After researching dropshipping, you’re finally ready to jump in and start your AliExpress dropshipping business. Before you begin, it’s important to look into the different marketing strategies you’ll need for your store.
Social media marketing is one of the most important marketing strategies for ecommerce businesses. This requires more than opening a few social media accounts where you expect your target audience to find you – you also need to understand the latest social media trends.
From the growing impact of social commerce to the very latest social media marketing strategies, we’ll go deep into the ten social media trends every marketer should know in 2023. This knowledge will surely give your ecommerce business the boost it needs.
Ready? Let’s dive in!
1. The Proliferation of Memes on Social Media
The very first social media trend you need to know about isn’t exactly new and you don’t need to be social media-savvy to have heard of it. But it has been gaining popularity in recent times and very quickly too.
We’re talking about the rise of memes. Memes usage and mentions increased from 19.8 million in August 2019 to 24.9 million in July 2020, marking a 26% rise in just one year (Talkwalker, 2020).
Perhaps uncoincidentally, its usage peaked in April with 28 million. That’s when lockdowns were imposed and internet users turned to social media for their dose of, well, social.
In fact, nearly nine in ten (88.1%) social media users in the US reported spending at least half an hour more on social media every day during the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s more than likely that memes will continue to trend on social media in 2023. As a business owner, this is certainly something to consider including in your social media strategy—if you haven’t already done so.
2. Start Profiting From Your Social Media Videos
Already a hit before the pandemic, videos have become even more popular during and after the lockdown. In response, many platforms are now offering more video features for businesses.
Video streaming, in particular, is one that has seen a demand surge. With a massive market value of $42.9 billion in 2019, the industry is expected to grow 20.4% between 2020 and 2027 (Grand View Research, 2020).
Recent consumer behavior is certainly backing this forecast. The trend of live video shopping has taken China by storm recently with consumers there flocking to online shopping sessions during the lockdown. Over four million live shopping sessions were held in Q1 2020 alone (TechCrunch, 2020).
If you think this is just a fleeting trend, think again. Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba says it plans to recruit and train video influencers to sell more through AliExpress, a sign that live video shopping is here for the long run.
Instagram is also boosting its video capabilities as views of its live videos jumped. To encourage video creation, it now allows ads to be shown before long-form videos on its IGTV (Instagram TV) service, with 55% of those revenues going to creators (SCMP, 2020).
3. Social Media Trends: Fastest-Growing Platforms
Boasting close to 3 billion users, Facebook still reigns as the social media king. When done well, Facebook ads can be a lucrative marketing channel. But the latest social media trends show there are a number of smaller platforms that are worth paying extra attention to.
BeReal is one such platform. The newly launched social media app (in 2020) saw its total downloads surge in 2022, from under a million at the start of the year to 14.7 million by September 2022. In 2023, it’s listed as the fastest-growing social media platform (HubSpot, 2023).
Twitch is another niche platform that’s growing in popularity. Though it has been around for over a decade, with the likes of Facebook and Instagram around, it’s seldom seen as an important marketing channel. But here’s where the latest social media trends prove otherwise. Numbers show that usage of Twitch has increased by 29% in 2023.
Professional network LinkedIn is also experiencing a boost this year, with usage increasing by 20%. TikTok and Snapchat round out the five fastest-growing social media platforms of 2023.
4. Social Media Stories Are Not Going Anywhere
If you’re considering marketing on stories, be it Facebook, WhatsApp, or Instagram Stories, you’ll want to pay attention to this next social media marketing trend.
The stories feature for all three platforms mentioned above, all of which actually fall under the big Facebook umbrella, allows users to post a limited-time update that disappears after 24 hours.
Over the past few years, they have become a widely popular type of social media content among users and their growth numbers certainly indicate that they’re here to stay.
Statistics show that there are half a billion people using Instagram Stories every day. In terms of marketing, 96% of brands say they regularly use Instagram Stories to promote their business (Tribe Dynamics, 2021). The majority of them (59%) have even started using it much more over the past year.
5. Digital Disinformation on the Rise
Social media is a double-edged sword. Though a growing number of people are relying on it as a news source, it’s exactly this potential that makes it so dangerous.
The latest research shows that digital misinformation on social media has been on the rise since February 2020 (Talkwalker, 2020). This was brought on by COVID-19 as people flocked to social media to learn more about it and get the latest updates on the pandemic.
That, in turn, gave rise to opportunities to spread fake news. Misinformation aside, some users even went as far as fabricating conspiracy theories, which have also increased dramatically.
Some social media platforms do have measures in place to counter the spread of misinformation. Twitter, for instance, took to adding warning labels to tweets that include “synthetic and manipulated” content.
Despite these measures, controlling digital disinformation on social media has always been hard to tackle and will probably continue in 2023.
6. Social Commerce Is the Future
If the previous social media trends haven’t already convinced you of the power of social commerce, how’s this to tip you over the fence: 55.2% of all Gen Z internet users in the US say their recent fashion purchases were inspired by social media content.
