The popularity of Social media marketing has been growing in recent years. And today we see that businesses of all sizes rely on the broad reach and advertising opportunities that social media platforms offer.
Social media trends change all the time. While viral recreated content was the most popular strategy just a few months ago, today major brands are betting on organic, unique posts. And because trends change rapidly, marketing professionals must keep up with new trends.
Here are top 10 predictions of social media trends for 2023 that you can integrate into your social media campaigns.
1. ‘Edutainment’ content will become more popular
‘Edutainment’, or content that is both entertaining and educational is becoming more popular in the era of short videos. The trend has started with the fintech industry. However, many other brands are seeing its promise today. From toy producers to graphic designers, people tend to publish videos that teach their followers something in a fun way.
2. Businesses will invest in video production
The biggest social media trend in 2023 will be the evolution of TikTok for brands. The platform has proven capable of engaging consumers in new ways, and therefore, many brands are choosing to invest in it. Having a TikTok account is a must for brands today. It makes sense that hiring a video production team could become the new normal.
When TikTok was still an emerging platform, most companies chose to assign video creation to their social media teams. Today the average American views around 80 minutes of TikTok daily! And companies want to sell to those viewers. Therefore, forward-thinking brands are investing more in video production and are hiring professionals to make videos. Some companies even hire video editors, directors and scriptwriters!
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3. Brands will show their true colors
‘BeReal’ marketing strategy is about sharing behind-the-scenes looks, authentic, unedited videos, and images. And some experts believe that it will become even more popular in 2023.
Partly the strategy works so well because consumers get tired of viral trends and everyone trying to sell them something. Therefore, brands that follow the BeReal strategy often post content that your friend would. That works well as it distinguishes the brand’s values and vision. If you want to follow the BeReal plan, consider what matters most to your audience and business and show it in the most organic and easy way possible.
4. Employee advocacy will be the new social media trend
You can’t be honest and create organic content without the help of the people that work for your brand! They are the creators, the hands, the hearts, and the faces of your brand. In 2023, brands will also encourage their workforce to become social media players.
Employee advocacy has been a hidden social media marketing gem for quite some time. You might not have noticed it, but those brands that celebrated their employees’ birthdays and tagged their designers, teachers, and stylists have probably caught your attention.
This year, employee advocacy is predicted to step into the spotlight, increasing brand awareness and the customers’ trust.
5. We will see fewer claims regarding brands’ environment-friendliness
In response to the fear of being accused of greenwashing, brands are predicted to go quieter about their sustainability goals on social media. For the past few years, brands have loved to talk about their way of protecting the environment. However, times have changed, and brands are becoming aware of faux-sustainability claims. No one wants a scandal, and therefore it’s best to keep in mind those conscious consumers and keep quiet about your eco-friendliness unless you are 100% sure about it.
6. Customer care experience will change
Customer care used to be about responding to calls from angry, unsatisfied clients. However, it is changing too. Only a few people will bother to spend their time phoning customer service today. Instead, people complain in Direct Messages, comments sections, and on Twitter. Therefore, the nature of customer care is changing. Those in charge need to learn to respond to people’s complaints on social media to come across as winners in the eyes of other customers and to leave those who complained satisfied.
7. AI will help power social media marketing
Artificial Intelligence has a hand in many industries today. And social media is no exception. In 2023 we will see AI hard at work in social media. ChatGPT will likely have the most influence on intelligent social media marketing. Marketers can take advantage of OpenAI’s platform to produce quality content quickly. ChatGPT can help content creators with a massive range of things, from writing Tweets to generating images and editing videos.
8. E-commerce will continue to flourish on social media
In 2022, shopping on social media took off. Platforms like Instagram made it easy to make in-app purchases through shopping tabs, ‘save for later’ buttons, and more. Over one in five media users have bought a product directly from a social media app in the past three months. In addition, around 80% of social media marketers say consumers will purchase products more often on social apps than on brands’ websites or third-party websites.
And let’s not forget product discovery, which is definitely something that social media marketing is known for. From influencer marketing to Instagram Discover page and brand tagging, social media is the leading source of brand awareness.
9. Social media platforms will become search engines
Consumers will search for brands on social media more often than through search engines in 2023.
Many social media users already search for restaurants, hotels, and clothes brands on social media platforms more often than they do on Google or Microsoft Bing. We are going to see this trend becoming even more widespread in 2023.
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10. We will see unique content for each social media platform
On average, social media marketers manage around four platforms. As we’ve mentioned, some brands are hiring additional staff to take care of the company’s TikTok or video content in general.
However, another trend emerges for creating different content for each social media. Only a few brands post the same content on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Some managers adjust their content slightly for each platform. However, most people believe the winning strategy is to post entirely different content on each media and never re-share.
Final thoughts
Posting content on social media will continue to be a leading marketing strategy for businesses of all sizes in 2023. We should expect more ‘edutainment’ content and less ‘greenwashing.’ Organic, authentic content will become even more popular and likely include more input from the companies’ employees. Moreover, we should expect to see more of AI generated content, specific and unique to different platforms.
