It can be difficult to keep one’s competitive edge in an ever-evolving industry, and the social media landscape is no exception.
Marketers and business owners who are always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to reach their target demographic can take advantage of this ever-changing landscape.
Marketers and business owners who want to implement a successful marketing strategy this year need to stay abreast of the latest and emerging social media trends.
The meteoric rise in popularity of various social networking sites shows no signs of slowing down.
Five-point-nine percent of the global population is currently engaged in some form of social media. There were over 4.74 billion users last year, up 4.2% from the year before. Many individuals now devote substantial portions of their day to their preferred social media sites.
The marketing and business community can rejoice at this development.
More people using social media means more potential customers and higher earnings.
TikTok is the top social media platform, period
We predicted that by 2022, TikTok would overtake all other social media as the primary marketing platform.
In 2023, TikTok’s popularity will only increase.
TikTok’s 2022 feature updates show the company isn’t content with simply being the most popular social media platform for advertising. It aspires to become the preeminent social networking platform in the world.
An increase in interest in online social shopping
As with most marketing plans, it’s important to go to where your customers are. When used correctly, social commerce can be a powerful tool for expanding businesses to reach new customers and generating substantial revenue.
Social media sites like Facebook and Instagram were early adopters of the concept of social commerce. With more and more people turning to online stores, they made the right choice.
We anticipate that Shop on Facebook and Storefront on Instagram will become the most used features of their respective platforms in 2018.
54% of consumers say they’ve researched a company or product online.
With social commerce, consumers can more easily navigate your sales and marketing channels and make a more immediate purchase decision.
Rise in popularity of TikTok and social SEO
Google has dominated the market for search engines for many years, providing results for billions of monthly users looking for local businesses, vacation spots, and other types of information.
But social media, and especially TikTok, are edging out Google.
According to a Google exec, 40% of millennials and Gen Zers use social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram to research and decide where to eat. By 2023, “TikTok SEO” is forecast to have become a common practise, with even Snapchat and Facebook joining in.
Google’s data shows that among users aged 18–24, 40 percent conduct web searches primarily via social media. The New York Times has even called TikTok the “new search engine” for Generation Z.
Micro- and nanofluidics
Influencer marketing has mushroomed thanks to Instagram. As of now, 89% of marketers say Instagram is best for influencer marketing.
On the other hand, influencer marketing is evolving rapidly. Non-Hollywood stars are sought out by brands as social media influencers today.
In its place, the business world is increasingly looking to more niche influencers, both micro and nano.
The term “nano-influencer” refers to influential people in smaller communities who have between 1,000 and 5,000 followers. They have earned respect and deference as leaders and role models in their community.
A micro-influencer is someone who has between one thousand and one hundred thousand followers. Micro-influencers are people who are exceptionally knowledgeable about a specific field or subfield within it.
Get ready for BeReal to explode in popularity
BeReal is a photo-sharing app that prompts its users to send a single, unedited photo to a small group of friends every day. Photographs that were taken outside of the allotted two minutes will have a time stamp indicating how many minutes they were uploaded after the deadline.
Since its launch in late 2019, the network’s popularity has skyrocketed, and by 2022, it has reached new heights. With roughly 29 million downloads, it was the most popular social networking app on the App Store in October 2022.
BeReal’s user base skews young and female. Many users have cited the app’s lack of commercial content and features as a major selling point.
BeReal brings to mind the early days of social media, before it became highly curated and dominated by advertisements, when users posted images to share with friends what they were doing.
Eighth, the rise of user-generated-content creators and the influence of brands
UGC, or user-generated content, is anything that is made by regular people as opposed to professional writers or media companies.
Brands that want to boost their customer base and their brand’s visibility can benefit greatly from using user-generated content (UGC) in their marketing strategies. Genuine social evidence not only makes the UGC creator feel valued, it also increases brand loyalty.
Newer generations, however, have a very different understanding of what “UGC” means. They define UGS as content created by independent content creators or micro-influencers for brand accounts on social media.
In the lingo of today’s youth culture, “UGC creators” are compensated by brands to make content that appears to have come about naturally.
Closed captions will be available for all videos
Ever since Facebook and YouTube released their mobile apps in 2008, the vast majority of social media users have been watching videos without sound.
Since short-form video has become ubiquitous online, it is reasonable to assume that by 2023, captions will be the norm.
That’s because of these strong arguments:
- Accessibility: People with hearing loss can now participate and access digital content on a more equal footing with those without such disabilities.
- Engagement: The use of captions ensures that the video’s audience remains interested.
- Discoverability: Captioning videos with relevant keywords is a crucial part of optimising them for search engines and getting more views.