For 2023, the forecast is to have a tool, understood more and more as a means of interaction between brands and users, which returns the most personalized user experience.
In 2022 almost 4 billion connected users. Practically 2 and a half hours spent by each user browsing social networks. Generational segmentation, then, tells us the audience we will find predominantly on one or another channel: Gen Z and Milliennals use social media every day, followed by Baby Boomers and Gen X. In general, the more you go up with age personal data, the more time spent on social networks decreases.
To this we can certainly add that more women spend their time online than the male gender.
Some news in 2022: protagonist videos and reels
The evolution of an instrument is also based on the innovations it is able to offer to the public. If social media remained the same year after year on the features front, it probably would have been long forgotten by now.
A small overview of what were the new features in the social field in 2022.
For Instagram, Reels, introduced almost as a game, are now one of the main features. They have been lengthened to 90 seconds, thus extending the tool to those who need to create, for example, video tutorials.
On the subject of "video content", it has introduced the possibility of generating automatic subtitles, a feature already present on Facebook and which certainly makes it easier to use. Finally, it has extended the tag option to products and brands in a more effective way.
Also for Facebook the word Reel was the protagonist of the 2022 evolutions, bringing the functionality much closer to the type of Youtube video: with a monetization plan for producers called "Stars on Reels", all connected to its metaverse in which avatars have gained functionality (and clothes!).
Twitter, recently acquired, is thinking (currently active only in the USA) of a paid plan called Twitter Blue, in which participating companies, against a monthly fee, will have dedicated support and exclusive features such as unpublishing the Tweet within 30 seconds. The modification of the Tweet remains, however, in 2022, one of the novelties, as well as the possibility for tagged people to remove their tag in situations they do not consider suitable.
Finally, Linkedin rides the wave of remote conversations and makes live videos of presentations or conferences available to users, breaking down the physical barriers between brands and the public. It introduces Stories, clearly to be used to launch products or services, give information from a brand, announce the opening of hiring, not to showcase your chubby kitten. Lastly: the rise of polls.
The 2023 predictions for the Social Media's world
2023 could definitively be the year of "all things digital" with social media which, necessarily, will have to provide immersive content for the user and as personalized as possible, 56% of users have chosen a particular brand or product because they felt particularly and directly involved.
In 2022 there was a lot of talk about the metaverse with the Meta case of Facebook. We could say that we are only at the beginning. Social networks will move into the hands of the user who will seek multisensory experiences online, through augmented reality tools and direct communication with brands through this channel.
Chatbots will be smarter, not only will they be able to answer the so-called FAQs, but they will be able to make more complex reasoning, thus taking us into the era of "intuitive chatbots".
Chatbots are linked to a strong importance for customer care which must necessarily be the added value of the brands. If the consumer feels listened to, he will continue to trust that brand blindly.
As for the specific platforms, instead:
- Facebook is facing a loss of ground, especially among the younger audience, given the rise of TikTok and from this it is taking inspiration for the creation of a feed much more based on news related to demonstrated interests or dear themes. rather than being anchored to a homepage crammed with updates from friends and family.According to the recorded trend, these updates take place much more through private messaging systems than through public sharing. The Metaverse and augmented reality are certainly the spearheads on which dear Mark wants to focus: avatars that are increasingly customizable and able to interact; videos and contents available to the user in augmented reality and the launch, by 2024, of branded eyewear capable of immersing the target in a parallel world.
- Instagram expects to remain the social media with the highest engagement rate with influencers with ample space for nano influencers: those who are not so famous as to have millions of followers, but for this very reason considered icons by the users who are in them able to meet again and take advice from them. The Reels will be the longest and buildable "all-in" factor also through a roundup of photos and videos already posted.The "live shopping" era advances with the possibility for the customer to speak in real time with an employee, as if he were directly in the store.
- On Twitter, the predictions are less clear. To date we can think that the strategy for this 2023 is similar to what Musk, the new owner, experienced on Tesla. The first options say that Musk will bring Twitter to be paid for companies that want to use it as a channel, with a monthly subscription and targeted ads. For the end user, on the other hand, the proposals are for a more direct control of what I want to see and what not with a more prominent management of the home. Finally, Free-speech and Twitter Payment Method are the last features that could be implemented.
- Linkedin is experiencing a moment where new 2022 features, such as videos or stories, could undermine its original function of being the ultimate social media for professionals. The focus is to provide ever more precise data on possible candidates profiled online and to become a training platform with more and more online courses provided by the platform and the possibility for organizations and brands to organize live streaming, including job interviews as well as of training conferences. Will we talk about “Linkedin TV”?
- TikTok, the youngest of the social networks, both in diffusion and in the average age of the users, must first of all solve the problem of how to deviate as much as possible from the Chinese government. He intends to focus on videos, no longer just to create trends, but to build real live shopping sessions trying to find the most effective way possible to pay those who produce the contents. Some say it is taking its cue from Youtube.
E-Business Consulting, a digital marketing agency active since 2003, deals with marketing and communication at 360°. By building customized Editorial Plans we help you improve your presence on social media and more. Contact us for a free quote.