Let’s start with a fundamental truth: your company can’t do without a social media presence.

It doesn’t matter if you manage an enterprise getting bigger or a small local startup just taking off. Social media is a vital component of your marketing plan. It helps you build relationships with your customers, raise brand awareness, and improve leads and sales.

Almost every year has brought new developments that changed the way we spend our time online. Social media has always been at the top of the churn, with new platforms emerging and new rules and trends that challenge marketers to stay agile and creative.

The trends for social media are endless, from the emergence of augmented reality to the rising significance of privacy and security.

Trends to Get a Headstart On

Increased focus on social commerce

Smart marketers mix the greatest aspects of social media and eCommerce to create social commerce.

In the following three years, it is expected that global eCommerce sales would expand by over 100% from 2020 to $1.6 trillion. The moment is here to begin selling on social media.

You start scrolling on Instagram or TikTok and you’ll soon see products being sold, with attractive new customer discounts.

Social commerce brings the store to the client, meeting them wherever they are, as opposed to sending customers to a separate app or website.

By allowing customers to check out immediately through social media sites, social commerce is mobile friendly and eliminates superfluous processes, streamlining the purchase. This makes the customer’s experience more frictionless and increases sales for the retailer.

Increased emphasis on video content

In this age, “People buy from people.” We’re in the hyper modernized version of salespeople promoting products. Except instead of the supermarket aisle, they’re on videos.

Campaign Monitor found that video content increases clickthrough rates by 65%. This statistic indicates that clients are more likely to start their customer journey and ultimately become paying customers.

This is why video content can be used at any moment by your brand because it is adaptable. There are numerous forms of video content you can produce; there isn’t just one way to do it correctly and that’s it.

Discuss your product or service and embrace your company’s culture. Show off your fantastic workplace team.

This will enable customers to establish their first connection with the brand’s creators, which will foster audience support for the brand.

62% of marketers gauge through interactions like likes, shares, and comments. Customers may appreciate your films and share them with their friends and family, which demonstrates their pride in liking your company and its content and raises brand recognition.

Augmented Reality (AR) integration

Online purchasing doesn’t lend itself well to a full sensory product experience so you’ll feel like you’re missing something. In a physical store, you can put clothing on, feel the fabric , and judge for yourself how big a couch appears in a room.

Although those things aren’t physically achievable in e-commerce, augmented reality (AR) applications provide a method to give customers deeper and more comprehensive information about your products – all from the comfort of their own homes.

The tech sector is expected to benefit economically from AR. The global augmented reality market was worth $17.67 billion in 2020. By 2028, forecasters predict a compound annual growth rate of 43.8%.

Which niches will adopt this new technology, though? Industry experts predict that sales will be spread among several key verticals, including education, gaming, healthcare, industrial, and retail, to mention a few.

Instagram is testing an AR component for ads that would allow users to “try on” products from chosen brands. A user will be able to digitally see how a pair of eyeglasses or a lipstick color might look on them, for example.

Customers can get a better picture of how a product will operate for them by virtually trying it on, which helps reduce doubts about purchases. So, merging AR with your social media marketing may increase sales for e-commerce companies.

Greater importance of social listening and personalized marketing

Without a social listening plan, you’re passing up some of the most important information that can help you grow your company.

In fact, almost two thirds of marketers agree that the value of social listening has grown over the past year.

By examining what people are saying on social media, social media listening technologies enable you to develop a thorough picture of exactly how current and future customers feel about you.

You gain insights on what they think about the brand if you know how to get through your audiences.

You may better grasp what your audience wants from your brand by using social media listening.

An existing client might tweet about how much they enjoy your product, for instance. Maybe you might hear someone talking about a problem that your product or service could solve.

In either scenario, use this insightful feedback to enhance your product and satisfy your customers.

The rise of niche social media platforms

Social media‘s ability to connect people, regardless of their geographical location, racial origin, or even language, is what makes it so beautiful.

By linking users with people who share their interests or passions, niche social networks strengthen that bond between users and the subjects they are interested in.

Niche social groups don’t aim to be everything to everyone; they stay small and cater to those who want to be there. Everyone can find a specialty group, from knitters and beer lovers to hikers and graphic designers.

Closed groups have the advantage of encouraging community members to open up personally among others who share their interests, in contrast to online public forums. This improved trust enables companies to establish more intimate connections with their customers and increases engagement.

Micro-influencers on the rise for influencer marketing

In contrast to more well-known influencers, who have seen their popularity significantly decline over the past few years, micro-influencers are on the rise.

Since they fill the gap between a public figure and a relatable person, micro-influencer engagement rates and traffic remain stable despite having a smaller following. With a much smaller fan base, their interactions with them are frequently more thoughtful, unique, and sincere.

Micro-influencers are seen as a reputable source for niche categories. Their followers go to them for their insights and opinions on goods and services, whether or not they’re affiliates.

Authentic and reliable content

68% of customers agree that social media content’s authenticity and reliability are more important than being well-polished.

One fashionable and enjoyable trend for social media marketing are memes.

Memes are lighthearted pictures or movies or screencaps that become viral online. Easily engage with your audience using niche-specific memes and advertise your brand without sacrificing the fun factor.

It’s all about humanizing your brand and making it more relatable to your audience. Keeping up with current jokes also shows your audience that your business is updated with current internet culture and trends which increases audience trust and trustworthiness.

Work with micro-influencers. Several options exist to produce interesting and genuine content from influencers. They can make distinctive and imaginative content that highlights a brand’s goods or services in a way that appeals to their audience.

