The social media landscape changes every year as new trends emerge, and some of the existing ones are carried on into the future. Because ’tis the season to prepare social media strategies, I will be taking through the top 10 trends that will matter most in 2023.
1 Get Personal
The algorithm on all social channels is growing, adjusting, and developing, which is why it’s important that your content does also. As we’re entering 2023, the attention is being shifted onto more close and personal interactions. You don’t need to grow a large number of followers to get more engagement; if your content is good enough and it’s adding value, people who don’t following you will still engage with your content because it engages in a more personal way. This is very important in the attraction stage.
Facebook will show more posts from pages the user typically engages with. The same is true for Instagram, which also favours content depending on the number of likes. LinkedIn gives top feed spots to content with high engagement, regardless of whether you usually interact with the page or not. TikTok prioritises content based on a number of engagement metrics like watch time, shares, saves, comments, or likes, while YouTube views subscriber interactions as more important than the number of subscribers. Overall, it’s all about how much interest the content generates.
To ensure your social accounts get enough reach and engagement, you must change the way you approach social media content creation. You must approach your social channels as a person talking to another person, it is no longer enough to offer your clients a general message. Your marketing must be personal in order to connect with your audience. This is where inbound marketing comes in; at ThinkinCircles we are specialists in the inbound approach and can use it to help you connect with the right people through your social channels.
2 Social Channels as Search Engines
Many people are going to Instagram and TikTok for information, whether it’s the latest news or the best place to eat, social media platforms are encroaching on Google’s territory. So, you can expect that people will also be searching for jobs, which is why recruitment businesses should consider advertising on social channels in 2023.
TikTok is already prioritising search by releasing new features such as a ‘local’ feed for nearby search results and improving existing ones, like increasing their caption limit to 2,200 characters for better search-ability. They’re also testing a dedicated shop feed with a search bar and different shopping categories.
You should keep an eye on the latest search feature releases in the coming year and optimise your business’ content accordingly to get it at the top of TikTok’s search results pages. TikTok SEO done strategically can also increase your business’ visibility on Google as TikTok videos appear on search results pages more often.
3 Short-Form Video
In the past 3 years, we’ve seen short-form video take over many platforms (such as Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube), this is mostly due to the rise and threat of TikTok. Short-form video content has reshaped the way we consume content. Its popularity will continue to rise, and you can hardly afford to miss out on what is probably the most powerful tool in modern marketing. Short-form video content is the most versatile and engaging medium at the moment, and it is important for you and your business to capitalise on it.
Looking at the best places to start with short-form video, I’d recommend TikTok because it is still the number one favourite in terms of short-form video content diversity and success. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest are all working on improving their short-form video options to compete with TikTok. But, in the meantime, it is best to go to the source and driving force of short-form video. Its success stems from the fact that it serves users bite-sized content in a catchy format, lending itself to short attention spans and the need to consume more information in a fast and entertaining way. The great thing about it is that short-form videos are easier and faster to produce than long-form ones, which should make your job a lot easier.
4 Small Communities
People feel the need to connect with like-minded individuals that share similar interests, and social media is the perfect place to do so. You can cater to this need and promote your services at the same time by creating niche communities around a topic your target audience will gravitate towards. This topic should be related to the type of recruitment service your business provides.
Going forward, more and more businesses must focus on building meaningful communities that provide real value to members or followers and guide them along a path that helps make their lives better. Yes, these communities could be housed inside Facebook Groups. But they could be built on any number of alternative platforms, such as Mighty Networks, Circle, Slack, or Discord. If you’re not sure how to get started on Discord, I have a great article that will give you more information.
Facebook is probably the most suitable social platform to host a community on because it has an extremely large pool of users, and the chances of your target audience already using the platform are high, and you should take your community to where people are. On top of that, their algorithm shows posts by users’ friends in groups, so you know your community will get organic exposure. Despite this, there’s no easy way of building a community, so the best thing you can do is experiment and find what works best for your business. The most important thing is that you deliver value and form strong connections with leads and customers or clients whilst keeping all your content on brand. Not sure how to do that? Get in touch or book a free consultation!
5 The Metaverse
Although the metaverse is still very new, social channels have been taking slow and calculated steps toward it for a few years now. Most social media users have already interacted with AR (augmented reality) through platforms like Snapchat or Instagram, specifically through their filters. But this was just the beginning with the rising and adoption of web3 and the metaverse, which will significantly impact the future of social media.
Soon, you will be able to create immersive content, mainly in the 3D format, and deliver personalised experiences to each user if you so wish. This may lead to an even more imaginative, creative, and innovative form of marketing that will lead to the next era of the internet. You probably won’t be featuring your campaigns in the metaverse, but it is still something to keep an eye on as it evolves and presents new opportunities in 2023.
