Want to shake up your client’s social media strategy in 2023? Here are big trends to take advantage of in 2023, according to research from Talkwalker, including how to use social media that’s driven by consumer needs. 

How to Use Social Media in 2023 

Fake News = Disaster 

Concern about fake news isn’t just a political problem. Consumers HATE being misled in any context. According to Talkwalker, this trend will mainly affect consumer brands in terms of cybersecurity. It seems as if data breaches make headlines nearly every day. If your client becomes the next victim of a data breach, they need to be completely honest about how the breach affects their customers and what they are doing to ensure it never happens again. That’s how to use social media to maintain and gain consumer trust in 2023. 

Multi-​Sensory Social Media 

When deciding what content to post on social media, you look at which types of media are performing the best. The problem in 2023 is that most content formats are performing about the same. According to Talkwalker, consumers aren’t showing “more love or hate for any particular format over the other.” This stagnation will drive innovation in how to use social media. 

Since one sense isn’t a clear victor over the others, Talkwalker recommends developing multi-​sensory campaigns. Basically, you shouldn’t limit your client to focusing on image, video or audio ads. Go for as many senses as you can cover. Until the metaverse progresses and can appeal to all senses, you’ll have to make do. Talkwalker recommends using, “image recognition, video recognition and podcast monitoring to understand how your brand is mentioned across multimedia. By understanding these mentions, you get a clearer picture of how consumers interact with your brand day-​to-​day while identifying visual and audio trends impacting your industry.” 

Social Commerce 

The digital trends that developed during the COVID-​19 pandemic aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Social commerce is one of those trends, and it is set to grow in the U.S., especially on Facebook. Talkmaster says that, according to the EVP of Global Brand Strategy & Innovation at Mastercard, “2 billion people purchased on social platforms last year and this is growing 3x faster than traditional eCommerce. The journey is led by spontaneous discovery and inspiration.” 

Social commerce allows consumers to immediately buy something they’re interested in as soon as they see it while scrolling through their social channels. And the comments of the post they’ll interact with give them easy access to their peers’ reviews of the product or service, so they don’t have to go looking for the pros and cons of the product they’re interested in. If your client has ever wondered how to use social media to drive sales, social commerce is an easy way. 

Environmental Change 

Even though this year’s fall started off with low temperatures in many states, it has warmed back up to temperatures too high for this late in the year. Rising temperatures coupled with the rising awareness of negative environmental trends have raised consumers’ concern about humanity’s environmental impact. And they’re wondering what your client is doing about it. 

According to Talkwalker, 82% of consumers want companies to put people and the planet before profit. And your client can’t make posts on social media about the dangers of climate change unless they have a history of environmental responsibility to back them up. Grocery stores are getting rid of plastic bags. The auto industry is moving toward electric vehicles. What is your client doing to do their part? Come up with a plan, put it into action and then promote it on social media. Consumers notice when brands do good things and will reward them with purchases. 

More Trends 

To learn more about how your client’s target audience is using social media and how to use social media to better reach them, check out their audience profile on AdMall by SalesFuel. There, you can gather data such as: 

• Which social media platforms they’re most active on 
• What types of causes they care about 
• What types of advertisements influence them to take action 

Photo by Afif Ramdhasuma