8 Current Trends to Try on Social Media Today
Not sure what to focus your social media on in 2023? We’ve got you. Here are the current trends on social media that you should try out this year.
Posted last year
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Mackenzie TaylorPosted last year
As we’re mid-way through January, it’s well past time to start looking towards the trends that are and have been making their way on social media and learn how to implement them for your own social media strategy. When planning your social media for the year ahead, it’s important to learn what is currently working and what things are on the horizon to blow up this year. And to help you figure all that out, we’re here to help you break down the current trends on social media and how to use them to improve your social media strategy this year.
Vertical video is a must
If it’s not obvious, you must include vertical videos in your social media strategy. TikTok has taken over the world, as have Reels and Shorts so making sure to create short-form videos is a must. When planning your strategy for the week, month, and year ahead, think of how you can create content in bite-size videos that people can easily consume while on their phones. The wildest thing? According to YANS, 99% (!!) of vertical videos are watched all the way through compared to horizontal videos. So if you’re not creating those videos now or haven’t even thought about making them, you need to rethink your approach. Now.
Experimentation with new platforms
Are you only sticking to Instagram and TikTok and not experimenting with other platforms? It’s time to shake it up! Yes, while there is a huge audience on both, you could be missing a major market in other places if you’re not seeing what else is out there. Remember Pinterest? Remember Tumblr? Remember Twitter? Remember LinkedIn? Experiment and see what works (or doesn’t) because you could find a whole new set of customers that you have never reached before.
LinkedIn will be more than jobs
If you have been on LinkedIn over the past few years, you’ll notice how much it has shifted from posts about jobs to more personal posts and advice given by top CEOs or just average joes.
Even LinkedIn is jumping on board and paying creators on their platform to share content and spark conversation to build up the community on the social media platform. While it might seem strange to use LinkedIn to promote your business, it’s definitely something to start experimenting with this year.
Share tips and tricks with other people in your industry. Use video content (this is going to be super important for every single social platform this year!). LinkedIn is a great place for networking and can help you build an audience with others that could boost your brand and help you along the way.
Closed captions will be required
Most Stories and videos are watched without sound (yes, still to this day), so closed captioning is paramount. And if you’re not adding closed captions to your post, more than likely, social media platforms will automatically add them for you.
The biggest reasons you should use captions on your videos are:
GIFs will die a painful death
I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news for the millennials, but GIFs are officially out and will be even more out in 2023. The writing has been on the wall for a while now (the decline of Giphy has been steady since 2016) and it looks like they might officially die that painful death this year.
Brush up on SEO and keywords
TikTok and Instagram are the new Google and that means that the way SEO and keywords work in today’s social media environment has changed a bit too. If you’re wanting your content to be discovered, you’re going to want to start brushing up on what the heck SEO means and the specific keywords you want your content to fall under.
Yes, hashtags are similar to keywords (and are still important!), so think of how you would categorize your content and start researching keywords around that. You can find out the best way to start doing social SEO here.
UGC will be more important than ever
The way user-generated content is created is constantly changing. Previously, content creators would make UGC and post it to their own channels.
Now, creators make content for brands to use on their own channels—meaning that instead of being a brand ambassadors, they are being paid to create content directly for the brands. 2023 will see more brands and businesses working and hiring content creators to work directly with them.
Engaged community over followers
Having a small but engaged community is going to be more important than having tons of followers on social media this year. If you’re wanting to get customers in and buy from you, making sure that your community is being checked in on and feeling understood and seen is going to be essential. And sometimes the best way to do that is by not worrying about the number of followers you have, but the number of people that actively engage with your content.
The ways you can ensure that your audience stays engaged is by making sure to respond to comments, feedback, and questions in a timely fashion, encouraging your audience to tag you in things, and creating relationships with creators you love.
Ready to start putting these trends to good use? Flick can help you keep track of what’s working (and not working!) for your accounts, get all of your content scheduled for your upcoming month, and so much more. Click the banner below to start your free trial today.
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