Social media is an ever-evolving beast. From fast-moving trends to new platforms and forms of content, it can be hard to pinpoint what to focus on to ensure your brand’s success. After all, with such a saturated market, you need to consistently produce great content that stands out to keep your audience’s attention! Read on for the top social media trends you should pay attention to in 2023. Here’s the gist:
- New technologies like AI and augmented reality will drive innovation
- Video and interactive content will reign supreme
- Creativity will matter more than following trends
- Consumers will continue to prioritize authenticity and value
- Social media will become an even bigger market (with lots of earning potential) for brands and creators alike
To stay on top of the social media game for 2023, you’ll need to center consumer preferences and provide value for your audience. If you can keep people engaged, you’ll be seeing growth like this:
But only if you can master the social media game. Consumers want to see something unique! To stand out and stay on top of your game, here are the trends to keep in mind:
- Short-form video will continue to make an impact
- AI is key for content creation and social media management
- Multimedia content will perform better
- Augmented reality and virtual reality will play a big role (hello, Metaverse!)
- Social media commerce will continue to rise
- Ephemeral and exclusive content will keep audiences engaged
- Social media will be used to provide customer service
- Educational, value-driven content will thrive
- Following trends will be less important
- Keywords will play a role in who sees your content
Read on for the details on how these social media trends will impact your brand – and how you can leverage them to see growth like never before!
1. Short-form video content will still reign supreme
Between Instagram Reels, Youtube Shorts, and TikTok, short-form video content is taking the internet by storm. While longer-form video still has its place (watch time on Youtube is up 60%), short-form content fits seamlessly into our fast-paced society. With a variety of niches and a low barrier to entry, short-form video content has made thousands of brands and creators into overnight sensations.
Just look at Duolingo! Known for their viral TikToks featuring their owl mascot, Duolingo turned the topic of language learning into a fun and engaging online community. Instead of the language learning tips you might expect from the app, Duolingo’s social team focused on the funny parts of the experience. Duolingo capitalized on its audience to build a community of more than 6 million followers. Rosetta Stone could never.
Short-form content lends itself to authenticity. If brands hope to capture their audience’s attention, short-form video content is a must!
2. AI will play an important role in post creation and social media management
From Google and Bing to dozens of new AI-powered tools across the web, AI is taking the world by storm. But it’s not just ChatGPT and trip itineraries. AI is an invaluable tool when it comes to social media planning and content creation! AI can:
- Conduct trend and hashtag research
- Write posts
- Provide content inspiration
- Create visuals for branded content
- And more!
While some of the technology is still being developed, the preliminary versions are useful and compelling. Take the above for example: a TikTok filter where users can submit a prompt and create a custom backdrop. This is incredibly useful for creating content without scouting a specific location or traveling outside of your home. Even if you aren’t up to using the tool for a serious video, just experimenting with the tools can make a great video on its own!
Using tools like ChatGPT or Synup Social to help you write posts is another great way of incorporating AI into your workflow. Even if you’re not ready to post AI-created content on its own, using AI-powered tools is a great way to overcome writers block and find some inspiration for your content calendar.
As AI becomes more integrated into our workflows, social media managers who know how to properly leverage tools like these will find more success than those who prefer to work without advanced tools!
3. Visuals will continue to outperform text content
Did you know that posts with images, videos, GIFs, or infographics get up to 2.7x more engagement than plain text posts?
With so many users flocking to platforms like Instagram and TikTok, it’s no surprise that they expect the same kinds of visually engaging content across platforms. And while aesthetic pictures and dancing videos don’t belong on every platform, it’s important to take note of the kinds of content consumers want to see!
Visual content could mean:
- Creating longer-form videos
- Building relevant infographics
- Utilizing features like LinkedIn’s image carousel to explain a topic in-depth
- Posting relevant images along with your text posts
- And more!
One of our favorite ways to keep our audience engaged is by creating casual, informative videos on relevant topics. We post them to our Youtube, LinkedIn, and Facebook pages!
Find what makes sense for your business, and incorporate some visual content into your posting schedule!
4. Augmented reality and virtual reality are integrated with social media
While augmented and virtual reality are still in their infancy, they’re set to have a huge impact on how consumers interact with brands online. From virtual try-ons to immersive filters, brands are doing innovative and compelling things to entice customers.
Whether on social media or not, augmented reality is changing the buyer experience. That’s good news for brands: more customers will be shopping online, and many will be shopping directly from brands’ social media accounts.
While there’s no pressure to develop an immersive experience for the Metaverse (yet…), try your hand at some of the filters and other features that VR and AR technology are bringing to social media. After all, social media is a spectacle. What better way to draw attention than incorporating new technologies into your posts?
5. More consumers will use social media to search for and buy products or services
Nearly a third of consumers use social media to make purchases. Expect that number to continue rising!
80% of consumers interact with brands on social media. That’s a huge opportunity for you to convert customers and make sales! If you haven’t already, make sure it’s easy to buy your products or services directly from your social media profiles. At the very least, include links to purchasing platforms (or another lead funnel) in your posts, so customers can easily buy from your brand.
