As of 2022, there are approximately 3.96B social media users around the world. That’s more than half of the world population! In the coming years, this number is projected to increase even more.
Simply put, marketing on social media is the best way to reach as many people as possible. With increasingly innovative features, tapping into the social media powerhouse will help businesses create meaningful touchpoints with new and existing customers.
Here are 5 upcoming social media trends in 2023 to help you capitalize on this ever-growing platform:
Influencer marketing is likely to play a larger role in the upcoming years
Gone are the days where influencers promoted products by simply snapping a picture of them to endorse it. Influencer marketing, which has been at the forefront of social media marketing has become interestingly intricate and engaging. With the surge of Gen Z social media users, authenticity and personal identity become the new way to sell on social media.
Influencers seamlessly incorporate products that they endorse into their paid and unpaid content and let it do the talking. There’s no need for explicit advertising content when followers are genuinely interested in their lifestyle and products that they use. That’s why they followed them in the first place right? That’s the magic of social media. 100,000 followers mean 100,000 potential customers.
An Instagram post by @imjennim
In fact, 61% of consumers trust influencers’ recommendations–more than the 38% who trust branded (and often biased) social media content. Each influencer already has built a niche community of their own. In fact, smaller influencers have higher engagement and are in large supply. So, it is no surprise that brands and markets prefer to work with micro influencers than traditional celebrities for their promotional campaigns. Collaborating with the ones that align with your brand value and mission will bring you closer to your target audience.
Brands have a 93% higher engagement rate when they partner with creators. Influencers are ranked from mega (1 million-plus follower), macro (500,000-plus followers), mid-tier (50,000-plus followers), and micro (10,000-plus followers), each with a different marketing strategy so brands can choose the tier of influencer that best fits their objectives.
Short-form videos and bite-size content will continue to reign
One of the most noticeable trends of social media marketing content is the proliferation of short-form content, most particularly short videos and reels. Sorry Instagram and Facebook, we have to give the credit to Tik Tok for bringing this trend back. To compete with TikTok, Instagram and YouTube launched the short video functions shortly after in 2020.
Short videos are everywhere for good reason. This type of content is short and sweet, capturing enough detail and message that their creator wants to get across. Plus, they are stimulating and addicting. One minute you’re on your phone scrolling through your video feed and watching one. The next thing you know an hour or two have passed, cause those 30-second videos do add up.
An example of Instagram reel
It is safe to say that reels hold the potential to transform the way we do marketing and ads. Tik Tok videos and short reels on Instagram are actively pushed by their algorithm, leading to more reach and engagement. According to HubSpot Blog’s 2022 video marketing report, short-form ranks #1 for lead generation and engagement.
Instagram content performance 2022
Reels are indeed more than just a fad. They are here to stay, as evident in the features and tools that these platforms continue to update, leading to more content creation. Yet amid the rising hype around short-form content, a lot of brands have yet capitalized on this promising feature. This could present a significant opportunity for brands to get more attention by creating a diversity of content, including reels to reach and engage with more audience.
Growing utilization of user-generated content
Businesses are increasingly incorporating user-generated content (UGC) into their social media marketing strategy to increase their brand exposure and value proposition. UGC is any form of content, such as images, videos, test, and audio, that is posted by users on online and social media platforms. In a gigantic sea of information and new content rolling out every day, authentic content is the floater for content creators to stay afloat.
Authenticity is increasingly important to consumers. Approximately 90 percent of consumers reported that authenticity played a factor in their shopping decision, up from 86 percent in 2017. This comes as no surprise as consumer awareness increases in a saturated market. People are more likely to trust and buy products recommended by people who have no affiliation to the brand.
Many brands have taken advantage of UGC in order to engage with their consumers, foster community, and create valuable conversation. Beauty brand, Glossier drives engagement with its social content by encouraging customers to get vulnerable and share their selfies. It does so by posting customer stories that are personal and heartwarming, which they use Glossier products. Glossier is one of the brands that relies more on customer-submitted imagery than it does on professional models and product shots.
When the brand launched its Mega Greens Galaxy Mask, thousands of users shared selfies of themselves in the mask with the hashtag #maskforce, which Glossier reposted on its own social accounts.
An user-generated post for Glossier
Who doesn’t want to buy a product that is valued and said to work by other fellows? Plus, getting recognition is one of the key reasons people post on social media, and user-generated content gives every user a chance to be an influencer.
Augmented reality continue to thrive on social media platforms
With every step into digital transformation, the lines are blurring between the virtual and real-world than imagined, making AR the future and integral part of social media marketing.
If you don’t know what Augmented reality is, remember the Instagram or Facebook filters that alter the way you look with makeup, lighting or a pair of cat ears in real time? That’s AR.
The Facebook messenger app has some of the AR games like Asteroids Attack and Don’t Smile. The former is a staring contest where the first person to grin loses and in the latter, users can navigate a spaceship with their face. AR also facilitates the shopping experience on social networks. Facebook has the facility, where most of the online sellers can provide the experience of the product, with the help of AR. In some of the campaigns on Facebook, customers could actually see how a pair of sunglasses or a lipstick shade look on them, helping them make the right decision. Other AR functions also include projecting certain 3D furniture onto the user’s surroundings, so they can gauge if that piece of furniture fits their living space.
Usage statistics suggest that filters can quadruple the engagement time of videos. It is estimated that the average time a user spends engaging with filters is 75 seconds.
As giant tech companies such as Google and Facebook continue to develop AR technology, along with consistent software development, it is likely that AR will continue to be more widely used to enhance customer experience online and offline. In fact, giant retailers JCPenny is reinventing itself by employing diagnostic technology to analyze selfies and provide recommendations for a personalized skincare routine, with a vision of creating an inclusive shopping experience.
By keeping up-to-date with digital transformation news, you can keep from falling behind in the digital marketplace.
Social media emerges as e-commerce outlets
As shopping became more virtual during the pandemic, social media platforms are transformed into an increasingly popular shopping outlet.
The number of social media commerce buyers in the US alone will predictably exceed over 100 million by 2023.
Facebook leads the way as a top choice for social commerce. In 2020, Facebook added Facebook Shops to its range of shopping tools, which include Facebook Marketplace and shoppable ads.
Other major social platforms continue to follow suit. In-stream commerce is a key element of TikTok’s future growth strategy, with the platform already seeing big success with its on-platform buying options in mainland China. It’s faster and more convenient to make a one-click purchase on a product you see on social media instead of clicking through a bunch of links.
According to TikTok’s insights into their user’s purchasing behavior below, product awareness, research and purchase all take place on the app.
TikTok’s users insights
Besides TikTok, Instagram is another leading social ecommerce outlet. Introduced during the pandemic, the ‘shop’ function can be added to any product-contained posts, allowing users to purchase products with one click. Instagram also previously introduced checkout on the platform.
Instagram checkout
The shopping tab on Instagram’s homescreen is a destination for people to discover new brands products and editor’s picks, personalized to them. In fact, as many as 70% of consumers look to Instagram to discover a product. In addition 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business page.
As social media allows brands to create a more omnichannel approach to their customers, there will soon be more innovative e-commerce and conversation functions in the upcoming years.
Conclusion
Social media usage is expected to remain on an upward trajectory over the next 2-3 years. Growing engagement will continue to fuel social commerce and generate venues for businesses. Social media giants like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok will only accelerate their technical advancement.
Keeping up with trends and news regarding digital transformation is crucial to the success of brands and businesses. Not sure where to start? Advesa has a team of digital marketing specialists that are dedicated to coming up with and executing creative social media strategies that work for you in the long run.
Connect with us today so we can transform your business vision into reality.
