

The Trends That Actually Mattered

2022 was the year TikTok stopped being a novelty and started being a genuine business channel. Which is why we wrote TikTok for Business: It's Not Just a Phase, which we stand by more now than when we wrote it. It was also the year short-form video stopped being optional, Google leaned harder into helpful content, and AI writing tools went from curiosity to everyday reality.

We also saw the rise of the "quiet website". Businesses realised that a shouty, animation-heavy homepage is not a personality, and leaned into cleaner, calmer design. We approve.

The Team

We grew by three this year, all Newcastle-based, all suspiciously well-dressed, all dangerously good at what they do. Our office plant collection grew by seven. Our Spotify collaborative playlist is now eleven hours long and contains six Sam Fender songs. Priorities.

The Mistakes

We will spare you the full list, but highlights include: one launch scheduled for the week of the Queen's death, one social post with a typo that got screenshotted and sent to us by approximately 300 friends, and one client call conducted entirely with Jim on mute. We have learned. Mostly.

What We Are Taking Into 2023

Fewer meetings. More doing. Shorter emails. Clearer strategy before pretty execution. More emphasis on measurement, because pretty does not pay the bills. And a continued allergy to any agency that uses the word "synergy" without irony.

We are also putting more weight on genuine long-term partnerships. The one-off "redesign my website and disappear" job is fun, but the real value shows up three years in, when a client's whole digital presence has compounded into something their competitors cannot catch. Read our thoughts on aligning socials and website for the nerdier version.

Thank You

Genuinely. To every client who trusted us with their marketing, every supplier who answered the phone at weird hours, every follower who engaged with posts we were not entirely sure about, every coffee shop in the Toon who kept us caffeinated. You made the year what it was, and we are not above saying so in a blog post that nobody forced us to write.

Here is to another year of tidy websites, clever campaigns and an embarrassing number of biscuits consumed in the name of strategy. See you out there.