The Social Media Landscape: 2023 Trends
With the rise of TikTok in recent years, it’s no secret that short-form video has been dominating the social media landscape. This shift has pressured traditional platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube to rethink and find new avenues to push short-form video content.
As video continues to shape the future of social media, this also means how users are interacting and using content on a day-to-day basis is changing. People are now looking to social media as a way to review and vet new products before purchasing. This lends itself to a rise in users utilizing social media as a search engine and an increase in the popularity and trustworthiness of user-generated content. With social media platforms at everyone’s fingertips, this means followers also expect a faster response time to their queries on social media. Consistent, friendly, and fast customer service through community management will be key in 2023.
Here’s a look at what we expect in the social media landscape this year.
Which social media platform will lead short-form content in 2023?
There are many similarities between 9:16 (aspect ratio for vertical videos) across all social media platforms, though there are slight differences that impact overall user experience. Let’s compare how each platform does it differently, and how their offering resonates with their audience.
TikTok
TikTok was the most globally-downloaded app in 2022 and has transformed the way people use social media in their everyday lives. TikTok has primarily dominated the short-form video space until recently. Other social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube have adopted similar features and abilities.
On Instagram and Facebook, feeds place the greatest emphasis on content from people and pages you follow, whereas TikTok’s ‘For You’ page is at the forefront of the app and presents content from strangers. The algorithm is a recommendation system that determines what videos to put on your page. This means that no two users will ever have the same ‘For You’ page. The recommendation algorithm has created subcommunities on TikTok such as TravelTikTok, MoneyTok, and CottageCore.
Why you should consider TikTok:
There’s something for everyone on TikTok. From unique interests and hobbies to small artists and creatives, there are opportunities for everyone to have a seat in the limelight on the social platform. One challenge of TikTok is ensuring that you’re posting content regularly. TikTok does not currently have the template functionality that Instagram does, meaning videos can take longer to create. When hopping on the latest trends, make sure that you’re also using the accompanying audio to give your video an extra push.
Instagram allows users to create Reels from templates, which are easy and intuitive to use. Templates allow businesses and social media managers to quickly hop on trends. Some marketers have created Instagram accounts—like @reelstips and @reelstutorials—that focus solely on identifying current trends within the short-form video space. They then create the template and accompanying audio that’s needed in order to successfully participate in a trend.
Why you should consider Instagram Reels:
Instagram’s algorithm will continue to prioritize Reels. While it’s not a guarantee that Reels will always perform best, consistent posting of them can lend itself to an increase in overall engagement and followers. Utilizing templates will allow you to spend less time on the creation of the video and more time to spend on how exactly to tailor a trend to your brand. If your brand also has a Facebook page, we recommend sharing Reels on Facebook, too.
Facebook Reels function similarly to the way Instagram Reels do. Recently, Facebook made an update to users' feeds whereas they scroll through they will see a section of Reels that might interest them. These videos can be Instagram Reels cross-posted from Instagram accounts or Reels that were posted natively on Facebook. If a Reel has been posted from Instagram to Facebook and a user attempts to ‘like’ or ‘comment,’ they will be prompted to view the content in Instagram. While the functionality to post videos from Instagram to Facebook is available, it cannot be done natively the other way around.
Why you should consider Facebook Reels:
Reels on Facebook are a mixture of Instagram Reels that have been shared on Facebook and original content. If you already have an established presence on Instagram and you’re looking to elevate your Facebook content, we recommend sharing your Instagram Reels to Facebook as well. If your account is eligible to monetize videos with in-stream ads then you’ll also be eligible to monetize your Reels.
YouTube
YouTube Shorts are quickly gaining popularity due to its video length limit of 60 seconds, compared to the platform’s usual long-form content. For many users, there’s a distinct difference between YouTube and other social media platforms. YouTube Shorts is an easy conversion to producing short-form videos for already established YouTube channels. Channels can repurpose content to increase engagement and subscribers of their channels.
