Social Trends – Where are we now and where are we going for 2023?

While digital marketing and social trends can often be somewhat unpredictable year on year, these past two years have put an added level of volatility into the mix with the virus who must not be named causing constant changes to both our personal and working lives. 

The biggest, and most noticeable shift we have seen has been the massive move towards online life. According to We Are Social, active users have increased by more than 400 million over the past year. 

Business meetings and events business moved from meeting rooms and exhibition halls to our home screens. In our personal lives, shopping and entertainment moved temporarily online and for some, this has remained. The latter, of course, has had a huge impact on the marketing world. 

“No surprise for many but I think video will dominate social media engagement, we’ve seen the growth in TikTok and YouTube and now Instagram Reels. The pandemic has proved that with so many of us online we’ve been exposed to creative, entertaining, and thought-provoking video content and we want more of it.” Gordon Glenister Global Head of Influencer Marketing at Branded Content Marketing Association.

With so many more people entertaining themselves online, we have seen a massive increase in user-generated content. Those who tried their best to avoid TikTok and shield themselves from seeing endless dance challenges most likely failed at that attempt as we saw TikTok videos cross over to Instagram or even being sent around over WhatsApp and YouTube. Other businesses took advice from marketing agencies, like Coverinaclick.ie - a leading broker for car insurance in Ireland - and embarked courageously on the TikTok journey with fantastic results.

This kind of activity saw users not only creating their own content but also becoming more popular and reaching some type of celebrity status (to use the term loosely), something that a lot of brands wanted to harness. And thus, we see influencers continue to become more and more prevalent. 

There is no denying that social & influencer marketing is a method that works. Consumers like to feel like they are getting opinions from regular people as opposed to a heavily produced advertisement or pushed in ranking through SEO services. We are seeing a monumental climb in straight to camera ads disguised as personal reviews or recommendations. Brands are advertising for roles as meme generators, hoping to get someone with that creative flair who can marry their product to the perfect pop culture reference that will result in a viral hit. 

Social media has meant that brands have become more accessible and personable with consumers using it as a tool to either praise or condemn a company, some brands have managed to find that perfect balance of friendly yet quirky retorts that consumers love. 

“Revealing the human side of the brand: Smart businesses will understand that being transparent, authentic, and even vulnerable is smart marketing in 2021. People connect with people. This means the brand should be personified in a way that reveals who they stand for and what they stand for. Get more faces out there, create more video, and talk about what matters to your core tribe.” Michael A. Stelzner CEO & Founder, Social Media Examiner.

So where do we go from here?

It’s expected that 2023 will continue to see brands utilise AI to create more personalised interactions with their consumers. Artificial Intelligence is beginning to play a bigger role in digital marketing. Brands like Google are already using AI for email campaigns that generate replies based on what recipients say they are interested in. AI can also be used to lower the cost of digital marketing, as it reduces the need for human labour.

We will also see social media companies put a much stronger focus on e-commerce:

Facebook will be making a big push on eCommerce in 2022 in 2023 as in-stream shopping has become a key focus for the platform.

Twitter is expected to expand revenue streams for the platform and to build pathways for users to make money from tweets while also developing eCommerce options to tap into mobile shopping.

Instagram will be making all posts shoppable in-app. As with Twitter, Instagram will be aiming to provide more monetization pathways for creators.

Tiktok will also see a big push to facilitate eCommerce and branded partnerships on the platform incorporating more instream buying and revenue share options.

In an effort to tap into the new normal where a large portion of the working world will remain remote, LinkedIn is set to become a bigger facilitator of live-stream events, and you can expect this to become a larger element of the in-app experience in 2022. 

Expect to see more alerts about Linked Events in your feed, and more real-time access to such as they happen. This will enable more businesses to expand their event audiences through online broadcasts at a lower cost.

If you want to know more about how EverBold can help with your digital marketing needs, whether it's social media marketing or SEO services, don't hesitate to get in touch! You can reach us for a free consultation on digital marketing services or if you fancy a proper chin wag give us a buzz at +353 1 211 8550.