The 11 Most Important Social Media Trends for 2023

Working in an industry that’s evolving faster than Power Ranger can be challenging – the social media landscape is constantly changing. If you’re wondering what’s popular and what’s not, and how to fit new social media trends into your strategy… you’re definitely not alone. But don’t worry, we have the answers.

We took a look at 9 key trends outlined in the global Hootsuite Trends 2023 report, as well as data from our survey of over 10,000 marketers, to bring you a list of 11 social media marketing trends that will dominate the industry in 2023 and may even change it. you are doing your job.

The 11 Most Important Social Media Trends for 2023

1. TikTok will take over the world

In our social media trends for 2022, we predicted that TikTok would be the most important social network for marketing, and we weren’t wrong.

But this year, we are taking our forecast one giant step further.

The plethora of new feature releases in 2022 suggest that TikTok doesn’t just want to be the number one social network for marketers. It wants to be the number one social network, period.

Long known for innovation (after all, its new video format inspired Meta’s Reels and YouTube Shorts), TikTok has released at least 7 features this year inspired by other social networks:

• September 2022: TikTok Now (BeReal clone)
• October 2022: Photo Mode (Carousel Clone)
• July 2022: TikTok Stories (IG Stories clone)
• March 2022: Search Ads (Google Search Ads clone; beta testing)
• October 2022: TikTok Music (Spotify competitor; teaser only)
• February 2022: 10-minute videos (YouTube competitor)
• October 2022: Adults Only Live Streams (Clone of Onlyfans?)

Okay, we acknowledge that the last point can be a bit of a guess. But these new features, along with partnerships with Linktree, Shopify, and Woocommerce, and speculation about a podcast app, suggest TikTok is aiming to become a “super app. “

A super app is a comprehensive application that includes social networks, messaging, services, payments, and pretty much everything you normally do online.

TikTok is also making strides in the non-digital world. Rumor has it that a Chinese company is building fulfillment centers in Seattle and Los Angeles in an attempt to compete with Amazon in the e-commerce space.

But will all these big bets succeed? All signs point to yes, basically.

While TikTok continues to grow its user base (1.023 billion active users as of Q3 2022), it also consistently ranks first in terms of time spent on the app and overall positive sentiment.

• Users spend 95 minutes a day on TikTok (#1)
• Users spend 23.6 hours on TikTok per month (#1)
• 78.6% of internet users use TikTok to find funny or entertaining content (#1).

Also, interest in TikTok Ads (which is a good indicator of business interest in the platform) has grown by 1125% since 2020, according to Google Trends.

All this interest is not without reason. TikTok ad revenue is growing so fast that by 2024 it will equal YouTube ad revenue. While Google and Meta are still the biggest companies in the digital advertising space, these are no jokes for an international social media company.

What does all this mean for business? Well, if your business isn’t on TikTok yet, that’s your sign to get it right now.

To-do list

• Get an account handle for your brand
• Explore TikTok to start using the platform freely and find ideas.
• Outline the basics of your TikTok marketing strategy.
• Use a social media management tool like Hootsuite to easily schedule your TikTok, moderate comments, and measure your success on the platform from one easy-to-use dashboard.
• Start exploring TikTok ads

2. The only new app that will make a difference will be BeReal.

BeReal is a photo-sharing app that invites users to post one unfiltered, unedited photo per day to a selected group of friends. Photos taken outside the two-minute window tell you how many minutes later they were posted.

The network was launched in late 2019, but its popularity skyrocketed in 2022. As of October 2022, it is the top social media app on the App Store, with approximately 29.5 million installs.

Google Trends also shows that global searches for “What is BeReal”and “BeReal App”skyrocketed in mid-2022.

Users misrepresent women and young people. Most are under 25 years old.

The app has no ads or business features yet, which many say is part of the appeal.

listen, we are in the golden age bereal. no ads, no parents, we still get an adrenaline rush when ⚠️ goes offline. none of these things will last. we have to enjoy the moment

— Jacob Rickard (@producerjacob) July 20, 2022

BeReal captures the feel of the early days of social media, when users primarily posted photos to show their friends what they were doing—before it became the heavily curated, ad-heavy space it is today.

Even official BeReal messages sound like your best friend is texting you. After a major glitch in their app, the company simply tweeted, “All is well now.”This is the opposite of the highly professional communication strategies of other major social networks.

Speaking of shutdowns, the surge in popularity seems to have taken the company by surprise. Crashes and crashes happen frequently (most users open the app and post images at the same time) and threaten to slow down the growth of the app.

