3 Social Trends That Will Gain Steam in 2023

By Kylie Reh

Social networks like Meta, Instagram and Twitter make it simple for brands to quickly share content to a broad and diverse audience. The platforms offer brands a low-cost way to market their goods and services to a highly targeted audience. And the more targeted you can get, the better quality leads you’ll generate.   

Sounds simple enough, right? It’s not, thanks to ever-changing social media trends that evolve at breakneck speeds alongside the technology. Marketing today is entirely different than it was 10 years ago. We’re all familiar with the simplistic marketing structure, the 4 Ps: product, price, place and promotion. With the proliferation of technology, marketing isn’t so cut and dry anymore.  

For a brand to reach customers in a meaningful way, the content published on social media needs to be compelling and engaging. Keep an eye on these three crucial social marketing/media trends that can help your business outperform competitors, boost sales and reach customers as we approach 2023.  

1. Metaverse

 

Since Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook to Meta in late 2021, the term Metaverse has been echoing across the globe. Metaverse can be thought of as a parallel virtual universe, connecting different worlds and communities through a 3D advancement of the internet world.   

Marketing in the Metaverse is a more immersive way to reach audiences. It’s a data driver platform that provides user-centric strategies. The Metaverse includes both augmented reality and virtual reality. Let’s take a quick dive into each component.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is the incorporation of digitized info with people’s real-world environment. Through glasses or smartphones, AR delivers visual elements that alter the perception of the real world. Common examples include Snapchat’s digital filters, Target’s app feature See It in Your Space and interior decoration apps.  

Augmented reality can be utilized in marketing by providing an interactive experience that offers a personal touch while also influencing customer buying decisions. The future of AR is bright and offers solutions to drive sales by tapping into your consumer’s devices.  

Virtual Reality 

Similarly, virtual reality is a fully immersive interaction in a completely simulated environment. VR can offer a digital experience to promote products/services. We’ve seen VR in the real estate and healthcare industry, with employees in both sectors visually showing the design of houses through virtual tours or preparing healthcare workers for surgery.  

This component of the Metaverse can add to your marketing efforts by helping customers be a part of what you offer in a new, unique way, while also providing all the information a consumer may need in a single experience. It’s becoming increasingly important for brands to stay on top of trends like VR and AR to connect with customers.  

2. Short-Form Video Content  

Video marketing has been a key component to effective marketing strategies for quite some time now. However, there is a rising trend in video: short-form video content, which allows you to reach audiences in a quick, engaging way. Over the past several years, the typical person’s attention span has decreased, and now averages a mere 8 seconds. Along with the decrease in attention span, people are busier than ever juggling family, work and personal lives. For these reasons, videos averaging less than 20 seconds are key to getting users to fully engage.  

TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts (aka microcontent) are examples of popular platforms businesses should prioritize to present digestible content in a short amount of time. It’s best to keep the content short, informative and meaningful. As we all know, there’s a copious amount of information online competing for consumers’ attention, and short-form video is an excellent way to capture that coveted attention. 

3. The Creator Economy (Influencers) 

The creator economy refers to creators that cater to and make money directly from their audience on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, among others. These creators are often referred to as Influencers. Younger generations constantly turn to social media to become influencers, create new hobbies, or to start their own businesses. As a marketer, you can leverage this trend to inspire younger buyers (maybe even the older buyers, too).  

Below is “The Tiers of Influencers.” Based on their reach and number of followers on social platforms, influencers are ranked: 

Source: Signalytics

Let’s focus on tiers 2 and 4, Macroinfluencers and Microinfluencers. Here are the pros and cons of each: 

Macroinfluencers  

+  Reach a larger number of people  

+  Maintain a higher level of professionalism   

–  More expensive 

–  More difficulty engaging with followers 

Mircroinfluencers 

+  Can target a particular niche  

+  Higher engagement rate   

+  Greater authenticity 

+  Cheaper and have a greater cost-effectiveness  

–  Tend to be less professional 

–  More limited reach 

Influencer marketing can be a highly effective way to reach your desired audience on social media. While influencers can be difficult to find and expensive, they can create effective content and generate native ads that resonate with consumers and boost your conversions.  

The Metaverse and the creator economy are growing fast. It’s in a company’s best interest to collaborate with influencers who are familiar with the platform you want to use. This is also an excellent area to incorporate the short-form video trend.  

Social media is a platform designed for getting creative and trying new things. Social trends tend to have small beginnings, so it’s vital to stay in the loop so you can stay ahead of competitors. Leveraging these three tactics will help you connect with your target audience in an authentic and meaningful way that can help you close the sales loop faster.  

Looking to leverage these three trends, but don’t know where to start? Get in touch!