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15 Social Media Trends You’ll See In 2023 (and beyond!)

As social media continues to evolve, it's important for influencers, businesses, and individuals to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in order to remain relevant and competitive. In this blog post, we'll explore the top social media trends of 2023 and how they can impact your social media strategy.

AI Goes Mainstream

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of OpenAI and ChatGPT, the AI powered question and answer engine. While some may pass it off as a passing fad or a gimmick, AI is here to stay, and 2023 will be the year it makes a significant impact on social media.

Many platforms, including TikTok and Instagram, already incorporate AI and machine learning into their algorithms to help them get better over time, but 2023 is the first year that creators and influencers will really start to take advantage of AI tools available to them. Whether it’s using ChatGPT to generate ideas for videos, scripts, or even using other Open API tools to generate graphics and images, expect to see a lot more “AI influenced” influencer content in 2023.

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Influencer Marketing

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Influencer marketing has been around for a while, but it's still going strong in 2023. As consumers become more savvy and skeptical of traditional advertising, influencer marketing provides a way for brands to reach their target audience in a more authentic and organic way.

Influencers have built a loyal following on social media, and they have the ability to sway their followers' opinions and behaviors. As a result, businesses can leverage influencer marketing to promote their products and services to a highly engaged audience. However, it's important to note that consumers are becoming more aware of influencer marketing, so businesses need to ensure that they're working with the right influencers who align with their brand values.

In addition, due to economic uncertainty and the possibility of a recession in 2023, many brands are looking for ways to stretch their advertising dollars further. Traditional advertising is expensive, and even advertising on Facebook and Google costs more than it did even 2-3 years ago. Many brands will look to leverage influencers as a way to reach a large audience at a lower cost than other advertising methods.

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Less “follow-the-leader” trends.

In 2022, one of the best ways for influencers to stand out was to jump in on existing trends, such as by using trending audio to mimic a dance video. In 2023, to stand out amongst an increasingly crowded field, creators will need to start to feature more original content into their feeds, which can be easily repurposed across multiple social media networks and mediums.

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Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have been gaining traction in recent years, and this trend is set to continue in 2023. With the advancement of technology, more social media platforms are integrating AR and VR into their features. Snapchat's filters and Instagram's AR effects are just the beginning of what's possible.

AR and VR provide an immersive experience for users, allowing them to interact with a brand or product in a unique way. This creates a new level of engagement for consumers, which can lead to increased brand awareness and customer loyalty. As a result, businesses will need to start considering how they can incorporate AR and VR into their social media strategies.

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YouTube shorts will continue to grow

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As TikTok continues to dominate and becomes more crowded, influencers will look to branch out more to other networks to share their original content with new audiences. YouTube shorts is a short form video service provided by YouTube, allowing for 60-second long, vertical videos to be posted and shared on the platform. In addition, influencers with more than 1,000 followers will be able to easily monetize their videos.

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TikTok will continue to dominate

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TikTok is now the 3^rd biggest of the “big-five” social media networks, coming in behind Facebook and Instagram, and in front of Snapchat and Twitter, and is expected to continue to grow in 2023 and beyond. With over 1 billion active monthly active users, TikTok will continue to be the best social media network for influencers to build their following on.

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"Owned” channels will become more important than ever.

Creators will begin to branch out more to channels that they own, such as their own website, email lists, and more. First-party data will become even more important as companies like Google phase out third party cookies. 2023 will be the year that influencers should really focus on building their lists to ensure they can consistently reach their audience across multiple channels, especially since constant algorithm changes and increased competition can easily reduce an influencer's visibility overnight.

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Data Privacy will come into the spotlight

Consumers, brands, and influencers are all becoming more aware of data privacy and the rights they have (or want) to protect their privacy online. Expect to see more transparency from social media networks and brands when it comes to how they collect, store, and process your personal data.

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Businesses and creators will experiment with newer, up-and-coming social media networks.

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Whether it’s Mastodon as a supplement (or replacement) to Twitter, or other networks like BeReal and Twitch, influencers will look to branch out to reach new audiences. It’ll be important to customize the type of content put out on each network, as audiences on each network have come to expect a certain format and style of content.

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Social Commerce will continue to grow, even as ecommerce remains flat.

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Social commerce is the intersection between social media and e-commerce. It allows consumers to make purchases directly on social media platforms, eliminating the need for them to leave the platform or app to complete a transaction. This trend has been gaining momentum in recent years, and is set to continue in 2023.

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In fact, on TikTok, social commerce in 2022 grew 34.4% to $53.10 billion in sales! This is expected to grow by 20% year over year to $107.17 billion by 2025.

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By making it easier for consumers to shop on social media, businesses can increase their sales and expand their reach. This trend is particularly relevant for e-commerce businesses, as they can use social media to drive traffic to their online stores and increase sales.

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Personalization will help influencers stand out

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Personalization is becoming increasingly important in the social media world. With the amount of content available on social media, users are looking for a more tailored experience that's relevant to their interests and preferences. Social media platforms and influencers are responding to this by offering more personalized features and content.

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For example, Instagram's algorithm shows users content that's relevant to their interests, while Facebook's News Feed is personalized based on users' behavior and engagement. Businesses can use personalization to create a more engaging experience for their followers by tailoring their content and messaging to their audience's interests and preferences.

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Social Listening

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Social listening involves monitoring social media platforms for mentions of a brand or product, and using that information to inform a social media strategy. This trend is becoming increasingly important in 2023, as businesses try to understand trends and new ways to communicate with their audiences. It’s also a good idea for influencers to use social listening tools to stay in touch with what’s important to their audience so that they can create content that is valuable for them.

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Employee Advocacy

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Employee advocacy involves encouraging employees to share brand-related content on their personal social media accounts. This trend is becoming increasingly popular in 2023, as businesses recognize the importance of employee advocacy in increasing brand awareness and reach. In 2023, the separation between personal and professional will continue to blend as people tap into their personal networks to help their companies grow.

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Live Video

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Live video has become increasingly popular in recent years, and it’s set to continue in 2023. Social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram offer live streaming features, allowing businesses to interact with their audience in real-time. In addition, Twitch will continue to see growth as a live-video platform to engage with your audience in real time.

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Social Media Analytics

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Lastly, as advertising budgets continue to be reduced (or put on temporary hold due to economic uncertainty), social media analytics will become more important than ever to ensure that every ad dollar and influencer dollar spent is getting the maximum return on investment. Influencers, brands, and even users will leverage social media analytics to review their follower growth, engagement rates, visibility, website visits from social media networks, and much more.

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Conclusion

With social media scheduled to grow to 5.85 billion users by 2027, it’s more important than ever to have a solid social media strategy in place now that can help you grow your followers and ensure you can continue to engage with them on any platforms they use. Tools like pager make it easy to engage with your audience and share your favorite recommendations, links, and smart screenshots with our free link in bio tool.

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