Users are also limited to 500 friends, meaning your brand’s usual marketing strategy won’t work here.

Regardless, BeReal’s popularity has caught the attention of brands such as elf Cosmetics, Chipotle, and Pacsun. Both TikTok and Instagram have released clones of the dual camera feature (but we don’t know anyone using them yet).

That’s why we’re betting big on the importance of BeReal in 2023. Even if the app doesn’t survive the year, its impact is already undeniable.

This is what Generation Z wants from social media: unfiltered, uncurated content that doesn’t ask you to buy something or make you feel bad about your life. This is a fun place. And in the end, that’s all that matters.

To-do list

Time will tell if BeReal succumbs to the monetization pressure for the business. But for now, just make sure you’re paying attention.

• Create a profile and get familiar with the platform
• Experiment with the dual camera feature on a platform where your brand already has a presence (like Instagram or TikTok) to see if it will appeal to your audience.

3. You still have to do Reels

Instagram headquarters seemed a bit chaotic in 2022, with numerous feature updates and a Kardashian-inspired backtrack. But, in our opinion, Instagram is still the main platform for brands.

Why?

• Instagram has 1.5 billion daily active users (and over 2 billion monthly).
• Between July and October 2022, videos grew by 220 million users.
• 62% of Instagram users say they use it to search for brands and products (Facebook is in 2nd place with 55%).
• This app is preferred by users aged 16 to 24 (yes, it’s still ahead of TikTok).
• Its advertising platform and in-app purchase tools have been around for years, which means you’re not gambling for ROI.

In addition, Instagram still promotes videos heavily. For example, all videos on Instagram are now videos, and the recommendation algorithm has a high priority for videos. For marketers, this means that posting videos on Instagram is the best way to get the attention of new users of the platform.

Google Trends is showing interest in Reels, hitting an all-time high following Adam Mosseri’s announcement that all Instagram videos will be Reels (in July 2022).

Luckily, with the advent of TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Amazon Video Shorts (??!), once you’ve made a short video, cross-posting has become easier (although it’s not officially encouraged). Just make sure you erase those logos and watermarks!

To-do list

• Open the Reels tab and get comfortable with short videos if you’re not already fluent.
• Distinguish between creating evergreen videos with original audio and more viral style videos that rely on trending audio, responses, stitches, etc.
• For your original videos, learn how to download TikTok and Instagram Reels without watermark so you can post them on all the platforms you like.
• For viral style videos, you need to follow the trends and you probably won’t be able to post them that easily.
• Save time and hassle by scheduling all your videos ahead of time with Hootsuite.

4. The clubhouse will die and social audio will take over

From time to time, a new social media app comes out that changes the way we create and consume content. Snapchat did it with disappearing content, then TikTok did it with short videos. In 2020, Clubhouse did (or should have) done it with social audio.

Once hailed as the “next big thing”on social media, Clubhouse is now competing with a new wave of copycat audio platforms. In fact, when was the last time you heard anyone mention Clubhouse?

Still scratching your head? We, too.

Nick Martin, Hootsuite’s social engagement specialist (who we interviewed about Clubhouse when it first came out), puts it nicely:

“Clubhouse showed that social audio was a viable way to share content, and then the bigger networks said ‘thank you very much’ and made their impersonation features. Twitter Spaces is now running the show, and while Clubhouse still exists, people don’t choose it in the first place.”

According to Martin, Twitter Spaces has been more successful among companies because it’s on an app they’re already using, with an audience they’ve already built. At this point in social media history, it’s too hard to build followers from scratch with an expensive media format in a brand new app — unless that app is TikTok (see social media trend #1).

Clubhouse downloads have slowed since its initial success in early 2021.

Another red flag? Some top managers of Clubhouse leave the company.

For example, Aarti Ramamurthy, former international head and co-host of The Good Time Show, has not only left Clubhouse but also moved her show to YouTube. Not the best sign of confidence.

Social audio itself is still an experimental space with no clear winner:

• Spotify Live (once Greenrooms) recently stopped funding its creator fund – an attempt to poach creators away from the Clubhouse – simply saying, “We plan to move on to other live creator initiatives.”
• Facebook Live Audio Rooms decided to “simplify “by combining this feature with Facebook Live.
• Twitter has reportedly moved resources out of Spaces;
• Amazon created Amp, but then fired 150 people who worked on it

In addition, there is data showing that social audio doesn’t really resonate with users.