While consumers prefer for brands to have authentic content, pushing your wares is a great way to show potential customers just how much there is to love about your brand!
6. Ephemeral and exclusive content will keep audiences engaged
For many consumers, it’s not enough to consume public, permanent content anymore. Audiences get excited when things are exclusive, limited edition, or fleeting. It creates a sense of urgency that compels people to check your page, subscribe to your exclusive content, and more.
With the rise of conventions like “stories” (which disappear after 24 hours) and gated content (subscriber-only posts and videos), consumers are picking and choosing who gets their attention. If you can deliver value consistently, expect customers to flock to your content! Whether it’s stories, an exclusive launch, or
To leverage this for your brand, you can:
- Regularly post compelling content on your stories
- Post exclusive content to your newsletter
- Announce product launches and exclusive updates via story or via a newsletter; customers who subscribe or view will have early access
- Create a subscription-based club where members can get exclusive products or services from your brand
No matter what you do, consider what will entice and intrigue customers to become loyal followers. Making your audience feel special is the perfect way to nurture your relationships and build a loyal following for years to come.
7. Customer service will be a bigger part of social media management
Troubleshooting customer concerns has always been a part of business. Whether it’s managing online orders or responding to negative feedback, dealing with issues quickly and efficiently goes a long way in maintaining your online reputation.
More than ever, customers are taking to social media to get there problems resolved. What began as a way for flyers to bypass wait times with major airlines has become the norm among consumers.
After all, social media empowers users to quickly reach businesses on platforms they’re using on an everyday basis. Plus, tagging brands in posts creates more of an incentive for the brands to respond; if they leave it idle, it could be a PR nightmare.
Leveraging your brand’s social media accounts to interact with customers and field concerns is essential for managing your overall online presence! Prepare yourself to start interfacing more with your audience – and let them know that you care.
8. Entertaining, educational content will bring value to consumers
With so many creators and brands creating content, focus on driving value. While aesthetic and funny content still has its place, educating your audience goes a long way in building a loyal following.
Fun educational content makes a much bigger impact than a promotional post. Here are a few examples of what you can create to bring value to your audience:
- Liquor store: cocktail recipes or alcohol science
- Clothing: trend report for the upcoming season
- Gift store: gift guide for upcoming holiday
- Grocery store: recipes or food science
- Book store: information about authors or the history of book selling
Basically, pick something that your audience would either be interested in or that would bring value to them in some way. No matter what you create, keeping your audience in mind will ensure you hit your numbers!
9. Social media will be less about what’s trending
In 2023, consumers are looking for authenticity. Social media platforms are saturated by many creators and brands producing the same kinds of content. And while jumping on trending TikTok audios or copying the format of your competitors’ posts may get you some initial engagement, finding your own distinct style will empower you to create a loyal audience.
Properly developing your brand voice and content style goes a long way. For example, Bark Box, the dog toy subscription box, has a running series featuring toys that look a bit.. suspicious.
It’s a fun way to get customers interested in their product while poking fun at their own brand. While many brands notoriously try to oversell themselves, Bark Box is exercising humility in the name of humor. Although not everyone who watches may buy a Bark Box toy, they’ll definitely remember the name – and appreciate the authenticity of the posts!
You don’t need to entirely debase your product to get traction on social media, of course. But brainstorming how you can make your brand feel more “human” will help you connect to customers and develop loyal fans.
10. Keywords will have more of an impact on your metrics
While social media’s impact on SEO isn’t yet verifiable, SEO-like practices have been rolling out on social in the past few years. Hashtags used to direct who saw what; but as fewer users utilize hashtags to search for content, social media platforms have had to get clever.
To categorize content for the algorithm (and users), social media platforms use keywords in your posts to show users what they’re looking for. Whether it’s fall fashion trends or marketing tips for small businesses, your content is being categorized based on the keywords you use in your posts.
On platforms like Instagram and TikTok, closed captioning and on-screen text are also used to help categorize your posts.
This is still in its infancy, so just be cognizant of the way you’re writing your posts! Try to include phrases that customers might search – while keeping it easy-to-read, of course. This will help more users find posts that might be relevant to them, which means more followers and engagement for your account!
Social media is always changing, but following the trends for 2023 will empower you to grow your audience and meet your goals!
Continuously updating your social media strategy is essential for staying ahead of the competition. By prioritizing authenticity, leaning into new tools, honing your creativity and brand voice, and leveraging social media to communicate with your customers, you’ll definitely see major growth in 2023.
To recap, here’s what to expect in 2023:
- Short-form video will continue to make an impact
- AI is key for content creation and social media management
- Multimedia content will perform better
- Augmented reality and virtual reality will play a big role (hello, Metaverse!)
- Social media commerce will continue to rise
- Ephemeral and exclusive content will keep audiences engaged
- Social media will be used to provide customer service
- Educational, value-driven content will thrive
- Following trends will be less important
- Keywords will play a role in who sees your content
Using a social media management platform like Synup Social empowers you to tweak and monitor your strategy to see how these trends work for your brand. Try it free for 30 days and see how much you can grow!
