We’re approaching the end of yet another year and from TikTok trending videos to Twitter’s recent fiasco, it’s been a chaotic year in the social media industry. It’s important to stay informed about the ever-evolving industry because everyone, including your customers and competitors, is on social media. As we approach the new year, we want you to stay in the know on what social media predictions we may see for 2023. Check out our take on what can be expected in the world of social media in 2023.
Trending on TikTok
TikTok has another strong year of growth, now at 1.5 billion monthly active users. NC State University states that Gen Z spends more time on TikTok than on Instagram and YouTube- an average of 91 minutes a day. YouTube shorts are still the main competitor to TikTok. More than 2.3 billion subscribers regularly visit YouTube every month, and YouTube shorts amasses over 30 billion daily views from global users, as stated by Search Engine Journal.
In 2022, we saw many increases on the platform but one, in particular, is search and discovery. Users of all ages are now going to TikTok to search for their next recipe rather than Pinterest or Google. Along with this, we’ve even seen an increase in people searching for new places to eat in popular cities, such as ‘Places to eat in Oklahoma City.’
Looking into the new year, we can expect more innovations from the app, particularly for creators and brands. We should see better insights, more editing functionality, a new photo mode, longer captions for creators, new in-app shops, and more.
What works on TikTok?
- Consider your video retention strategy. How long are users watching your videos? The first 3 seconds are the MOST important.
- Use captions like: wait for it, reveal at the end, etc.
- Sound is vital! It’s important to hop on trends the minute they start to happen.
- Use a voiceover for a personal touch, or start using the new voice effects function released in late 2022.
- Collaboration. Could you collaborate with an influencer to create an audio and encourage others to use it? Is there someone in your area who has a larger following? Most cities have a few influencers that you can find.
Instagram has also been releasing new updates, as it looks to keep up with the latest consumption trends and habits from other social media platforms. With that, the app recently reported that it’s now up to 2 billion monthly active users.
Instagram, with its more creative ethos, and access to talent, is also the main connection between the current state and the metaverse – which is why the app is so keen to establish stronger systems for creators.
Looking into the new year, we can expect Instagram to add new forms of content creation including AR and 3D posts, and other new content forms that can be showcased in the app. We will also see new creation tools, like GIFs generated from live photos.
It’s a Creator Economy
According to Forbes, there are about 50 million content creators across multiple platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitch. It’s no surprise that it’s a creator economy.
The two biggest challenges small businesses face when it comes to contributing to the creator economy are:
- Content creation
- Understanding the social media platforms
To help solve these problems, working with creators or marketing agencies is a great way to increase brand awareness among those who KNOW how to use social media platforms. One of the benefits of finding a creator for your business, if they are small, is that as they grow and become more popular, so does your business.
Instagram is testing subscriptions offering a handful of creators the chance to set a monthly price and unlock new tools like subscriber lives, stories, and badges.
There are now many ways to make money, like on Youtube, which has paid out more than 30 million dollars to creators of Youtube shorts. Youtube is monetizing shorts with a 45% revenue split. More and more creators are turning to shorts to make money.
Yes, the social media platform that we are ALL discussing right now. Worldwide, Twitter is 16th among social media sites in terms of the number of users. In 2022, Elon Musk bought the company for an astonishing $44 billion, even though Twitter, which relies on advertising for much of its revenue, has turned a profit in only two of the last ten years.
Musk has laid out various vague plans, none of which seem set in stone. At the same time, reportedly, he is set to replace entire management and engineering teams at the app.
In recent months, many big brand companies are seeing the negative side effect of recent updates. The implementation of the $8 verification allowed random accounts to appear as big brands to tweet and make false company updates causing some companies to drop billions in stock. Eli Lilly dropped 6% in stock and dropped billions in a matter of 1 day in early November. However, Musk plans to implement a stronger verification process to help alleviate this from happening again.
One of the few things that Twitter does have going for itself is that Twitter is seen as the place where many people find live breaking news, trending news, or viral news. You can follow a news event as it unfolds even before mainstream media picks it up. In a Pew Research Center study, they found that 42% think the news on social sites is largely accurate. Furthermore, a newer survey revealed that about half (53%) continue to rely on social media sites for news (Pew Research Center, 2021).
What can we see for 2023? That’s actually the one that experts are saying we can’t predict. Elon Musk even tweeted in early November “Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in the coming months. We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.”
Conclusions
So there you have it, those are our social media predictions for 2023. To wrap it all up, here’s what you need to know:
- Social media is so much more than just posting content. Take time to truly understand your audience and how they communicate.
- Deliver value that’s based on the needs of your audience.
- Be bold! Understand what is trending and get involved!
- Include as much motion/video as possible! It has taken the place of still graphics in all algorithms and is dominating the feeds on every platform!
- Collaborate! Work with talented creators to collaborate on videos, songs, and competitions to expand your reach.
If you are a small business struggling with social media, our team can facilitate those efforts for you. Contact our office at 580-699-2729, email us at contact@lightalive.marketing, or click here to get started.