The social media economy is expanding, with an increasing amount of brands spending and making money through the different platforms. The continuous evolution of social media marketing keeps changing the way that consumers interact with brands. 

Social media moves fast and to stay competitive, brands need to understand best practices and emerging trends, remaining adaptive to generate measurable business growth.

MARKETERS HAVE AN ALL-TIME HIGH LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE IN THE VALUE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

In 2022, 96% of marketers surveyed by Hootsuite, reported confidence in either ROI (Return on Investment) or engagement from social media campaigns.

People visit social networks more than search engines, spending roughly a third of their internet time on social media. You might be surprised to learn that nearly half of Internet users actually use social media to research and evaluate brands instead of search engines – a trend particularly prominent for Gen Z.

PAID SOCIAL MEDIA GROWTH AS A LONG-TERM TREND 

With organic content continuously being placed at a disadvantage, brands are increasing their spend on social media advertising, with this trend expected to continue over the long term. 

Social media ads can target potential customers who are already in the market for your products or services, but they can also find new customers who are not aware of your brand or the solutions that you offer. They also support your other marketing activities by re-engaging with previous customers or web visitors that did not convert with an offer.

TRENDS THAT DRIVE CONSUMERS IN 2023

Community

A sense of community is essential to the consumer across all social platforms. Influenced by TikTok, consumers enjoy going on social platforms to find communities with similar interests that they can feel connected to.

Authenticity

Sustainability, Diversity, and Brand Transparency are brand characteristics that consumers increasingly care about and are educated on. This emphasis on authenticity can also make or break whether consumers purchase from brands. The content that consumers engage with also shows their need for authenticity.

Entertainment

Consumers enjoy being entertained through funny videos, reels, filters, and memes across all platforms. Joyful content is a nice relief from the seriousness of the global environment and provides an escape. This is why consumers respond well to brands which incorporate playful elements into their social media channels.

EMERGING SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS FOR 2023

Many platforms such as Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok are exploring Live-Stream Shopping. For example, a fashion retailer might record a live video showcasing their new clothing lines.

As Meta attempts to compete with time spent on TikTok, you can expect to see more AI-recommended posts with 40% of the content in your main Facebook feed coming from people or pages you don’t follow. This could be good news for your best-performing organic content, as it will be shown to those outside of your audience. There will be an integration of digital avatars into the app, as well as virtual reality posts and experiences. 

A large chunk of time spent on social platforms actually occurs on the messaging side, where users share content with friends privately rather than posting in the feed. You can expect to see more Click-to-Message Ad options for brands to directly engage with consumers in this space.

Instagram is incorporating new eCommerce features on the app. There will be a continual push for influencer marketing and user-generated content. New forms of content creation will be available, including AR and 3D posts/ads. Along with Facebook continuing to push AI content recommendations to maximise engagement.

There will be a push on refining search and discovery by adding more personalised discovery tools. The platform continues to improve its tools to help more merchants list their items as Buyable Pins. Exploring and building AR tools to help businesses easily capture their products in 3D to fuel AR product Pins. Alongside Instagram, Pinterest will also incorporate more live-stream shopping display options into their app.

LinkedIn aims to produce more data insights into job listings and merge more predictive and assistance insights into its tools. The platform will add more video tools, expanding on its existing video chat features. LinkedIn is also incorporating group audio rooms, audio meet-ups among your connections and audio events, which will be highlighted more in the app. There will also be a larger focus on video content to keep up with other platforms.

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT BEST PRACTICES

Brands must constantly build trust with new customers, whether that means promoting your fantastic reviews or creating high-quality content.

• The vast majority of users on social media are using a mobile device, where possible utilise the full vertical screen space in formats such as stories or Reels.
• Short and engaging videos should be included in your content plan – they should not rely on sound and must capture attention in the first 3 seconds.
• Content can be entertaining and link with popular events.
• Social Media can be quite repetitive, try to avoid cliches.
• Show value by providing thought leadership and education.
• Blend in with individual social platforms by mimicking the social experience.

Small businesses can take advantage of content creators to share their products on platforms such as TikTok or Instagram when they do not have the resources to make their own content. 

• Find appropriate brand ambassadors who already live, breathe, and preach your brand values and who would happily use your products and promote them to their followers.
• You can find appropriate content creators by using Social Listening tools such as the free service from Hootsuite that allows you to monitor mentions of your brand, competitors, or relevant topics.
• A big Reach isn’t as crucial as an engaged, niche audience.
• Cost is negotiated depending on audience size, engagement levels, content required etc. Some influencers are fine with free products, others require a set payment per post.
• We all know Word of Mouth is a powerful marketing tool and the effects of Influencer Marketing can be similar as their already engaged audience trusts them to provide solid recommendations. 
• Give each creator a unique URL code to your website so that you can track your ROI and interest in the product.
• When you factor in the cost of creating a solid advert, plus the ad spend, you may find you can afford to pay some of the bigger Influencer fees.

WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM SHOULD YOU ADVERTISE ON?

Understanding your target audience and the social media networks where they engage and interact with brands is crucial for maximising your advertising results.

The different social media platforms come with diverse advantages depending on your goals, industry, and customer profiles. They also require unique content styles and advertising strategies.

Facebook

In the UK, Facebook has the most users at 55.9 million, that’s 82% of the entire population. It has a decent spread of age ranges, though be aware that engagement may come from specific age ranges or genders that are relevant to your brand. UK users typically spend 15.5 hours per month on the platform.

Meta allows you to target by interests or behaviours, and you can also create Lookalikes of your current customers. The Meta pixel is installed on a vast number of websites, so they have strong data on customer behaviour.

Worldwide, Facebook generates the highest ROI.

Instagram

Instagram has 32.3 million users in the UK. When you advertise with Meta you can choose Instagram placements without needing a profile on the platform. UK users typically spend 7.9 hours per month on the platform, so approximately half of the time spent on Facebook. Overall this audience is a little younger.

Worldwide, Instagram generates the second-highest ROI.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn has 34.9 million users in the UK. The platform reports consistent growth in engagement, however the average user only spends 17 minutes per month on this platform, so you need to capture attention quickly.

Targeting focuses on job roles and industries. This platform is more relevant for Business or Recruitment solutions, and Luxury goods.

Worldwide, LinkedIn generates the third-highest ROI.

Twitter

Twitter has 19 million users in the UK with 58% being male users. UK Twitter users spend an average of 2 hours on the platform per month. 

The ROI results on Twitter have not been released, however ads do get a higher CTR when compared with Facebook. Advertisers on Twitter tend to be big brands, targeting soft sells as opposed to e-commerce. 

Targeting is based on Interests and Follower Lookalikes.

TikTok

TikTok has 9 million users in the UK and is growing at a swift pace. UK users spend a whopping monthly average of  27.3 hours on the app – that’s 76% more time than users spend on Facebook! 

This app is very popular with Gen Z, but the older demographics are growing. Women are more likely to use the app, so many beauty brands advertise here.

TikTok allows for the usual targeting options, such as gender, location, age, and interests.

Worldwide, TikTok generates the fourth-highest ROI.

Pinterest

Pinterest has 16.7 million users in the UK and the audience is largely female. Worldwide, users spend 7 hours per month on the platform, and 25% of this time is spent shopping. 

Users often use the platform to make plans for events such as weddings, or home renovations. Pinterest users tend to make more considered purchases but spend more, so this can be a very lucrative platform for the right products.

You can target by interests but also keywords, so in this way it acts like a Search Engine ad.

TRACKING YOUR RESULTS

Effectively measuring your social campaigns is essential to report on results and adapt your strategy based on what you learn about your audience by analysing insights and data.

• You need to have the relevant pixels installed on your website to accurately track results.
• The Meta Conversions API must be installed on your website now as Meta will move away from the traditional pixel in 2023. This allows for better tracking of devices that opt-out of cookies.
• Clients who installed Conversions API saw an immediate and significant uplift in the number of events tracked.

WHERE TO START CREATING A SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY

Working with a fully trained and experienced team that understands the complexities of social media marketing will help you reach and convert audiences effectively. 

Our Social Media team has plenty of experience across different industries, platforms, and goals. At Mabo, we can support you creating and managing campaigns tailored to each platform to generate awareness, interest, and conversions.

• Mabo can support you with creating SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound) Goals for Social Media campaigns and advise which platforms and strategies are right for your business. 
• Mabo delivers customised reporting based on your key metrics so you can measure success easily.
• Mabo Social Account Managers are Meta certified and trained to achieve maximum performance across the key platforms, staying up-to-date with the latest best practices, plus supporting partnerships that allow swift resolutions for any technical issues. 
• Mabo has an excellent in-house designer, who is well-versed in the various placement styles, ready to create quality images and videos that represent your brand.
• Mabo will assist you with setting up accounts, ensuring accurate tracking is in place.

Get in touch with our team of experts to find out how Social Media advertising can help you reach more customers and grow your business.

REFERENCES

https://www.hootsuite.com/en-gb/research/social-trends/marketing 

https://www.hootsuite.com/en-gb/research/social-trends/commerce#2IA6F2eWa6Z9iGxBF64FCt

https://hootsuite.widen.net/s/8nqz9wzhjm/digital2022globaloverview_report_en