Social media is of increasing importance as business communication tool, means of selling products, and as a mechanism to carry brand reputation. It also stands that social media can be a rapid conduit of negative features, should an issue occur about a product or in relation to a brand.
Social media has also experienced a number of changes, both in terms of technology and content. Such changes are set to continue as into 2023 according to Sprout Social’s senior market research manager, Mike Blight.
Social media content marketing is focused on effectively birding and exploiting the intersection where social media and content marketing meet. Brands will seek to optimise their content created for content marketing and share it on their social media channels. If the messages gets through, it is a success; if the message dissipates, then the process can be expensive and time consuming for little gain.
Blight explains to Digital Journal that while new social media products are always attractive to companies, the core content remains with the established social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook.
Blight explains: “The shiny new toys are exciting, but an authentic presence on legacy social platforms will be priority in 2023.”
Here Blight predicts: “While I expect to see new platforms emerge and grow rapidly in 2023, the brands that optimize their presence on tried-and-true social networks will find the most success in the year ahead.”
As to the types of conversations that companies are having with their advertising agencies, Blight’s take on the matter is: “The future of social media can admittedly feel daunting, especially for brands. Social media marketers are challenged with balancing how to capitalize on trendy new platforms while still prioritizing their mainstay channels.”
Blight adds: “There will always be buzz and momentum behind the latest platforms, but my advice to brands is to focus on optimizing your social strategies on legacy platforms. Things like post times and content types can still be tinkered with to figure out the perfect concoction for what your customers want from you as a brand.”
Blight’s own advice in the face of such developments is: “Monitor the momentum of new platforms, but prioritize the mainstays.”
Blight provides further advice to companies and the options for being featured on a social media platform: “What we’ve learned in the past year is that success on social isn’t about the platform—it’s about authenticity. People crave genuine stories that can spark new ideas and foster creativity rather than direct selling points.”
Citing examples, Blight mentions: “Whether taking a people-first approach to native content or tapping into creators to share their personal experiences with brands, creating an authentic story should be the clear north star for brands as they navigate the future of social media.”
