Our predictions for social media marketing in 2023

As 2022 comes to an end, you may be in the position to start working on your social media marketing strategy for 2023. Facebook and Instagram have seen a slow decline in usage while Twitter battles through Elon Musk’s takeover. TikTok continues to gain traction, as more and more businesses are focusing on short-form video content. With so much going on all at once, it can be difficult to know what’s to come, but here are our predictions on what we expect to see in 2023.

Twitter

Let’s start with a hot topic: Twitter. As Elon Musk has shown us since his takeover in October, he’s here to switch things up. This makes it just a little more difficult to predict what’s to come. One thing that seems certain is the push for subscriptions. We saw the rollout of Twitter Blue, an $8/month subscription service which came with a shiny blue “verified” checkmark and the ability for the user to edit tweets.

Twitter quickly paused the program, after issues arose with parody accounts and spammers. We expect to see a revamp within Twitter Blue that irons out these issues and offers a premium experience. We expect some brands to utilize this feature to set themselves apart and gain visibility on the platform.

Twitter currently offers professional profiles, which function just like normal profiles but have a small descriptor line annotating the sector of the business the user is interested or involved in.

We predict that Twitter may expand its offerings to professional profiles, possibly creating an easier way to network and seek employment opportunities. We’d like to see targeted groups developed within each interest group, similar to how networks on LinkedIn work.

Facebook

You may have noticed that Facebook has started showing you more suggested content from people and pages you don’t follow. Mark Zuckerberg has gone on record to confirm that this is all part of the plan. We predict that brands will take this into consideration to make their posts more appealing and engaging to an outside audience.

We also expect to see an increase in avatar integration on Facebook. As more and more people expand their digital footprint within the Metaverse, we expect to see some crossover to Facebook with the use of avatars. Currently, the platform allows you to create your own custom avatar to interact with posts, but we predict there’s more to come. Some brands may choose to offer sponsored items for avatars, boosting their brand’s visibility. We wouldn’t be surprised if avatars make their way over to Facebook gaming, in a similar style to Mii characters on the Nintendo Wii.

Instagram

We’ve already seen drastic changes in Instagram’s algorithm this year, with a priority given to short-form videos, or Reels. To some, Instagram now feels like a less-effective version of TikTok.

We predict that Instagram will continue to take notes from TikTok, hopefully improving its algorithm to show relevant content from the accounts you care most about-not just random videos that don’t grab your attention. We expect Instagram to keep its focus on Reels, so it’s time to get comfortable with short-form videos.

We expect Instagram to hone in on creation tools, such as gif generation from Live Photos, voice-over sounds and music, and 3D creation tools from its Spark AR platform. We’re excited to see what digital creators and artists can come up with using improved tools, all within the Instagram app. If 3D tools are implemented, we can surely expect to see creative ads throughout the app and crossing into the Metaverse.

Instagram has been experimenting with live-stream shopping, which has already taken off in some markets. We expect them to continue exploring this feature, somewhat blurring the lines between a social media experience and a marketplace, like Etsy. This could potentially be a cash cow for Instagram, so we’ll be sure to pay close attention if announcements are made in 2023.

TikTok

Though TikTok has faced challenges with security concerns tied to the Chinese government and concerns for minor safety, the app continues to skyrocket in popularity. TikTok’s done a lot right, especially with its algorithm. Not only are the paid ads fairly well targeted, but influencer-generated content usually feels a bit more relaxed and approachable on TikTok. We’ve seen brands such as Duolingo create a bit of a cult following due to their creative and on-trend content. TikTok allows users to Duet or Stitch a video, boosting engagement even more. We expect to see more brands interacting with customers on TikTok in this matter, creating a personal connection with their consumers.

Another revamp we expect to see on TikTok is the way they pay users for content views. The biggest issue is that as TikTok grows, the payout amounts decrease.

We predict that TikTok will explore other ways to bring in revenue to provide additional cash flow to the creator fund. We may see them launch live in-app shopping, where brands pay a monthly subscription plus a small fee per sale to TikTok for hosting.

We may see them toy with small, clickable, on-screen ads, similar to those seen on YouTube. Another possibility is paying out on a performance-based sliding scale, which would encourage creators to grow their accounts and consistently post quality content. While we’re unsure which direction TikTok will choose, we’ll be paying close attention to see how we can use this to grow our businesses.

We’d love to hear from you! Do you have any predictions on what we may see in 2023 social media marketing? Which platform are you most excited to log on to as we fade into a new year?