Social media is, without a doubt, the future of marketing. Today, over half of the world’s population are social media users, making them a massive market. Advertising on social media has proven to be a very successful marketing strategy if it’s done right. However, social media trends are constantly changing. Learning and incorporating the latest SoMe trends into your digital marketing strategy can give you a leg up on the competition.

This blog post will discuss the social media trends you should look out for in 2023. Let's get right to it!

1. TikTok - It’s not just for kids anymore!

Today, TikTok is hardly a new player in the market. However, it is still the fastest-growing large social media app worldwide and is expected to reach 1.8 billion users by the end of 2022. Although TikTok was once written off by many as just a “dancing app for teenagers,” we can see that it is becoming an increasingly important part of many businesses marketing strategies.

TikTok is currently the 7th largest SoMe platform in the world, but it likely won’t be so for long. Recently, it has been giving Instagram quite the run for its money! Instagram has added 300 million users since 2018; TikTok has added over a billion. Although Instagram currently has more users, if TikTok’s growth doesn’t stagnate, its market share could surpass Instagram’s within just a few years.

We expect TikTok’s importance in the marketing world to increase even more in 2023. However, it is important that when your business starts using TikTok, you avoid the common mistakes many companies are making right now. For example, some blatantly repost their Instagram content on TikTok, and others use the same marketing tactics on TikTok as they do on their other SoMe platforms. These are not best practices for the medium. If you want to optimize your digital marketing strategy, learn how to best adapt your content to TikTok’s format; this will drive engagement and hopefully boost sales. 84% of consumers have been persuaded to purchase goods or services from watching a branded video.

As younger generations gain financial independence and businesses start to take TikTok more seriously, the playing field for advertisers will become much more competitive. Therefore, the earlier your business joins TikTok, the better!

2. Short-form video content - May I have your attention?

The rise of the short-form video format (think Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts) has been an asset for digital marketers since its inception. This relatively new video format has a higher ROI than any other type of social media content!

Short-form videos (1 minute or less) often drive more engagement than longer videos. This could be attributed to people’s decreasing attention spans or simply not having enough time on their hands to watch long videos. Either way, it may be worth it for your business to consider advertising with short-form videos in 2023!

3. Content-Based Branding on LinkedIn - Show off your good side

LinkedIn is a great social platform for businesses and workers to connect and for professionals to develop their personal brands.

These days, LinkedIn is used for so much more than just listing your knowledge, qualifications, and experience in your biography. LinkedIn now encourages professionals to publish content to attract recruiters and open networking opportunities.

Your content establishes and promotes your expertise as a company or job seeker. Overall, your content helps you stand out from the competition and makes it easier to recruit talent or for businesses to hire you.

4. Social SEO - The hidden hashtag

It's time to expand your digital marketing strategy with SEO (search engine optimization). Instead of just adding hashtags to your posts, use keyword research to get an idea of what content people are already searching for. Using SEO will make your page rank higher than similar pages, making it easier for potential customers to find you online.

Even if you don't notice a significant increase in traffic on your website due to SEO, the worst that can happen is that you get some good ideas for new content!

To-do list:

● Read our social SEO blog post to learn the basics of keyword research.

● Start integrating SEO into everything you do on social media. Add relevant keywords to your bio, the alt text of your photographs, and the captions of your posts.

● Enhance your content strategy with SEO. Select some pertinent keywords, and create content that targets those keywords. You can do this using Google's Keyword Planner.

5. Micro and nano-influencers - Small is beautiful

Gone are the days when brands would only hunt down influencers with high follower counts and offer them large sums of money to promote their products. For quite some time now, micro-influencers (10K-50K followers) and nano-influencers (<10K followers) have targets on their backs.

It’s not just Gen Z that values authenticity on social media, although they are the group most vocal about it. Consumers tend to connect more with content creators who don't spend excessive amounts of time curating their feeds.

Although micro and nano-influencers don't have the same reach as macro and mega-influencers, they still tend to generate greater engagement for less money.

If you want to know more about marketing with SoMe influencers, read our blog post on the subject.

6. The growing importance of data privacy

Data is a valuable asset for every organization. Consumer information is collected to create a more tailored customer experience and give companies information about their audiences.

Studies have shown that people are more comfortable divulging personal information directly to a business rather than having their data be passed along from one company to another, as is happening today. This has led to consumers becoming less willing to consent to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram tracking their activities with cookies. Improving your business’s data privacy policies can boost consumers’ trust in your company, increasing sales.

7. Connecting social media and email marketing

The lines between digital marketing channels are getting thinner. Marketers aim to close the gap between them to collect as much consumer data as possible and use it to drive engagement. As a result, a multi-channel strategy has been developed to deliver users a complete brand experience. For this marketing strategy to succeed, you must align your social media and email campaigns to work together optimally.

Giving different marketing channels distinct objectives is an effective method of mixing multiple channels. For example, email marketing could focus on conversion, while social media platforms could be centered on increasing audience engagement and brand awareness. A cross-channel campaign is a good starting point for incorporating this strategy. For example, you could try growing subscriptions to your business’s email newsletter with a social media giveaway!

Social Media Trends are Changing

Popular trends have small beginnings. This is why you should always keep your eyes peeled for new opportunities you can take advantage of on social media. However, be careful not to spread yourself too thin with your digital marketing strategy! Focus on a few trends you can include and execute them well. Pay attention to how your audience reacts to your SoMe marketing strategy to best determine what works for you and your company.

Social media trends to be aware of in 2023