This can be material that shows how a product fits into a specific influencer’s daily routine, product reviews, tutorials, or lifestyle content.

Last but not least, keep up with the newest social networking platforms. Including sites like TikTok or Reels into your social media strategy will help you stay current and interesting as short-form video content becomes more and more popular.

Shifting from cross-posting to a tailored advertising campaign

Cross-posting can help you reach more people, but it frequently produces a disjointed message that doesn’t appeal to any one demographic. Target the right audience with the right message at the right time by designing a customized advertising campaign.

Choose your target market first. Who are you trying to reach? What do they like to do and how do they act? You can develop messaging that speaks directly to your target audience once you have a firm idea of who they are.

Secondly, pick the best advertising platform for your campaign. What sites do your potential audience members frequent? Where else except Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc?.

Research to make sure you’re meeting your audience where they are as this will differ based on who they are.

Make sure your messaging is consistent across all platforms. Your audience will get more familiar with and trust your brand more. A compelling call-to-action also draws viewers in.

Track your results after your campaign is live and make any adjustments to your plan. This maximizes the effectiveness of your campaign.

The Future of Social Media in 2023

A. Continued growth of social media platforms

Billions of people worldwide have made social media platforms an essential part of modern culture, using them to connect, share, and consume information. These platforms are expected to continue their growth in 2023 by adding users and functionality.

The growing usage of smartphones and other mobile devices is one of the primary causes of this expansion. Gadgets make it simpler for consumers to access social media while on the go.

The availability of the internet and mobile devices in developing nations like Brazil, India, and Indonesia is also anticipated to increase the use of social media.

B. Increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning

Social media platforms are already utilizing AI and machine learning to enhance their algorithms, weed out spam and fake news, and tailor information for consumers. These technologies will likely be increasingly more common in 2023 as platforms utilize AI to track user behavior and deliver more precise advertising.

It’s getting harder for human censors to keep up with the amount of content being posted to social media platforms every day so AIs are on the run now. They can assist platforms in promptly identifying and removing problematic content including hate speech, fake news, and other types of misinformation.

C. Further integration of social media into daily life

People’s everyday lives already revolve around social media, but in 2023 its more widespread. Social media platforms are likely to become more fully integrated into our homes and places of employment as smart homes and the Internet of Things (IoT) grow in popularity.

A voice-activated assistant that can help us manage our schedules, place grocery orders, and communicate with friends and family, for instance, may be made available on social networking sites. As video streaming services and gaming platforms become more prevalent, social media may also become increasingly intertwined with these other forms of entertainment.

D. Greater use of social media for business and career development

For businesses and professionals trying to develop their brands and engage with customers, social media has grown in importance over the past few years. This pattern continues in 2023, with more firms and professionals using social media to spur expansion and reach new audiences.

Influencer marketing is one area where social media is expected to have a particularly large impact. Businesses increase their investments in collaborations with influencers and other social media celebrities as more customers look to social media for product recommendations and evaluations.

Growing Your Business with Social Media

Social media is now a crucial component of contemporary marketing strategy. With billions of active users, these social media platforms give businesses a unique opportunity to reach out to their target audience, engage with them, and promote their brand.

A. Tiktok

TikTok is a video-sharing app that enables users to produce brief musical videos. Companies connect with younger consumers through this platform.

• Be open to the platform’s distinctive features. The main themes of TikTok are humor and creativity. Make your videos stand out with popular hashtags, filters, and effects.
• Engage influencers in collaboration. Working with TikTok influencers help you expand your audience and promote your brand.
• Use trends. To stay current with TikTok, keep up with the most recent trends and incorporate them into your work.

B. Instagram

Instagram is a popular photo- and video-sharing application that has grown to be a potent tool for companies looking to attract new clients.

• Instagram Stories. Express the personality of your brand through stories and interact with your audience.Tools like polls, tests, and swipe-up links boost audience participation.
• Instagram Reels. Short-form videos known as reels can be shared on your Instagram feed or in the reels area. They are a fantastic method to showcase the character and imagination of your brand.
• Instagram Shopping. Businesses can use Instagram Shopping to tag products in their posts and stories, making it simple for customers to make purchases through the app.

C. Pinterest

Find and bookmark ideas on Pinterest, a visual search engine. It’s becoming a very well-liked platform for eCommerce.

• Make content that is pleasing to the eye. Aesthetics are everything on Pinterest. Get your pins attractive and of high quality.
• Improve your pins. Include hashtags and keywords in the description to increase your pins’ visibility.
• Use Rich pins. Rich pins give buyers more details about your products—such as costs and availability—making it simpler for them to make a purchase.

D. Other platforms

Each social media network has distinct characteristics and user demographics of its own. You can benefit from these distinctions and their advantages by being aware of them.

For instance, LinkedIn is a tool for professional networking that can connect you with clients, coworkers, and employers. It’s a fantastic platform for showcasing your knowledge and expertise and establishing your personal brand.

Twitter, on the other hand, is a quick-fire network that is ideal for sharing brief, pithy messages and breaking news. Be informed about business trends and make connections with influential people in your sector.

Make the Most of Social Media Trends

A lot of trends are worth keeping an eye on, from the development of social commerce to the increasing significance of video content.

Remain on top of things and establish engaging new connections with your audience by taking advantage of these developments. Work with a social media specialist to stay on top of trends and keep your customers engaged on social media. Once customers are aware of your brand, they look for your social media pages.

They become aware of you if they see you on social media in the first place. Build your social media presence, or upgrade your strategy this year. Which of the trends above are you implementing?