Considering that this group of users does half of their fashion shopping online, that accounts for quite a substantial amount of revenue.
The millennial generation is also nearly as inspired, with only slightly fewer (50.6%) reporting purchasing a fashion item online after browsing social media. All in all, it’s safe to say that more than half of all internet users between the ages of 14 and 34 have recently bought an item related to fashion online as a result of social media.
With these social media trends in mind, you will not want to lose out on the benefits of social commerce for your business. After all, your competitors may already be doing so – nearly three out of every ten businesses say they have either already implemented a social commerce plan or are thinking about doing so (Hootsuite, 2019).
7. Authenticity Matters in Social Media Marketing
To further reiterate the previous point on user-generated content, here’s a statistic that highlights the importance of authenticity on social media.
An increasing number of consumers view authenticity as an essential factor in determining which brands they like and support. Statistics show that 88% of consumers today prioritize authenticity in brands (Stackla, 2021).
But not all content is made equal. As the study shows, there are certain types of content that consumers find to be more authentic and resonate better with. The majority (69%) of them consider consumer-created content to be the most authentic. This is followed by content published by brands themselves and then influencer content.
With this in mind, brands need to focus on creating real and organic experiences to reel buyers in. This is especially so if a business’s target audience is Gen Z and/or Millennials. Research has shown that these two groups place much more value on authentic content than other age groups.
8. Social Media as a Discovery Engine
Here is another one of the latest social media trends: social media plays a huge role across the entire purchase journey of a consumer.
Consumers are increasingly reliant on social media for their purchases. According to a recent study, one-quarter (23%) of all consumers come across new brands and products through social ads and recommendations.
But passive consumption aside, consumers are also adopting a proactive approach to discovering new products. Statistics show that nearly two out of every three (64%) consumers research new brands and products online through social media networks in general (GlobalWebIndex, 2022).
And there is an age trend to this as well: younger generations tend to look up products on social media more often than the older generation.
9. Growth in Messaging Apps
One of the latest trends in social media marketing relates to messaging apps. The latest study figures show that the number of users of mobile messaging apps is expected to reach 6.9 billion worldwide in 2030. This is nearly double the 3.6 billion in 2022 and represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.5% (Global Industry Analysts, 2023).
Currently, over 40 million messages are sent over mobile messaging apps every minute, which shows that it’s a huge market for businesses to tap into. Coupled with the fact that most consumers prefer to communicate with companies via messaging, this is certainly a social media trend you should include in your business’ marketing plan.
If you’re thinking of doing so, consider the potential of each platform. With 2 billion users worldwide, WhatsApp may be the most popular mobile messenger app. But if you’re targeting markets such as China, WeChat, which has 1.3 billion users, would be the way to go, especially considering the government’s ban on WhatsApp there.
10. Customer Service via Social Media
Last but not least, one of the latest social media trends relates to consumers’ increasing use of social media for customer service issues. A recent study shows that around one out of every five Gen Z, Millennial, and Gen X social media users contact brands via direct messages, or DMs, (HubSpot, 2023).
In fact, a large majority of social media marketers expect social media DMs to be buyers’ preferred way to contact brands in 2023. As it stands, more than three-quarters (76%) of businesses offer customer service on their social media channels. Many also have dedicated team members whose main responsibility is to respond to these queries.
If you’re serious about taking your brand to the next level to attract new buyers and retain existing ones, social media customer service is something you cannot afford to skip.
Conclusion
Whether you’re looking to tweak your social media strategy or just looking to get caught up with the newest social media trends, these ten social media trends we’ve listed above will certainly help you understand how your customers engage with social media.
And one quick note before we go: given that social media trends are constantly evolving, you’ll want to make sure you’re up-to-date on the latest social media marketing trends so that you stay one step ahead of the competition!
Summary: Social Media Trends
Here’s a summary of social media trends for 2023:
- Memes usage and mentions rose 26% from August 2019 to July 2020 and are expected to continue trending.
- Social media videos are on the rise. Alibaba and Instagram are among the platforms that have announced new measures to help brands boost revenue from videos.
- BeReal, Twitch, LinkedIn, and TikTok are the fastest-growing social media platforms in 2023.
- 96% of brands regularly used Instagram Stories in 2021.
- Digital disinformation on social media, including fake news and conspiracy theories, has been increasing since 2020.
- Nearly three out of every ten businesses plan either already have a social commerce plan or are planning to implement one in the next 12 months.
- Almost nine out of ten consumers say that authenticity is important when deciding which brands to support.
- 64% of consumers research brands and products online through social media networks.
- Mobile messaging app users worldwide are expected to reach 6.9 billion by 2030.
- Around one out of every five Gen Z, Millennial, and Gen X social media users contact brands via DMs.
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Is there anything else you’d like to know about social media trends and wish was included in this article?