Whats hot and not on social media

22 Feb What’s HOT and what’s NOT in Social Media this 2023 

Posted at 09:15h in Social Media Marketing by 
From the rapid rise of short-form videos to leveraging the value of community building, here’s what we think is what's hot and what's not in social media so far in 2023.

Whats hot and not on social media

Social media is a hot spot for emerging trends — they come and go. Some social media trends will fizzle out while others will rise, making this constantly evolving space an exciting one to watch.  

Given that social media is a whopping $231.1 billion industry makes it an integral part of any brand or business strategy, now more than ever. In our case at Ignite Social Media, we have seen emerging technologies, never-ending feature updates, and ever-changing consumer behavior since 2007. It’s never slowed down. Digital marketers are constantly on their toes, anticipating what’s coming next. 

Let us look at social media trends expected to make a splash this 2023 and those that will take a backseat.  

What’s the Latest in Social Media? 

2023 is going to be a year of interactive social media engagement. This means social media managers should learn to get creative with their social content and track social data more closely than ever before. Here’s a rundown of what’s hot and what’s not for social media this 2023. 

1. “Edutainment” content will rule: HOT 

@lacedmedia It should be considered a major problem if you’re not producing Short-Form Video Content consistently #socialmediamarketingtips #tiktokmarketingtips #contentmarketingtips #shortformvideotips #businessowner ♬ Violin – Grooving Gecko

It’s has become increasingly clear that social media users are more likely to interact with entertaining educational content. The concept of “edutainment” – a combination of education and entertainment – is rapidly growing, as social platforms prioritize this kind of posts.  

It’s time for brands, social media managers, and content creators to put life into their content by adding an ‘educating’ element to their social content. It should be a balance between teaching something valuable and making it as enjoyable and fun as possible for the audience to consume. 

The goal is to create social content that adds value to social media users’ lives and makes them ask for more — hence, “comment for part 2”, 

2. Twitter  ⬇️: NOT HOT 

Twitter was the talk of the town since 2022 and since then, many brands out there are quiet quitting on Twitter. 

After hundreds of key employees resigned on November 17, rumors began circulating that Twitter was in its final moments, as we discussed in our recent blogs too. Not to mention Twitter’s issues with layoffs, platform stability, Elon Musk’s personal reputation and more have really affected public perception of this social media platform. So far, about ½ of the big advertisers have not yet come back to Twitter. 

Is Twitter Safe for Brands for 2023?

 

This does not necessarily mean that Twitter is dead, but social media managers should prepare for any possible outcomes and should maybe avoid going Twitter-heavy in their campaigns and ads. 

Secondly, social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram have taken much of Twitter’s spotlight, although potential replacements such as Mastodon and Post have not. Social media users can easily shift to new social networks when they offer a fresher social experience with more opportunities for engagement and outreach. 

It looks like Twitter will take a backseat this 2023 — it may not be dead, but it will certainly take a backseat.  

3. AI will continue to emerge: HOT  

When it comes to social media, AI or artificial intelligence is on the rise — and it’s going to change a lot in terms of how we work. We are talking about chatbots, facial recognition tools, automatic transcriptions, generative imagery and so much more. 

AI is now being used in a variety of functions in marketing: 

  • Data Analysis: It collects and sifts through large amounts of marketing data from various campaigns and programs that would otherwise have to be sorted manually. 
  • Natural Language Processing (NLP): Creates a human-like language for content creation, customer service bots, experience personalization, and more. 
  • Media Buying: Predicts the most effective ad and media placements for a business in order to reach its target audience and maximize marketing strategy ROI.  
  • Automated Decision-Making: AI marketing tools help businesses decide which marketing or business growth strategy they should use based on past data or outside data inputs. 
  • Content Generation: Writes both short and long pieces of content for a marketing strategy, such as video captions, email subject lines, web copy, blogs, and more. 
  • Real-time Personalization: Changes a customer’s experience with a marketing asset such as a web page, social post, or email to fit the customer’s past preferences to encourage a certain action, such as clicking a link, signing up for something or buying a product. 
  • Graphics and Images: AI-powered tools can help create visuals for social media posts, websites, and other marketing assets like email banners.AI is now a major force in social media — and its use will definitely continue to increase in 2023. Social media managers should be aware of the opportunities that AI brings to social media — it’s the way forward. 

4. Fixating on follower count: NOT HOT 

A million followers doesn’t matter much anymore. Social media managers need to look beyond follower count and focus on how their social content is helping them drive more meaningful results. 

