Social Marketing Trends for 2023
2022 was a year of new innovations in the digital marketing landscape with the rise of influential marketing, micro stories content, virtual reality, the metaverse, and more. The industry is expected to continue changing at a rapid pace in the succeeding years. Because of this, one of the biggest challenges for marketers globally is to keep up with this ever-changing landscape. As we enter the new year, it is best to understand and familiarize yourself with where the future is headed. Here are some marketing trends to prepare for in 2023.
Content creators for small businesses
Small businesses are expected to hire content creators with a niche targeted audience that is relevant to their business instead of those with a huge following count. This is especially effective for businesses with no prior background in digital marketing as content creators have the needed skills, expertise, and tools to be relevant in a wide digital landscape. Time spent learning a new skill or familiarizing with internet culture can instead be used in more important business matters.
Food Influencer and Content Creator Ashley Alexander created a post featuring tableware and drinkware from Royal Doulton to promote the brand.
However, the problem with hiring a content creator is the cost, in the current market, small businesses might not find it worth the money to pay for someone just to post content about them. This is where having a digital marketing team who are experts not just in posting social media content but also public relations and communications instead of hiring a single content creator come into play.
According to a survey by Hootsuite, most content creators are paid $100 per post. Of course, this will depend on their following and the final price is usually upon agreement by the content creator and the brand. Hiring a digital agency on the other hand is typically on a subscription basis with an average cost of $1,000 - $10,000 per month depending on the range of services. With this cost, you are not paying for just a single post, but for an entire digital marketing plan that will benefit and develop your business. For larger projects and long-term effectiveness, digital marketing teams are much more efficient and cost-effective while content creators are better for single advertisements.
Posting different content for each platform
People go to different networks for different reasons. There’s a reason why someone will have accounts on multiple networks, and this is because each network caters to a specific need.
For example, Instagram Reels is used to watch interesting short videos while Instagram is where you can post photos from a recent trip or anything aesthetically pleasing. Meanwhile. Twitter is known to be the place where you can get the most recent updates on certain topics, TikTok to check on the latest trends, and Facebook is usually to catch up on your friends and relatives.
Because of these different uses, businesses are encouraged to create content for different platforms instead of just cross posting a single content to all networks available. However, because not all businesses have the resources to completely focus into creating new content from scratch every time, adjusting your content depending on the nature, style, and user demographics of a platform is advisable.
Starbucks made a written post on its Facebook page. Meanwhile, a similar post on their Instagram account was found but this time, the text was put on a graphic with a different caption. This small change in content because of the nature of the platform is a good example.
Mobile-friendly visuals
Visuals now play a much bigger role in getting your audience’s attention considering how people are bombarded with content wherever they go. Creating visuals that are not only eye-catching but also mobile-friendly is expected to be of significance due to the high traffic being reported from mobile devices.
People are spending much more time on their phones, and therefore visuals that can easily be viewed and comprehended on their mobile should be on your top priority. Simple and easy-to-understand visuals might be more advantageous instead of the more complex ones where you’ll have to zoom in and out of your phones just to get the whole picture. Plan your visual content wisely!
Some tips on making mobile-friendly visuals include grouping texts and images into more consumable pieces, using shorter words, whitespace, and font styling to highlight important details.
Walmart’s Wellness Day graphic is mobile-friendly because in just one look, the viewers can already tell and identify important information such as the event, date, call-to-action, and important reminders.
User-generated content will still be relevant
User-generated content and social media interactivity are still going to be one of the biggest things that will elevate and lead more audiences to your brand. Polls, Q&As, Quizzes, Challenges, and Hashtag Campaigns are some user-generated content that are still expected to be relevant. Why? Because people in the digital world love to be involved.
By interacting and allowing your audience to be involved with your business, they are more inclined to come back. Additionally, these interactions will also typically show on their friends’ and followers’ feeds which will help drive more traffic to your own accounts.
Incentives or prices that are from the products or services that you offer can easily drive your viewers to make user-generated content. One of the most common and most effective examples is by holding a hashtag campaign where users as encouraged to make videos, photos, and posts about your business, and the best ones get featured on your account or they’ll be given a specific product or service. Aside from this, holding a simple raffle event where users are asked to comment, like, or share your posts on their social media for a chance to win the raffle is also common. These user-generated content not only drive traffic to your accounts but can also be reused as well with proper credits to the owners.
Wayfair encouraged its customers to post their home setups with their products at #WayfairAtHome on Instagram. This hashtag campaign was able to generate over 50,000+ user-generated content of people wanting to showcase and share their experiences online. Some of the most popular entries were also featured on the Wayfair Instagram account.
Have a fresh start to your 2023 marketing plan with C2 Communications. We offer a digital package to elevate your brand for the next year that includes a 3-5 pages of website development, a social media content scheduler, and email marketing to refresh your brand and reach your target audience. Aside from our social media marketing plans, we are also your trusted partner in managing public relations and communications. Contact us now and get a quote!