Unlike other social media platforms that are producing purely short-form content in the 9:16 ratio, YouTube videos are in a 16:9 aspect ratio and the average length of a video is between seven to 15 minutes long, up to double the current length for Instagram and TikTok.
Shorts have been successful due to YouTube's widespread audience between the ages of 15–56+, compared to the majority of TikTok users who are 16–24 and Instagram users who are 25–34 (Statista).
Since a large part of YouTube’s audience are live streamers and YouTube TV subscribers, the platform uses its TV ad spend to direct that audience toward Shorts. An example of this is during the 2022 World Cup, YouTube ran an ad to encourage viewers to watch additional World Cup footage on YouTube Shorts. This offered viewers a more behind-the-scenes look of the games and instead of watching videos capturing long replays, Shorts provided bite-size bits of action that was quick and easy to consume.
Why you should consider YouTube Shorts:
YouTube has one of the most robust ways for creators to monetize their content. In mid-January 2023, YouTube Shorts will be eligible for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). “Creators can become eligible for YPP by gaining 1,000 subscribers with 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days.” Once creators are eligible, they will have access to all features of YPP. If your brand or business is already creating content for YouTube, then consider creating Shorts in order to reach new users.
So… which social media platform is the best for short-form video?
First pick: We believe TikTok will continue to lead as the top short-form video platform due to its algorithm and niche content. However, TikTok is also expanding video lengths to up to 10 minutes, so the app is beginning to move into YouTube’s territory.
Runner up: Instagram stays in the game with easy-to-use templates and opportunities for creators to monetize their content. Since Instagram Reels can easily be cross-posted to Facebook, Facebook continues to be the more simplified version of Instagram Reels and stays in the game by proxy.
Why Your Brand Should be Leveraging User-Generated Content
In 2023, we expect brands to continue using and increasing the use of user-generated content (UGC). Authenticity through thoughtful UGC creates trust around products that many users are seeking before purchasing. The rise of UGC content creators allows social media marketers to focus less on creating content and more on curating and leveraging that content to reach their audience.
There have been many instances where a customer review or recommendation has helped a small business sell out of their product. Identifying consumers that are already talking about and using your products for free is an opportunity to highlight your brand's social media presence.
Social Media is a Powerful Search Engine
Don’t believe us? Ask the millennial or Gen Z in your life where they’re searching for what to buy, where to vacation, or the latest updates on the current big news story. We expect to see the rise of social media (specifically TikTok and Instagram) as a search engine. According to Hootsuite, internet users between the ages of 16 and 24 say they’re more likely to use social media for brand research over a traditional search engine, like Google or Safari.
Using your social media platforms to directly address user search queries will continue to yield increasing results for savvy brands in 2023.
Community Management is Customer Service
Businesses and brands are more accessible to their customers than ever before. Social media provides customers an easy way to ask questions, express concerns, or sing praise about products and services. Previously customer service concerns were primarily addressed through a (usually) lengthy phone call, an email that receives a response in 5–7 business days, or via (gasp!) snail mail.
Social channels are increasingly being used as a means to receive quick customer service. Community management is more than responding to negative messages—it’s also about building meaningful relationships with your customers by responding to their comments and messages in a timely manner.
On our radar: Upcomers
There’s always something new on the horizon. Here are the platforms that we’re keeping an eye on in 2023:
BeReal: Gaining popularity in 2022, this app goes off once a day and prompts users to share a photo of what they’re doing at that moment. With only 60 seconds to take a redo, it encourages users to be authentic with what they’re doing that instant.
Discord: With more than 150 million monthly users and worth an estimated $15 billion, Discord is not a small platform by any means. According to Hootsuite, 5% of teenagers (Generation Alpha) in the United States said that Discord was their social media platform.
Did we miss anything?
While it’s impossible to accurately predict how the social media landscape will evolve over the year, these observations are sure to stay relevant for the foreseeable future. Did we miss anything? Hit us up on our socials to let us know what you think 2023 has in store!