Social media trends rapidly evolve as some existing trends carry over and new trends emerge. 2022 has been a disrupting year for businesses on social platforms. The world’s major social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Tiktok, and Linkedin are constantly introducing new features that blow our minds. Datareportal stats show that 4.70 billion people use social media globally, and 277 million have joined social networks within the last 12 months. The numbers are bound to rise.
Consumer demands have significantly changed. They expect more authenticity and transparency. Maintaining relevance continues to be the biggest challenge for businesses on social media. Companies must get ready to use these upcoming trends to appeal to their potential audience and build lasting connections.
We have picked the dominating social media trends, so brands can use them to elevate their social media strategy in 2023.
Let’s get started!
The most prominent social media trends for 2023
1. Authenticity will become a superpower
Over a few years, more social media platforms have pivoted towards video content. We are close to the timeout of heavily edited videos and images.
Social media audiences are expecting and demanding real-time posts and live videos. Adding more relatable situations and personalities are becoming more relevant.
This makes brands and creators dig even deeper into creating content. Authenticity will become a supreme factor on social media. This trend will likely open plenty of opportunities and allow you to capitalize on them.
2. Increasing interest in short videos
The short video is a widespread phenomenon among younger audience segments as attention span is shrinking from generation to generation. With TikTok and Instagram reels steadily growing the popularity of short videos, it is clear that they are engaging, reasonably inexpensive to produce, and great drivers of user-generated content.
Brands should adopt video capabilities to match the growing trends. And add more funny and eye-catching short videos to their social media strategy to ensure a better place in the audience’s minds.
3. Social Listening for the wins
Businesses realize monitoring the campaign performance on social media analytics isn’t enough. In 2023, more brands will value social listening, which will help them know when they are mentioned and tagged in a post and be the first to see customers’ feedback.
Audiences try to engage with your brand differently on social platforms. Interactivity is becoming a critical factor in engagement. Two-way conversations with the audience will be more rewarding. It will be the opportunity to react to user-generated content, respond to their questions, and highlight the benefits of the product or services.
Businesses must know what audiences are talking about their brand and participate in the conversation. It is easy to lose sight of the discussions, especially when they happen simultaneously on different platforms. Social listening allows you to monitor your audience’s interactions and stay connected with them. Need help with social listening? Try out BuzzSense for free.
4. Social Audio is booming
Social media platforms are rapidly evolving when it comes to audio. More and more people listen to audio forms of content, and the popularity of podcasts and social audio will only increase.
Companies that have already adapted podcasts will create more social audio content to boost reach. It’s time to harness the power of social audio with Soundbite reaction tools from Facebook, Voice tweets from Twitter, clubhouse, and Linkedin’s Audio events. You can also experiment with audio marketing on metaverse or release trending Instagram reels audio.
5. Micro Influencers will shoot up
Influencer marketing on social media has become a successful strategy for brands. Social media platforms pave the way for customers today to engage with brands directly and through micro-influencers.
Micro-influencers have between 1000 to 10000 followers. Brands include them in their strategy to increase brand awareness and promote products and services to their audience as they bring more authenticity and trust toward the brands.
Micro-influencers focusing on your niche can help you reach more audiences and increase interactions and sales. Partnering with Micro-influencers can benefit your business as they offer customized content, personalized interaction with the followers, no fake accounts, and drive your influencer campaigns’ success rate. It is an excellent opportunity for brands that want better ROI without spending huge sums. On social media, Micros influencers will drive better customer engagement, which helps brands significantly impact their customers.
6. Social networks for better customer service
Social listening is evolving to play a big part in delivering effective customer experience. Social media platforms will be used as a major customer service channel.
As more and more customers demand direct communication with the brands on social media, businesses are looking to adopt a PR initiative to publicly respond to customers instantly and help them address potential issues.
Many brands already use messengers and AI chatbots on social media for customer support whenever their customers need immediate assistance. The practice will be a trend on social media in 2023 as more customers appreciate the brands’ direct response to them.
7. Growth of social media communities
Audiences are slowly turning to the noise in social media and seeking other means of communication to bring them closer to like-minded people where they can share content more freely. As brands try to meet customer needs and live up to expectations, they must add focused groups to interact with them closely.
Brands will build more forums and groups which help get customer feedback and suggestions, carry out discussions, and share personalized content that customers will enjoy. In 2023, brands will have exclusive online communities to get feedback and gain rich customer insights.
8. The rise of social commerce
The epidemic has boosted the expansion of online stores. Social commerce is gaining traction as the new audience uses Facebook marketplace and Instagram Storefront to make purchases. Live shopping is becoming an even wider enticement, and social media platforms are emphasizing their live-stream commerce capabilities and making retail outlets more accessible online.
Modern buyers are well informed, and social commerce will have great potential as it offers convenience for the customers. Direct interaction and reviews help them make purchase decisions quicker than ever. This trend will surely get into solid shape as other social platforms start to express similar features that open even more sales avenues.
9. Brands will adapt to AR and VR experiences
Metaverse rush is transforming how real-life visual content is perceived among younger audiences. Digital filters and Augmented Reality (AR) effects are advancing, and tech is showcasing the high potential for the buyers to the consumer market.
Virtual Reality (VR) is slowly gaining traction along the way with its immersive experiences. This will continue to speed up and go mainstream. AR on Facebook and Instagram are constantly improving social shopping experiences; companies should expect shifts in social media strategies in the upcoming year.
Brands are eager for customers to try out their products online and make a purchase without going to the real store. They are experimenting with AR and VR content that makes the brand go viral among customers.
10. Paid social advertising is a must-have
As social media feeds are inundated with content, paid advertising is the only option to get in front of your audience. According to a Hootsuite survey, 43% of businesses experience a decline in organic reach and see the necessity to increase their budget in the following year.
Regardless of the social media platform, paid social ads supplement efforts to attract new customers and quickly push organic content. Businesses will heavily rely on social media ads to witness better reach and gain more traction for their content. A brand must invest more in social ads to reach a vast audience.
To Conclude
These social media trends are going to rock the year 2023. Brands should focus on the trends that will fit their marketing objective to find out what works best for them. Social media being the most influential space, the trends will have a massive impact on the users, and the brands must adopt a social media strategy that allows them to stand out from the competition.
Additionally, keeping your ears close to short-lived trends can attract new audiences. Always watch out for marketing opportunities you can take advantage of while paying attention to your audience’s needs.
