Top Trends 2023 - Social Media Marketing

Bonjour!

Do you wonder why we started with ‘bonjour?’ Well, it is our segue to the Netflix series - Emily in Paris. The protagonist of the show, Emily, is a driven American marketer from Chicago who relocates to Paris in search of a job opening. She is responsible for bringing an American viewpoint to a reputable French marketing company, Savoir. The best part is that she was on top of the latest Social Media Marketing trends and helped her business’s Instagram handle gain popularity and traffic. Not only this but she also ended up becoming a social media influencer. #SocialMediaRules

This show offers several key takeaways for the new generation, especially when it comes to Social Media Marketing (along with several reasons to fall in love with Paris!). In this article, we will look at the top 5 trends that will even help every marketer like Emily ace the marketing games.

So, join us as we walk you through the top 5 Social Media Marketing Trends of 2023!
 

Trend 1: Social Media Will Be King Of Advertising

 
Tell us, when was the last time you checked your social media handle – be it Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram or Twitter? A few minutes ago, right? We can’t blame you; we dwell in an era where it’s impossible to be physically connected to everybody you know. Thanks to social media, connectivity cannot get any easier and more fun than this. Do you know social media platforms can be your advertising agency too? You heard it right!

According to Statista, ads on social media had worldwide revenue of $153 billion in 2021 and this number is likely to increase to over $252 billion by 2026. Wow! If we look closer, ads served on social media platforms are called social media advertising or social media targeting. By using user information, social network can display personalized and relevant advertisements based on the user's activities on a specific platform. When a target market matches the user demographics of a social platform, using social advertising will lead to high conversion and sales volumes with low acquisition costs. This is a trend that’s expected to change how users interact with social media soon.

The future of social media advertising will be a tailored and enhanced experience for the user. Positive user experience (targeted advertisements) will always be a priority for any organization. Hence, maintaining an acceptable ad revenue and user experience balance will be crucial for the long-term success of this Social Media Marketing Trends. Moreover, to create amazing user experiences for advertisement on social media, marketers must push the boundaries of user acceptance and experiment with disruptive advertising on social networks. If it’s not new, it’s not interesting!

TechDogs’ Opinion: Keeping in mind the bright future of social media advertising, we believe that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will certainly be every marketer’s best friend. It is already being used by marketers in many areas. However, if we look at it from the point of view of social media advertising, we foresee that it will augment the personalization of targeted ads and help businesses find ideal customers to advertise to on social media. Brands that have collected a large amount of consumer data will find it easier to utilize AI to optimize their social media advertising strategies. For smaller and emerge recommend understanding how consumers respond to advertisements across various social media channels for smaller and emerging businesses’ marketing techniques. #SocialMediaCustomers
 

Trend 2: Live Video Will Become Popular Thanks To Demand For Authenticity

Was Instagram’s video-first strategy shift a surprise to everyone or did we all know it was coming? (We predicted it last year in our top Social Media Marketing Trends for 2022!) We have all seen videos trending on social media for a while; however, in 2023, the live video features will gain popularity on social media platforms (for good reason!). With the demand for better relationships between brands and their audiences, social media content users will demand the shift to authentic and genuine content that they can relate to, which will result in brands shifting to live videos on social media.

According to research by Sprout Social, when customers feel connected to a brand, 57% are willing to increase their spending with that brand and 76% will buy from the brand instead of a competitor. Authenticity will social media marketers stay above the noise in the digital landscape and generate customer loyalty. Consumers are more willing to spend time and money on your offerings if they are confident that you know what you are doing and whom you say you are. Sounds obvious, right?

It will become critical in 2023 to build trust with consumers and prospective clients on social media in the years to come. This will be done by helping them get to know the brand, its values and its culture through live video sessions. Moreover, businesses will begin by listening to their consumers through social analytics and delivering personalized communications. Most important of all will be, to be honest and open about the brand’s values and opinions.

TechDogs’ Opinion:  There’s no denying that live videos will help brands gain traction as visual content has higher engagement and can be used to promote authentic content. For example, we expect to see major brands continue with live video sessions to host Q&A sessions with their consumers to provide a sense of brand authenticity. As live videos become more popular, brands would also leverage add-on features to make these sessions more insightful, authentic and engaging. Brands are already hosting polls or surveys during live video sessions to better understand what their audience is looking for and what they value the most. We won’t be surprised to see many more such add-on features on platforms to enhance live session experiences. #LetsGoLiveIn2023
 

Trend 3: Customer Service Will Be Integrated With Social Media

Have you ever wondered about the idea behind inventing social media? We wondered too! By dwelling deep into the past, we realized that social media was created with the idea of free dialogue in mind. Successful businesses could meet their clients remotely and enable dialogue. Hence, there is a high probability that businesses on social media will use it to interact with their consumers. It is hardly surprising then that more businesses will choose social media as their primary means of communication with consumers for customer service in 2023.

If we look at the study by J.D. Power, 67 percent of consumers have used a company's social media site for customer service; therefore, having a social customer support strategy is not just a matter of preference; it’s a must. The advantages of having a readily accessible brand through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other platforms include easy client contact, engaging social interaction, brand building and widespread communication via many channels. for customer service; therefore, having a social customer support strategy is not just a matter of preference; it’s a must. The advantages of having a readily accessible means of conversation through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms enable easy client contact, engaging social interaction, brand awareness and customer loyalty across many channels.