• As of January 2022, only 2% of teens and adults in the US were using Twitter Spaces.
• 1% each used Clubhouse and Spotify Live

While the data looks bleak, some feel that social audio can thrive with a narrower audience. For example, Super Follows Spaces on Twitter allows creators to host audio events exclusively for their paying followers. And Discord, a platform known for its niche communities, recently created its own social audio feature, Stage Channels.

To-do list

• Unless you’re trying to reach an extremely niche audience, refrain from investing in a social audio strategy.
• If you’re a creator, explore the direct monetization options offered by Super Follows on Twitter.

5. LinkedIn will be much more than a job.

Have you noticed that your LinkedIn feed is filling up with more and more private messages lately? What content do you typically expect to see in your Facebook feed?

You are not alone. From weeping executives to stunned parents posting photos of their babies to breastfeeding advice, the platform is much more personal than it used to be. Some people even use the dating platform. Why?

A viral post about the CEO’s difficulty breastfeeding sparks controversy in the comments about whether it would be a better fit for Facebook.

Has the LinkedIn algorithm changed in favor of more private messages? Or has the pandemic blurred the lines between our personal and professional lives?

Could it be that trust in Facebook, where we usually post content like this, is at an all-time low, while trust in LinkedIn remains high – along with engagement rates? Perhaps most other social networks are so saturated that LinkedIn seems like an opportunity to grab attention?

In 2021, we noticed that, just like on Twitter, LinkedIn posts without links are more effective than posts with links, indicating a change in the algorithm in favor of content that encourages people to stay on the platform longer. This seems to still be the case in 2022, with most viral posts containing a mixture of detailed personal narrative and photos (almost like blog posts) compared to links to content on other websites.

Whatever the reason, it doesn’t look like this noticeably less “professional”trend is going anywhere anytime soon.

• LinkedIn invested $25 million in the Creator Fund, paying 100 creators $15,000 each to “share content, spark conversations, and build community.”(The goal is markedly similar to those of Instagram and Facebook, neither of which are overtly professional platforms.)
• He also launched LinkedIn Audio Events (Clubhouse clone) and a podcast network.
• She released carousels and reaction buttons – they were originally on Facebook and Instagram.

To-do list

Don’t worry. We’re not going to suggest that you go to a potential soulmate’s private messages on LinkedIn. In the meantime, experiment with the following:

• Change your posting strategy to include non-linked posts such as words of encouragement, silly jokes, or short personal anecdotes.
• If you dabble in thought leadership on the platform, take the opportunity to dig deeper. Help your top executives offer insights and advice through personal lenses, showing your followers their human side. But be sincere and grounded in reality or you risk getting a backlash.
• Consider hiring a ghostwriter to spearhead your LinkedIn content strategy and write your posts without jargon.
• Use Hootsuite to cross-post content that you would normally post on Instagram and Facebook. Track how well it performs on LinkedIn.
• Be careful not to share. While more personal content is trending, it’s still a professional app that hires 6 people every minute.

6. Generation Z will redefine user-generated content

User-generated content (UGC) is generally defined as content created by regular people on social media, not content created by brands. For example, instead of posting a product shot by a professional photographer, Nike might repost a photo of a happy customer wearing new Nike sneakers.

UGC is great for brands that care about building awareness and deepening relationships with their customers. This is genuine social proof and makes the user-generated content creator feel special, which increases brand loyalty.

However, we recently noticed that Generation Z understands the term “UGC” in a completely different way: that is, as social media posts created by freelance marketers or micro-influencers for business.

From a Generation Z perspective, brands pay “User Content Creators”to create content that looks like organic UGC.

Unlike traditional influencers who promote brands using their own channels, user-generated content creators outsource content they create for distribution through brands’ own channels. They are less of a brand advocate than paid content creators.

We expect the UGC to adhere to both definitions for some time. But all of this points to a broader social media trend: brands are outsourcing their social media work to the creator economy.

Last year, we wrote about the growing importance of influencer partnerships for marketers. And in 2023, businesses (especially large ones) will continue to seek the help of social media creators to reach their ideal audience.

Hootsuite’s 2023 Trends Survey found that 42% of businesses with more than 1,000 employees work with authors, compared to 28% of small businesses (with fewer than 100 employees).

Source: Hootsuite Social Trends Report 2023

But there’s a new side of the creator economy to watch out for: freelance content creators who aren’t necessarily influencers, but who are really good at social media and sell their services to brands.

