According to a new report, social media is already one of the communication channels with the highest return on investment for companies. However, constant updates and the emergence of new social networks force companies to rethink their social media strategy from time to time. We explore the 24 most important social media trends for 2023.
Social networks are essential communication and digital marketing channels for any company. Their power to publicize brands, attract customers and transform leads into customers is growing, especially among younger audiences.
It is difficult to conceive cutting-edge digital marketing strategies such as Inbound Marketing or content marketing without involving social media.
Today, most companies are already creating specific marketing strategies for their social media accounts.
According to the report just published by Epsilon Technologies, social media already provides a higher return on investment (ROI) than television.
The great advantage of social media over traditional communication channels is that they allow interactivity and direct communication between companies and their customers or potential customers. Therefore, social networks are not only suitable for broadcasting and advertising, but also for strengthening relationships with customers.
However, the speed of innovation and change in social media forces companies to be constantly informed about new social media trends and to update and adapt their social media strategies on a regular basis.
Below we review the 24 most important social media trends for 2023.
Plus... Download all 24 trends along with our tips on how to take advantage of them! Get your marketing and communication teams to anticipate the trends and start building strategies for the upcoming year.
The previously quoted report confirms that social networks offer a return on investment 1.7 times higher than television, even with a third part of the investment.
According to the Advertising Observatory 2022 of the Spanish Association of Advertisers, television and digital media are the channels with the greatest reach among consumers. However, social media is now outperforming what used to be the most important advertising media for businesses.
Although it is still the social network with the largest number of users worldwide, with 2,936 million users, Facebook's user ratio continues to drop year after year.
This together with an increase in the average age of Facebook users has led advertisers to turn to other social networks such as Instagram.
Instagram continues to grow in number of users, as well as in investment. However, the platform is growing at a slower rate than in previous years. On the other hand, capturing users' attention on Instagram is becoming increasingly difficult.
Paid content published on Instagram's feed (without taking 'storys' into account) is already generating 80% of the total number of interactions on the platform.
However, the increase of paid posts does not seem to be pleasing users. According to the Advertising Observatory, 84.5% of users think that companies are overusing paid content on social media.
The emergence of new social networks such as TikTok and the success of reels on Instgram are transforming users' content consumption preferences. According to the report, users prefer vertical content, which also has a greater organic reach.
In addition, it seems that vertical videos are here to stay. All indicates that by 2023 users will watch vertical videos more frequently, both on Instagram and on other social networks.
Also, users prefer quality content that provides them with value.
It seems that images that show a 'perfect' vision of reality are becoming less relevant. Users are not that impressed by branded content that portraits perfection. They prefer brands to create authentic content, with less filters and which they can identify themselves with. The rise of 'BeReal', the new social network on trend, is proof that extreme posing is no longer that cool.
Podcasts are already one of the most successful types of content in 2022 and it looks like they will continue to be in 2023.
As we have already mentioned, users prefer high-quality content that provides them with value. In this sense, podcasts are one of the best formats for generating valuable content.
According to a 2022 study, podcasts are expected to have generated €1.5 billion in advertising in Europe by the end of 2023.
A snack is a small meal, ready to be eaten. Similarly, 'snackable content' refers to short, visually attractive and easy to digest content. In other words, content that does not require a great effort or concentration on the part of the user.
Social media has popularized snackable content, which provides increasingly better results: more reach, higher interaction rates, etc.
Most companies have accounts on more than one social network. To optimize their marketing budget, it is wise to create content in a format that is compatible with more than one social network, or to publish the same content while adapting the format to the social network.
Content reuse allows companies to create more content while saving time and money.
User-generated content (UCG) already covers 39% of the time users spend consuming content.
In addition, user-generated content fosters a more real and authentic perception of brands.
Establishing synergies with content creators continues to be a winning strategy for brands and companies. Content creators —also known as 'influencers'— continue to be an infallible means of raising brand awareness and promoting marketing campaigns.
In line with the generation of content by users and the creation of an authentic and honest brand image, we continue with the importance of community managers, who are increasingly taking on a leading role in the brand strategy in social media.
In relation to the previous point, in 2023 another trend linked to the promotion of the company's employees will stand out: employer branding.
Employer branding consists of taking advantage of social media to give visibility to the talent of the company's team and to involve the employees themselves in the creation of valuable content. This strategy increases the company's credibility and brings the customer closer to the brand, while reducing content generation costs.
Just as employees are a great opportunity for creation of social media content, top managers also have a great power of influence that can have major impact on he image and the reputation of the company.
In recent years, streamers who create live streams have become the new leading players in a new style of content that is growing like wildfire.
Streamers and the format they have popularized will become even more relevant in 2023.
Instagram has recently launched a very useful new feature for businesses.
'Instagram Collabs' allows you to create shared content and posts, which facilitates synergies and collaboration possibilities between companies and content creators.
Another of the strategies that will be highlighted in 2023 is the collaboration between brands or 'cobranding', which allows several brands to benefit from the same content or advertising campaign.
The generation of content by two or more brands is giving very good results to many companies and everything indicates that this type of content will continue to work in 2023.
Customers give more and more importance to corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, the traditional ways of communicating corporate values do not convince younger audiences.
Social listening is another of the most relevant customer strategies of the last few years. Users value companies that pay attention to them, that really listen to what they have to say and that respond accordingly. In short, companies that have a good Voice of the Customer (VoC) strategy.
Social networks are made for conversation. Beyond the publication of content, interaction with the customer and the generation of conversations between users are paramount to success in 2023.
Most social networks benefit accounts and content creators that generate conversations and that have a high number of interactions.
Twitch has become an explosive social network in a short period of time. Beyond its success, the platform has managed to revolutionize the consumption of audiovisual content, positioning long live streams among the most popular content among a certain group of users.
The Metaverse is without a doubt the social network that will have the greatest impact in 2023 and in the years to come. Many companies have already started to invest in the Metaverse through the development of VR events, for example.
While it is true that the vast majority of users still do not have the necessary devices to enter the Metaverse, advertising campaigns in the virtual world generate great notoriety.
What's more, Apple has announced that they will launch augmented reality glasses in 2023, which could democratize access to the metaverse and increase its popularity.
Finally...
Social networks are essential for any company and the generation of content and specific marketing strategies for social media is of vital importance for any company's image.
Social media is constantly changing. Updates, new functionalities, changes in their algorithms and new social networks.... This forces organizations to be up-to-date with the new trends that will define the future of their content and marketing strategies in social media.