In 2023, equipping your customer care team with social media to respond to consumer inquiries quickly and thoroughly will be highly profitable. Moreover, it will be a good choice for organizations to use various social media accounts to provide customer support as consumers will reach out via various platforms. This will aid in reducing the burden from your customer care and support channels as well. It also necessitates that you designate the appropriate teams to watch the appropriate channels and categorize incoming public messages to ensure a top-notch customer support experience.

TechDogs’ Opinion: Simply responding to customer queries is not enough today. Customers will expect a faster and more friendly response when they reach out to organizations via social media platforms. Hence, we expect chatbots will gain popularity in the coming years to provide instant social customer support to consumers - that too 24/7. Customers will get the information they need right away from chatbots and if needed, should also be able to chat or video call a human support agent via social media. We suggest businesses invest in social media marketing tools that can centralize messages across all social media channels to ensure no queries get lost in the noise. By using social media for customer support, both businesses and consumers will get to leverage social media's instant and accessible connectivity. #SocialMediaWillSupportYourCustomerSupport
 

Trend 4: Social Media Will Enable A Human Touch

We've all heard the phrase "humans are social animals" at some point in our lives, right? This assertion has been reinforced by the emergence of social media and people's desire for instant gratification. Given the shifting paradigms of consumer investment in the goods and services they use, a more novel yet clear strategy is required. Businesses will leverage personalized social media strategies as a successful way to make the brand stick in people's minds in 2023.

A customized social media campaign for a brand or organization's identity fosters a sense of exclusivity, engagement and ownership among its community members, ultimately inspiring them to willingly become brand ambassadors. Research by Brand Keys, a predictive analytics organization, states that a 7% increase in loyalty is seen in consumers through personalized campaigns that provide a human touch and that it can boost lifetime profit by as much as 85% per consumer. That’s a huge win, isn’t it?

You will agree that organizations nowadays want their customers to recall interactions between them and think of them first when they require a product or service. To establish that immediate association in a customer's mind, businesses should opt for effective social media loyalty programs. Organizations should take the help of predictive analytics and big data to understand the behavior of their consumers and use it to create more memorable, relevant and tailored social media outreach campaigns. This will help them provide personalized social reward programs and better connect with existing as well as prospective consumers. All it takes is a human touch!

TechDogs’ Opinion: It is no hidden fact that every brand wants to stay top-of-mind by providing relevant and humanized content on social media. However, this strategy needs automation to post the most pertinent material at the right time and grow a sizable and lucrative social media following. We believe that things can seem a touch stale when a brand only uses generic templates and promotional material across its social media handles. Instead of being the social extension of your brand, your social media presence will start to be perceived by consumers as a lifeless marketing machine. We suggest brands focus on creating tailored content, scheduling posts across time zones and developing automated reply bots to reach out to every consumer message. This social media trend will help brands to optimize their image on social media platforms and enhance the engagement and loyalty of consumers. #AddAHumanTouchToSocialMedia
 

Trend 5: Social Audio Will Be The Next Milestone For Marketers

No one can deny the power of audio. After all, countless TV advertising jingles leave us with nostalgia and an earworm that we keep humming! What if the power of audio helps you dominate the world of social media? Yes, this is what our last trend is all about. Social audio has gained traction in the past few years and this trend is likely to rise exponentially in the years to come. Brands need to be aware of audio messages, podcasts, recorded notes, virtual audio rooms, etc. on social media to be relevant this year.

Jeremiah Owyang, the founder of Kaleido Insights, once said that social audio is a Goldilocks medium. He further explains it by saying that text is not enough and video is too much; social audio is just right! It represents the opportunity for social connection and empathy without the downsides of video. After all, consumers may not always be presentable for a video call, right? Even though podcast audio has been available for a while, it is a one-way broadcast medium, meaning that it is recorded for later listening. Social audio will be distinct from other types of audio communications in that it will enable listeners to actively participate in the conversation in real time. Social audio is particularly useful and significant because it offers a level of contextual comprehension that text messages cannot match. Take note, marketers!

Social audio enables consumers to have a genuine human chat rather than listening to pre-recorded audio as it is a live interaction. Businesses will enter an entirely new arena with social audio and the brands that succeed will not only be at the top of their game in terms of marketing but also have the opportunity to dominate customer support for years to come. Social media platforms have already made preparations to take advantage of audio's rising popularity. Facebook is developing an audio editing program that will let users make Soundbites.

TechDogs’ Opinion:  Looking at the current scenario, we anticipate a surge in social audio in the upcoming months, including voice communications, live audio meetings, real-time broadcasting of events and more. Social audio will promote the quick development of social audio channels on well-known social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. We believe that live online events (remember trend 1?) will be greatly influenced by social audio. Livestream shopping will also significantly change with consumers being able to talk directly to sellers in real time. However, we also expect marketers should augment the rise of social audio with better analytics of audience impressions, conversation propagation, sentiment, audio engagement rates, etc. In addition, we project that social audio channels won't be standalone services in the coming years; rather, they'll be integrated within tools as part of the communications service.
 

Wrapping It Up

Over the ensuing 2-3 years, it is anticipated that social media usage will continue to rise. Social media giants such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are not going anywhere despite emerging competition. Users will stay engaged on these major social media sites for longer every day, thanks to these Social Media Marketing trends such as higher authenticity, more personalization of content and customer support as well as improved communication through social audio. This will result in businesses and brands seeking new ways to adapt their social media strategy to stay up to date across their social media strategies.