It makes sense. Videos and TikTok are becoming more and more popular. And they require a special combination of skills: technical savvy and charisma at the level of a professional artist. Believe me, not everyone can make a watchable Reel or TikTok.

In addition, traditional user-generated content is no longer as valuable as it once was on social media. Of course, social proof is still important to potential customers, but with social algorithms pushing videos over photos, it’s unlikely that a photo of the shoes I just bought will make it into many people’s feeds.

Finally, when marketing campaign budgets are in danger of being cut (*cough* recession) and companies are turning to cheaper means of content creation, using freelance creators for one-off videos seems like the obvious solution. We see this social media trend only growing in 2023 and beyond.

To-do list

• Try Fiverr or Upwork to find a freelance user-generated content creator (especially if you need help making videos or TikTok) or post the call to your social media feeds.
• Use Hootsuite to schedule these videos and TikTok to run at the best time.

7. Social SEO will replace hashtags

According to Google’s internal research, 40% percent of people aged 18 to 24 currently use social media as their primary search engine. In September 2022, the New York Times even stated that “For Generation Z, TikTok is the new search engine. “

All over the world, people of all age groups are using social media to research brands.

Meanwhile, our own internal research (also known as a test we ran on one of our writer’s Instagram accounts) showed that using keyword-optimized captions instead of hashtags increased reach by 30% and doubled engagement.

In addition, the Hootsuite Trends 2023 report showed that more Internet users aged 16 to 24 use social media to find brands they want to buy from than to search.

Source: Hootsuite Social Trends Report 2023

So what does this mean for social media professionals?

It’s time to add keyword research to your social strategy. Instead of sticking hashtags into your copy after your post is ready, use keyword research to inspire you to create content that people are already searching for.

Even if you don’t see a huge jump in traffic and engagement due to search, in the worst case scenario, you’ll end up with a bunch of ideas for new posts.

Another social search tip? Hootsuite’s lead social media marketer, Braden Cohen, advises thinking of your social media profiles as mini-landing pages:

“Search will never die when it comes to Google. But people’s habits change. They use social media to find new products. Whereas before, I think people just came to social media to get reviews or get to know a brand, now they go to social media to actually buy… The main thing that has changed for me is my point of view. I treat our social pages like a mini landing page and a website. I’m trying to imagine using our social channels as the main point of purchase.”

To-do list

• Read our social media SEO blog post to learn the basics of keyword research.
• Start incorporating SEO into everything you do on social media: add keywords to your bio, add alt text to images, and add relevant keywords when writing captions.
• Add SEO to your content strategy: Use SEMrush or the Google Keyword Planner to select a few relevant keywords and create content targeted to those keywords. Then track what’s going on (preferably with Hootsuite Analytics)

8. Closed captioning will be the default for social media videos.

Since time immemorial — or at least since 2008 when Facebook and YouTube launched their mobile apps — social media users have watched videos without sound. According to numerous studies, up to 85% of social media videos are viewed without sound, especially in public places. And viewers are 80% more likely to watch a video to the end if it has subtitles.

Now that short videos (okay, TikTok) have eaten the internet, we predict that in 2023, subtitles will be the default for all posted video content. For three reasons:

• Accessibility: not only for those who watch on the bus, but also for people with hearing impairments
• Engagement: captions make people watch until the end
• Discoverable: Using keywords in captions is an important step in optimizing your video for search by increasing the number of people who can see it.

To-do list

• Learn how to add closed captioning to short and long videos.
• Make sure you say your keywords out loud in your video so they also show up in the captions.
• If you’re a TikTok user and you’re short on time, try the auto caption feature.

9. Social commerce will continue to grow despite confusing network signals

Last year, social commerce was one of the biggest social media trends. With sales in China surpassing $350 billion, marketers from North America and Europe struggled to position themselves to take advantage of the new way to make money directly from social media.

But despite the success in China, consumers in North America and Europe have been slower to catch up. Some social networks have cut shopping features (especially those related to “live”shopping, which is less common in Western markets):

• Meta disables live commerce feature on Facebook
• Instagram has disabled the option to tag affiliate products
• Instagram also removed the Store tab.
• TikTok delays launch of online shopping in Europe and US after UK test falls short of targets

Does this mean that the promising future of social shopping is further than anticipated?

May be.

According to an Accenture survey of 10,000 consumers worldwide, many shoppers still do not trust the social media buying process.

