Social Performance Measurement For Agencies
How will social media evolve in 2023?
Sahail Ashraf posted on 31 October 2022
With the new year approaching, we thought we would take a look at what we think will happen in social media in the next phase of development.
Here we are at the end of the year again. Once Halloween is out of the way, we can look forward to Christmas and plenty of reflection.
Another great aspect of the year end is looking forward to what is to come. With social media marketing, this is always an interesting time, because while we can never know for sure what the various platforms are planning, we can get a good idea when we look at the industry buzz and the behaviour of platforms in the current year. So here are our predictions about 2023 and social media.
What has happened to Facebook? Well, it’s Meta now for a start. And it has made it very clear that it wants to be a part of our future.
There is a lot of talk at the moment about Groups though. With the pandemic over and people going back to school and communicating more easily, some are actually seeing Groups as being a viable alternative to the hundreds of chat apps that are out there right now. We’re not saying this is going to happen, but expect to see some growth in Meta usage over the next twelve months.
At the same time, we also have a company that is still pushing VR, and not just as a toy. Meta is seriously thinking that brands can advertise on VR in a big ‘new frontier’ type of way. This could be the case. It all depends on how brands view VR and how comfortable they are with it.
Watch this space.
This platform has been through some amazing changes over the last few months. Now, it looks like Musk is here to stay, and he has ambition beyond belief.
Most industry watchers see growth being the focus. That is fine, and Twitter has always had a place in the industry that marketers love. Expect the platform to become even more monetisation heavy and to focus squarely on people’s feeds being filled with content they love.
Oh, and don’t forget that, to be truly relevant, it will have to have some kind of differentiating use of video. Expect video on Twitter to be very important. So get sharpening up those editing skills, marketers.
Authenticity
Woe betide you if your brand does not present as authentic in 2023. The year is very much going to be about a brand that instills trust in audiences, rather than one that appears faceless and uncaring.
Your brand probably isn’t faceless and uncaring, but it needs to be obvious. Every member of your audience needs to know who you are and how you work. So if you’ve never done a ‘behind-the-scenes’ on your social media before, now is the time to do so.
On a more fundamental level, think about how your brand presents itself visually. On social media, image is everything, because people scroll. If your images and videos are poorly made, or come from stock companies, you’re going to look insincere. You can make a great, meaningful video now on your phone. Forget the stuffy corporate video that you can get at a low cost. No one cares.
Finally, using user-generated content (UGC) means that you have an instant connection with your audience. The more you encourage people to engage with your social media, the more they will stick around and see your company as a trusted voice.
Communities rule
While it’s important to focus on individuals and access them directly through personas and so on, communities are becoming even more exciting.
From Meta Groups to live chats on Twitter, brands now have access to community building like never before. And brands that take advantage of that unprecedented access will succeed in 2023.
Social commerce
Every single major social media platform out there right now has some level of e-commerce offering on it. Even TikTok, which abandoned it last year in the West, is planning to bring some version of social shopping to the masses.
Why? Well, it just makes sense. Ever since Instagram became an obvious place to sell physical products and share videos that help customers use those products, social platforms have been clamouring to bring out easy to use shopping opportunities.
While the good old fashioned website and bricks and mortar store are not dead, even Amazon must be a little concerned that it is so easy to tap on a mobile screen and go straight to a checkout. And with brands pushing ecommerce even more, it won’t be long before social will be the main entry point for shopping online.
The lesson here? Get more visible on social media with video content that sells your product. And if you are able to take advantage of ecommerce social, it is perhaps the main thing to be looking at next year.
Making it ridiculously easy to buy something on your phone via an app is the only way to go. Shoppers want a frictionless experience. So give it to them.
We think this is what 2023 is going to look like. Big changes are ahead, and social media is changing rapidly. How will your brand fit into the new way of doing things?
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