Social Media Marketing Predictions for 2023
Social networks have been very active this year, with Meta continuing its gradual decline, TikTok continuing its rise and Twitter in a delicate position. No one knows what will happen, but we can see the potential for real and viable changes next year. Top social networks Facebook Facebook has been the biggest loser because it is the network least engaged with young people, but Zuckerberg says he has plans to get things back on track. More ads and people are recommended by algorithms. This trend originates from TikTok. Instead of forcing you to create your social graph, TikTok focuses on showing the best content of all. Therefore, 40% of the content in your main Facebook feed will come from pages you don’t follow, as Facebook will try to promote content appropriately, giving brands more opportunities to buy ads. Family and friends This could lead Facebook to find other ways to better highlight posts from family and friends. Facebook’s main differentiator, TikTok, calls itself an “entertainment platform” rather than a social networking app. The reason Facebook has lost its popularity is that people no longer use these applications and, therefore, have moved away from the social element. Avatar integration Meta wants people to get excited about the Metaverse. One way they are doing this is by integrating digital avatars in more places within their app. By promoting the use of avatars as a form of digital identity, we can encourage more people to participate through digital personas, which are an important part of participation in the Metaverse. Ads in DMS As mentioned above, with increasing participation in DMs, Meta will place more emphasis on tools to help brands embrace this shift. Meta recently highlighted the growth of click-to-message ads on both Messenger and WhatsApp to encourage this behavior, and marketers are pushing for even more advertising options to appear to match this overall shift. Virtual reality. Another way Meta is facilitating changes in the metaverse is through VR posts, including the already announced option to share from VR to Reels.
We expect Meta to offer new VR-sharing options, such as video chat and direct publishing options, to help show people what they are doing and what they are missing in their VR space.
Augmented reality experience With many already in Metaverse, Meta is looking to promote another stage of development: augmented reality glasses and publications. This will bring many new features and experiences within the app. If Meta can jump in soon and take this space, it could be a big boost to their plans for the broader Metaverse, and we can also expect Meta to start encouraging more AR tools on Facebook and Instagram. Instagram Instagram is eager to fend off competition, and it seems to have succeeded so far, as the app recently reported that it now has 2 billion monthly active users. However, it will continue to operate by copying all the trending features from all the trending apps to ensure that Instagram maintains its position as a major social app. Here’s what could be coming to the app: More content is recommended by the algorithm. Like Facebook, Instagram is also leaning toward AI content recommendations to maximize user engagement, though it’s still not exactly a welcome addition. Right now, it doesn’t seem to be working, but Instagram wants to show people more of the best content from across the app, with a particular focus on highlighting creators, which is also seen as an important driver moving forward. Next-level integration. Instagram is expected to incorporate new ways to create content in 2023, including AR publishing, 3D, and further integration of NFT art. By providing creators with more ways to create and perform this next-level art, Meta can help guide them as they create in the metaverse. AR and more interactive ads This is where new opportunities arise for brands, such as augmented reality advertising and interactive ad formats, which will engage users in entirely new ways. Direct buying While not yet launched, Instagram is still experimenting with in-person shopping, which has been hugely successful in other markets. If this gains more traction, it could become a big source of revenue for the app, in addition to increasing its in-stream commerce capabilities. Twitter Musk has laid out some vague plans, none of which appear to be finalized, but which also appear to replace entire app management and engineering teams. This means anything is possible and unprecedented in Twitter’s past. Here’s what you can expect from Twitter: A new push for subscriptions. Musk has repeatedly said he wants to use subscriptions as a way to increase Twitter’s revenue, but he also wants to provide another layer to keep bots out of the app. Variable Algorithm This is one of Musk’s pet projects, implementing ways to help users better understand how algorithms determine their Twitter experience and choose the algorithmic elements that influence their tweet feeds. It gives users the option to control their experience. To the point. Freedom of expression. Another factor Musk repeatedly points out is the commitment to “freedom of expression” in apps, allowing any kind of free speech within the law, rather than applying limits or restrictions based on internal parameters. Payment opportunity. Musk is exploring the possibility of using his platform as a means to facilitate payments, possibly through cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency could have great potential to launch Twitter as a new banking service, which could facilitate all new types of money transfers, commerce, product advertising, and more. Longer Tweets Musk plans to integrate longer Tweet options to allow more types of posts to be shared within the app. Longer videos as well. LinkedIn The professional social network continued to post “record levels” of engagement throughout the year. LinkedIn is poised for continued growth, and in 2023, you can expect the platform to provide more data and more links to LinkedIn learning courses to enhance its offerings. More data to guide job seekers. LinkedIn has the largest database of career and professional information ever created, and
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