Source: Hootsuite Social Trends Report 2023

Their biggest concern is that their purchases will not be protected or refunded. They also worry about the quality and authenticity of products and social media sellers. And the third most common problem is the reluctance to share financial information with social networks.

Hootsuite’s Trends report asked respondents a similar question – what are the biggest barriers to social shopping? – with similar results.

Source: Hootsuite Social Trends Report 2023

Despite these results, eMarketer data predicts that social commerce is still a huge and growing industry, even in the US.

While new buyer growth has understandably slowed since the pandemic, existing consumers will spend $110 more on social media purchases by the end of 2022 than they did in 2021, with TikTok accounting for the bulk of new buyer growth. This suggests that, despite the trust issues, the audience is starting to get used to social media as a shopping channel, using it more than ever before.

And while online shopping may not have been a hit with Western audiences, that doesn’t necessarily mean that social commerce is over. Social commerce takes many forms, including purchasable posts/ads, augmented reality shopping, referrals, and even second-hand marketplaces like the Facebook Marketplace are all common tactics used in North America and Europe.

In fact, many feel that Instagram’s removal of the Shop tab (along with other organic shopping features like real-time shopping and affiliate links) is an attempt to more closely tie social commerce revenue to ads, especially now that “recommended publications”are included in the list. feed algorithm. This means that they want people to buy products on their platform, but through paid advertising, because that’s how they make more money.

To-do list

Retail and e-commerce businesses must continue to pay very close attention to social commerce, and Western-facing businesses must take the initiative to succeed in this before their competitors do.

• Turn skeptical shoppers into shoppers by offering easy returns and refunds, displaying ratings and reviews from other shoppers, and informing shoppers about the status of their purchases throughout the customer journey.
• Don’t invest in real-time shopping if your audience is in North America or Europe. Elsewhere it’s still worth experimenting.
• If you have the budget, spend it on Instagram and Facebook ads with purchase options.
• If you’re on a budget, the biggest opportunity for organic social shopping growth is on TikTok. Post with the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt or wait for the TikTok Shop tab to appear in the US.
• Use Hootsuite to save time on customer service by replying to all your social DMs in one panel.

10. You will have to tell your millennial colleagues to stop using GIFs.

It’s going to be hard to get this across to millennials, especially those who still mourn skinny jeans, but GIFs are not only inefficient technology that’s older than the internet, they’re… no longer cool.

Of all the social media trends this year, this one really breaks our hearts.

What is our evidence? The value of Giphy, the GIF search engine, has dropped $200 million since its peak in 2016. And , in the words of Giphy itself: “There are signs of a general decline in GIF usage due to a general decline in user and content partner interest. in gifs… They have gone out of fashion as a form of content, and young users in particular describe gifs as “boomer-friendly” and “cringe.”

However, just because reaction GIFs are outdated doesn’t mean all animated images are outdated. Using stickers as tools in your Instagram stories isn’t going anywhere anytime soon (yes, they’re technically GIFs). video, according to Denea Campbell, email marketing strategist at Hootsuite.

To-do list

• Gently break it to your elders
• Instead, help them speak emoji fluently (although there are boomer-only emojis too).
• Remember that some gifs are practical and still okay.

11. More billionaires will buy more social media

Of all the social media trends in 2023, we have the most mixed feelings.

Social media news in 2022 has been a long parade of Byzantine sagas as several billionaires have set their sights on social media. Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and the artist formerly known as Kanye West have joined Donald Trump (Truth Social) and Jeff Bezos (who bought Twitch in 2014) in funding, owning or attempting to own their own social media platforms.

As of this writing, Elon Musk has officially closed its $44 billion deal to buy Twitter. Kanye West offered to buy Parler (a right-wing free speech social network with just 50,000 DAUs) in October 2022. And Peter Thiel has supported the conservative video platform Rumble in 2021.

We predict this trend will only continue in 2023 as social media becomes an increasingly powerful force in society and business and suspicions about the objectivity of algorithms rise (along with fears of censorship and fake news). We may even see more billionaires creating their own social media like former US President Donald Trump.

But this is more unlikely as Trump’s network has largely failed to reach critical mass and a successful model of an entirely new personality-driven social network has yet to be created. Most likely, those who have the money to do so will continue to try to seize control of more developed social networks.

However, if things go this way, we really hope that Rihanna buys Snapchat and Mackenzie Scott takes over Pinterest (and possibly Goodreads while it’s there).

To-do list

Companies don’t have much control over which billionaires decide to buy which social media platforms. All you can really do is: