Businesses and entrepreneurs often make an intuitive decision about which social media channel should be used for marketing. Not following the latest social media trends and insisting on old marketing or content creation routines can be a huge mistake in the evolving landscape of social media.
The question is, what can we expect from 2023 in terms of social media trends, and how can we utilize it?
Understanding social media users
Unquestionably, social media is a highly effective marketing tool to increase brand awareness and growth. While it tends to evolve fast, and your social media strategy can be outdated from one day to another, it also provides excellent opportunities to connect with your customers.
Sometimes it takes work to keep up with the latest social media trends and create a new routine to make content. However, this is something that you must keep your eye on if you want to stay competitive in the long run.
Understanding social media users’ behavior on different social media platforms can provide valuable information on how to shape your business’s social media marketing strategy.
Tracking the latest social media trends and preferences can help you improve your social media strategy to reach and engage with your target audience effectively. Knowing your customers and using the proper social media channels for marketing could be crucial when starting or operating your business with a limited marketing budget.
Based on Zippia’s research summary, 44.8% of internet users rely on social media to research brands, while 89% of internet users state they will purchase from a brand they follow on social media. The intention to buy might be different from buying, but 89% of purchase intention is still impressive.
The importance of using the right social media channel where you can engage with your customers can not be underestimated.
Spending time and money on social media channels that your customers are not following can hurt your business regarding brand awareness, cost efficiency, and, ultimately, generating revenue. Keeping your eyes on the top social media trends can help you to stay ahead of the competition.
Latest social media trends in 2023
Recently HubSpot researched the usage of social media channels used by adults in the US. 84% of US adults currently use at least one social media channel. According to the research, Facebook (69%), YouTube (57%), Instagram (45%), TikTok (33%), and Twitter (30%) are the most popular social media platform among users.
In terms of new social media users, BeReal (313%), Twitch (29%), LinkedIn (20%), and TikTok (16%) presented the most growth since last May. In contrast, there was a drop in the user base of Reddit (-11%), Pinterest (-9%), and YouTube (-4%). Although these numbers may differ country-to-country, US social media trends usually forecast and affect the upcoming global trends.
Reaching social media users
As a first step, you exactly need to know who your customer is before preparing your marketing campaigns. If you successfully identify your customer, it is vital to find the proper social media channel to reach them because different social media platforms attract other social media users with distinct demographics, interests, and behaviors.
Understanding these differences can help you to tailor your business marketing strategies and find the social media channel where your potential customers are more active. As a result, it increases your chances of reaching those users who are your potential consumers and increase the chances of conversion.
Social media platforms’ user base by age and gender
Statista collected the main social media channel users by age group and gender for 2022, which can give us some high-level information on the users.
In the case of Facebook’s user base, men represent 57% of its user base, while women’s user ratio is 43%. Facebook users aged between 25 and 34 make up 31% of global users. This age group is followed by age groups of 18-24 (22%), 35-44 (18%), 45-54 (11%), 55-64 (7%), 65+ (6%), and 13-17 (5%). It seems that Facebook has a relatively low number of users in terms of the youngest generation.
YouTube
Regarding the usage of YouTube globally, men outnumber women, with 54% of Youtube’s users being male and 46% female. 34% of YouTube’s users are between the ages of 18 and 24. This age group is closely followed by users between 25-34 (33%), 13-17 (15%), 35-54 (15%), and finally the, users between 55 and 64 (3%).
The global user base of Instagram is almost perfectly balanced between males and females. That means 51% of users are male, and 49% are female. The everyday users of Instagram are between the ages of 25 and 34 (32%). This age group is tightly followed by the age group 18-24 (30%), 35-44 (16%), 13-17 (9%), 45-54 (8%), and finally, the users that are older than 55 (6%).
TikTok
Over half of TikTok users worldwide identify as female (57%). Just 43% identify as male. More than 2 in 5 TikTok users are between 18 and 24 (42%), so it is still a social media channel where you can easily reach the younger generation. Another major part of TikTok’s users are between 25 and 34 (31%). 13% of Tiktok’s users are between 35 and 44, while 7% are between 45 and 54, and the remaining 4% of the user base is over 55.
More than half of the user base consists of men, comprising 56% of all users, while women account for only 44%. Users between the ages of 25 and 34 make up 39% of Twitter’s worldwide audience, followed by age groups of 35-49 (21%), 50+ (17%), 18-24 (17%), and 13-17 (7%).
Pinterest has the most unbalanced ratio between women and men compared to other social media platforms. 77% of this social media platform’s global users are women. Men form a much smaller ratio, with less than one in five male users (15%). The remaining 8% are classified as unspecified. Pinterest’s user base is relatively young – 39.4% of its audience is between 25 and 34. 20% are 18-24, 17.1% are 35-44, 9.2% are 45-54, and the remaining 14.1% are older than 55.
Utilizing the latest social media trends
The social media communities and the overall landscape around us are constantly changing. While investing significant time in marketing strategy planning, sometimes it is easy to overlook the biggest social media trends.
Your potential customers might already move from one social media platform to another. Or you may have tried your marketing campaigns on the wrong social media channel. It can also be possible that your audience prefers short-form video content, and you have tried long-form content previously. These factors are important when reaching your audience and converting them into consumers.
Although being aware of the top social media trends, consumer behaviors, and interests will not help you prepare your marketing campaign, it can give you some ideas and guidelines on how to design your social media marketing strategy.
