In this two-part series, we flag some social media trends in 2023, particularly for B2B businesses.  Adapting your social media strategies to reflect these can help you strengthen your effectiveness in your chosen social channels.

Our first article How are the platforms changing? looked at key changes in some major social networks. In this article, we focus on content trends and what’s proving popular in social posts.

New trends when creating engaging social posts

Less link sharing

For those platforms where link sharing has been the mainstay, there has been a continued push to stop people from doing this. It means algorithms across LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are favouring content without links.

The rationale behind this is that the platforms don’t want to send users to other sites. They want them to engage with more content in their channel (and likely be served more advertising too while they’re there).

In short, sending users to your website to spend their time reading only your information is not the social networks’ priority – unless you are paying for advertising in which case links are fine.

Implications for your social media strategy

1. You will need to be more creative in how you share content.  This may require a shift in priorities about what you want to achieve with social media. Instead of flowing traffic to your website, use social media for brand awareness or create discussion and engagement in the confines of that platform alone. For example, using posts like carousels, articles on LinkedIn, and infographics can still convey valuable promotional opportunities without sending people to your website.
2. You can also consider using paid options for sharing important links.  Many of the networks have sophisticated demographic information to help you target messages to specific audience profiles.

Social Search

Social search refers to the ability to search for information within a social media platform, in the same way you would use Google or Bing to search the web.

It is fast becoming increasingly popular among users. For certain audiences, social search plays a far more important role than traditional online search.

Along with finding out information, they can also quickly assess other users’ opinions and reviews (social proof) about that topic/product/experience etc.

This is happening across different demographic groups. For example, LinkedIn has improved its offering around social search for business-related issues too.

Implications for your social media strategy

1. By optimising your business’s social media profiles and content for social search, you can increase its visibility and attract more customers. Apply the same process as you do for your website. In your About section be sure to use keywords that your target users might search for.
2. On LinkedIn utilise elements such as the product pages feature, as these will be picked up in people’s searches too.

Authenticity

Given the turbulence and criticism social media has faced in some areas over recent years, there’s a greater drive from users towards content that is authentic, relatable and genuine.

This trend has been seen across all platforms and is perhaps more noticeable in the B2B arena on LinkedIn, which has been viewed as the main business-focused platform.

While it is still very much the place for that, people are sharing posts from their wider professional interests, as they look to differentiate themselves and their organisations.

There’s a fine line here and the risk is that it can be overstepped. Few LinkedIn members want to see or hear about the minutiae of people’s days and hope the network will remain business focused. However, an organisation’s page and team profiles which come across as authentic and personable, as well as professional and knowledgeable, will impress.

Implications for your social media strategy

1. Avoid images that are clearly stock photos, try using ones of the actual team or business ‘in action’.
2. Feature more storytelling from different facets of the organisation – customer experience, employee experience, sustainability etc. Make more of any social events or charity challenges the team have been involved in.
3. Your content should always be relevant to your target audience and serve a purpose in the message you are sharing. Questioning whether it truly reflects what it’s like to work with you, or buy from you, is a good benchmark for starting to shift from the content you’ve shared previously.

Video Content

The trend of video content is not new, but it is still growing in importance. In 2023, businesses should prioritise creating video content that is engaging, informative, and visually appealing to capture the audience’s attention.

The good news is that with advances in mobile phones, videos don’t necessarily have to be professionally produced videos.  A wide range of excellent free editing tools are freely available, and you can use images and short clips to create often more authentic videos to engage your audience.

Short is key here – particularly as some social networks have time restrictions on the length of video you can share.

Implications for your social media strategy

1. Consider pieces of content you have shared before and whether they could be repurposed as a video instead.
2. Remember to share videos directly to the platform rather than sharing a link to YouTube or your website as this will be penalised as it’s seen as link sharing!
3. Use free tools such as Canva to quickly transform graphics into short-form videos.
4. Don’t forget, not all video needs to be professionally shot and edited.  Use a mobile to video part of a team event, rather than photo it… With their approval, record a short video of a customer giving feedback on your product/service, or interview a colleague to explain why they like their job.

Summary

Social Media can be a hugely rewarding facet of marketing strategies.  Done well it helps to forge positive dialogue and interactions with your target audience and keep you in people’s minds. Given its ‘social’ nature, it is dynamic and continually evolving.  Not only do social media platforms need to maintain market share and revenue streams, but users’ behaviours are also prone to changing interests and preferences.

Key to success then is to be clear who you want to communicate with and what they find interesting. Use the analytics you get with the channels to improve your engagement rate.  Also, keep an eye out for changing demographics and behaviours in your chosen channel. Regular reports from the likes of HubSpot, Sprout Social and Statista (to name but a few), can alert you to new trends.

If you’d like support in ensuring your social media is in line with your overall strategic marketing objectives, please get in touch and contact us or tel. 01483 429111.