How Will Social Advertising Change in 2023? We Explore Six Top Trends.

Though TikTok’s fate remains uncertain, the platform has already made a profound and lasting impact on its competition in making video content more ubiquitous. In this new social media paradigm, video is king, and we expect this trend to continue to drive engagement in 2023—not only via Instagram Reels and Stories and YouTube Shorts, but on other platforms as well. Whether brands are active on Facebook, Twitter or even LinkedIn, the stopping power of high-quality video content cannot be overstated.

Best practices for video length and specific use cases vary by platform; be sure your digital marketing team is aware and taking this into account. Brands can still wring tremendous value out of a single professionally produced piece of video content, but it may require additional editing or formatting considerations to optimize performance across the social spectrum.

Emerging social media applications such as BeReal present a unique challenge for social advertising, but their popularity underscores an important trend that all brands must internalize as they plan and implement their digital marketing strategies in 2023—the need for authenticity. Online audiences have become increasingly wary of traditional advertising techniques, choosing when possible to engage with brands on their own terms. By following accounts they find relevant or valuable, users are able to curate their social media experience and assume greater control over the dialog they have with brands.

This is both a hurdle and an opportunity to differentiate yourself by providing valuable content to your audience via their preferred channels and mediums. Again, video should be a major component of your social advertising strategy, regardless of what platforms you are on.

As users continue to gravitate away from marketing tactics they see as disingenuous or predatory, social media creators and influencers are taking an increasingly central role in driving conversations—and conversions—on behalf of brands. Executed properly, these partnerships provide value for all stakeholders: content creators form lucrative partnerships with brands they truly believe in, brands unlock access to the influencer’s audience, and their followers get a trusted third-party recommendation they know they can take at face value.

Influencer marketing is still underutilized in many respects, but its usage will continue to grow in 2023 as brands seek to establish inroads on new or untested social platforms. Finding the right partner for your brand can prove challenging, but the results are often worth the investment.

Many brands make the mistake of treating social media content as a secondary priority. But as the landscape continues to grow and evolve in 2023, brands with a nimble social advertising strategy—and a holistic approach to audience engagement—will be best positioned to succeed.

One aspect of social SEO that we expect to take the spotlight this year is voice search. More users than ever are seeking out and engaging with content by asking direct questions or issuing specific commands using a microphone-equipped device. Brands must invest time and effort to perform keyword and key phrase research as an organic part of the content creation process to ensure they are including relevant words and phrases that users are most likely to search for. This is a major opportunity not just to capture new consumers but also to better speak the language of your audience. Follow the link to learn more about mobile-friendly SEO practices.

Artificial intelligence (AI) had a benchmark year in 2022, with algorithmically generated images and text making waves across the internet while raising important ethical questions pertaining to its use in both creative and analytical applications. Though the technology is still very much in its infancy, there are already ways in which brands can leverage and integrate AI into their digital marketing and social advertising processes, such as advanced targeting, intelligent chatbots and more. These applications will increase exponentially over the coming months and years; be sure not to lose sight of what makes your brand human along the way.