4 Social Media Trends to watch in 2023 for Businesses

Are you planning your 2023 social media strategy? Digital trends move so fast that it's not always easy to keep up to date with what's new. So, to make life easier, we've filtered out the noise to make it easier for you to make sure you’ve incorporated this year’s most significant predicted trend. 

Below you’ll find more information on the five four key social media trends to watch this year:

-           UGC Creators/Influencers Creators/Influencers

-           Short Videos

-           LinkedIn Creators

-           Keyword Search & SEO

1.         UGC Creators (user-generated content)/Influencers 

UGC Creators is when content is created organically by a brand’s followers and then shared and used by the brand on its account and within its marketing collateral. A report by Stackla  says 80% of consumers say UGCare highly impacts their purchasing decisions, as with online shopping, consumers can’t physically see, touch, or smell the products they’re considering. influenced by UGC content, positively impacting their purchasing decisions. UGC creators build a level of trust and authenticity to promote the features & benefits of a product without consumers being able to physically see, touch, or smell the products they’re considering. For example, E.g. They consumers want to see what a shade of lipstick looks like on someone with their a certainskin tone or how a fragrance smells in a more personable description. UGC offers people consumers an unvarnisheda genuine real-world, third-party view recommendation of these unknown elements, which not only helps to bring products to life, but bestows trust within the brand and makes people feel valued. 

2.         Short Videos

Short videos on platforms such as Instagram reels and TikTok videos already took off in 2022 for businesses, but they continue to rise along with YouTube Shorts for 2023. As stated in Forbes, for businesses to stay relevant, they need to appear in channels and formats where their customers are. Short video formats are making their way into social media management tools and schedulers, making it easier for businesses to plan and post. If you haven’t already, now is the best time to start watching Reels and TikTok to understand the format and so you can begin, then start posting and experimenting with short video content for your business. YouTube Shorts have a twofold appeal as the creators that post on Shorts can attract more viewers to their main channels in the hope that they view longer content and grow their subscribers. 

3.         LinkedIn Creators

Infusing employee personality within posts, which could be content specific to the industry, e.g. soap trends, soap-making business, upcoming personal care trends, product knowledge, and more, helps build trust and loyalty with followers extending beyond a specific industry. Similar to UGC, this can elevate a brand's profile and build long-lasting relationships with customers as they begin to resonate and associate with an influentialindividual. put a positive outlook on the topics. According to Forbes, Employee personal profiles are often more effective at reaching more people authentically than business accounts. If harnessed correctly, this power is an untapped opportunity most used in B-2-B marketing. 

4.         Keyword Search & SEO

Let’s not get confused with Google SEO, but instead Instagram and TikTok search. With over one billion monthly active users on Instagram, SEO plays a significant role in getting content reach and discovery. Therefore, posts need to include keywords in the caption, hashtags, and alt text. Nearly 40% of Gen Z prefers using TikTok and Instagram over Google search. With Instagram’s latest insights on how posts are determined, you can see that engagement with posts helps users to become featured on the explore pages and non-followers suggested posts. TikTok has its own factors which determine how videos are recommended on the platform, which is not necessarily determined by follower count or previous high-performing videos. Therefore, by having keywords and SEO within your captions on these platforms, you’ll be increasing your chances of reaching a larger targeted audience.

It can often be overwhelming trying to keep up with every different social trend on each platform. My advice would be to take a step back, ask yourself ‘where is your target audience? What platform do they use most?’ and focus on this rather than spreading your self thin and trying to use every platform but achieve very little. Depending on which trends resonate with your brand and goals you can begin by focusing on one until you feel comfortable introducing a second. 

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