Focusing too much on follower count can lead social media managers to overlook valuable metrics like engagement rate, website traffic, conversions, etc.— all of which are more important than just looking at follower count. Why? Because follower counts no longer correlate with anything meaningful, not even impressions. Good content travels. Bad content doesn’t. Brand can only reach a fraction of their followers organically, so why focus on it?  

Knowing what meaningful analytics are for your brand will help social media managers determine which kind of content their audience likes and what kind of content they don’t — so you can adjust to meet their standards. 

So in 2023, social media managers should stop fixating on how many followers they have and start focusing on the quality of their social content. It will be more beneficial in the long run. 

5. Employee advocacy will be talked about: HOT 

Employee advocacy is something social media managers should be considering. It’s all about leveraging the social presence of your employees to create more organic and authentic content for social media.  

Whether it’s having your team members share brand-related content or talking about their day-to-day activities at work — employers can gain additional traction with employee advocacy. It’s a great way to connect with social media users on a deeper level and increase engagement.  

Plus, when employees are given more control over social media content, it will help build trust among your social followers. It also gives them a picture of how it’s like to work with your company — giving them a reason to consider you as a potential employer. There are a variety of tools that help with employee advocacy on social media at scale. They may be worth checking out.  

6. Engaging and thumb-stopping content: HOT 

It’s all about the rule of thumb. If your content can make people stop that thumb from scrolling and engage, then you know it’s HOT. 

This year, social media managers should focus on creating content that is engaging and thumb-stopping. Whether it’s through interactive polls, creative visuals, or clever gifs — social media users need something to keep them hooked in order for them to engage. 

Plus, social media managers should also focus on creating content that is relevant to both their audience and their brand (which is no easy thing). So think outside of the box and create social media content that will make social media users stop and engage. That’s when your results will be HOT. 

7. Celebrity endorsements: NOT HOT 

We think celebrities aren’t that hot anymore on social media. Here’s a couple reasons why: 

  • Data shows that 92% of consumers trust an influencer more than an advertisement or traditional celebrity endorsement (Musefind). Plus, social media managers should focus the content on their social followers and create something relevant to them.  
     
  • Social media users are savvy — they know when someone is paying famous people to promote a brand. Brands that partner with influencers who show affinity for their products garner a significant level of trust from their followers by being relatable, genuine and consistent (Deloitte). So if your social campaigns involve celebrities, social media users are less likely to take the endorsement seriously.  
  • Using celebrities to boost social media presence will cost social media managers a lot of money — and it’s not always worth the investment.  

In a recent blog post we had, we featured Jim Tobin, Ignite Social Media CEO, on his 15 social media lessons wherein he implored “Celebrities are a shortcut, that usually don’t work”. So, if you’re paying celebrities to endorse your product, they’re simply actors. Influencer marketing is about data and relationships, not celebrity deals. 

15 Lessons That Took Me 15 Years to Learn by Jim Tobin

That leads us to… 

8. Micro creators and influencers will continue to thrive: HOT 

According to video analytics firm Tubular Labs, creator and influencer viewership will hit 10 trillion views per month across all platforms in 2023. We’ll leave the math to you. 

If you don’t leverage creator marketing over the next 12 months, you’re missing out on a major opportunity. With influencer marketing being a $16.4B industry, we think it’s time social media managers take advantage of social influencers who can truly bring exposure to their brand — in ways that celebrities cannot.  
 

Social influencers have an engaged audience, and social media managers should capitalize on this. Build relationships with them and collaborate. Authenticity is key — social media users need to know that they are genuine relationships, and social media managers should not just use social influencers for their brand exposure.  

Genuine Influencers will already be speaking to an audience about the subject for which they have a passion. They will use their blogs or social media channels as a mouthpiece – not to bigmouth themselves, but to provide views, help, ideas, tips, and anything else that will widen the knowledge of their followers about the topic of expertise. And that is something that you should definitely capitalize on. 

Final Thoughts 

In a nutshell: Trends are the spice of social media — no year is definitely the same. But social media managers should remember that social media trends come and go — so don’t forget the basics. Keep up with social media news, know what works and what doesn’t, and remain agile with social media strategies. These tips will help social media managers keep their social presence up-to-date in 2023.  

If you need help with social media marketing in 2023, our social media experts can help you reach your social goals. Contact us today, and let’s get the social party started. 

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