6 Ads
As platforms get bigger, their business model switches form focusing on growth to prioritising profit, thereby making organic growth much more difficult, which is where ads come in. Ads can be particularly useful on well-established platforms like Instagram and Facebook. TikTok is still in its growth stage, which is why it is much easier to grow your community organically. It is important to have a strong content strategy (find out here how we can help) on all your platforms but, as of 2023, it’s no longer enough, which is why we are seeing more businesses invest into their ads budget.
Regardless of the social media platform you use to promote your business, you will need to make supplementary efforts to attract new leads and clients. The pressure that lays on you or your marketing team could be significantly lessened with the help of ads that will easily push the organic content. Many companies will increase ads budgets for the year to come to keep up with the continuously changing market. If you are not using ads to promote your campaigns yet, maybe it’s time to reconsider your 2023 marketing strategy to incorporate an ads’ budget.
7 Authenticity
Thoroughly researched, well-developed, on-brand content will always attract clients and customers. However, original content is what consistently attracts people. Telling stories through your marketing will always gain you popularity among your community. For an example of great storytelling, have a look at our summer campaign. When crating your marketing campaigns, you must make sure you tell an authentic story that reflect your business’ values.
It is not always about bringing something completely new on the market, but about how you introduce your services into your niche and industry. The way you develop your marketing campaign can make the difference (click here to see how we can help). Authenticity and transparency in the services your business provides, perspectives you have, unique ways of working, these are all great things to focus on promoting if you learn how. If you’re wondering about the best way to do it, firstly, it must stand out on the social platform you are promoting it one. Secondly, it has to offer your audience exactly what they need and search for. If you can also enrich their knowledge with something that they weren’t aware they needed to know, this will ensure that they will stick with you.
8 Social Listening
In case you haven’t heard of this, social listening is the monitoring of your business’ social media channels for any customer feedback, direct mentions, or discussions regarding specific topics followed by an analysis to gain insights that can lead you to act on those things. Social listening tracks social media mentions and conversations with the purpose of finding the root causes of social conversations and implementing long-term strategy changes as a result.
After developing and launching your marketing campaign, you must use analytics to evaluate its performance as part of you marketing strategy. Now, analytics aren’t enough which is why social listening is important. In 2023, I believe social listening will gain more popularity because this type of thorough analysis really makes a significant difference when you want to stay close to your audience. You should consider using social listening at least quarterly because as a result of it, you can transform your audience and leads into your community, and as your community grows that will generate more leads, thereby leading to business growth.
In 2023, more businesses will value knowing when they are mentioned or tagged in a post and being the first to see clients’ feedback; this can then be used to improve customer support, future marketing campaigns, and services. Additionally, social listening also offers businesses the advantage of seeing which are the latest trends in their niche. This will help you keep up with the advancement in recruitment and the evolution of the industry.
9 Social Audio
Social audio is made up of podcasts, audio blogs, and live streams on various platforms. Social audio is consumed and preferred by people for whom circumstances, or time doesn’t permit them to watch videos. More and more people opt for listening to podcasts while doing another activity, like running or driving, instead of watching a full show. That is why our clients have already adopted this trend, that is increasing in popularity, and will certainly be top-of-mind next year in terms of social media trends.
You can find ThinkinCircles’ podcast and audio blogs here. Live streams are announced on our social channels periodically. If you are looking to start a podcast or audio blog for your recruitment business, book a call to find out how we can help with every step of the process from start to finish.
For a lot of your clients or followers it’s easier to consume content through social audio and a lot of businesses, including our clients, have already adapted to their audience’s needs. Audio content in the form of podcasts, audio blogs, and lives can swiftly gain you a lot of awareness regarding your business, and also serve to establish you as a leader within the recruitment industry because people will come to you as a source for information.
10 Social Channels for Customer Service
Due to social listening increasing in popularity, social media platforms will also work as customer support tools. When you discover clients’ feedback or maybe a problem they report, you’d want to answer their query right on the spot, on that specific social platform, so that others may also be helped. If the problem they have is serious, you can privately solve it afterwards, but it’s great to offer them a quick answer as well.
Many businesses already use Instagram DMs and Facebook Messenger as well as WhatsApp for customer support whenever their clients need immediate assistance. This practice will undoubtably grow in popularity in 2023.
Final Thoughts
As you prepare for the year to come, you need to be aware of the social media trends for 2023 that could help boost your marketing strategy. Learning what will be trending on social media in 2023 will help you plan depending on your business’ needs. The important thing is to make the most of your social media platforms and implement all the features that could help you increase engagement, follower count, and leads.
We have 10 years of experience in the field of recruitment marketing, and we can channel our accumulated knowledge to help your business grow. Our team here, at ThinkinCircles, can not only put together your social media strategy, but also execute and manage its every aspect. Don’t hesitate to reach out via email or book a call to get a free consultation.
