The past year saw major upheavals in social media. First, at the end of 2021, Facebook’s parent company changed its name to Meta, with a renewed focus on the metaverse. And then, in the fall of 2022, Elon Musk purchased social media platform Twitter.

Those two big changes will influence some of the social media marketing trends for 2023, according to experts in the field. Those who work with digital marketing professionals will likely want to consult with them about any changes needed to remain competitive in 2023 and beyond on social media.

The following social media marketing trends for 2023 are based on expert opinions and some of the changes already started taking place in late 2022.

7 Social Media Marketing Trends for 2023

Everything in 2023 starts with Twitter, which is facing a loss in advertising revenue and may lose users (that remains to be seen). Trends also include innovative digital tools that can help make social media marketing easier.

Reevaluating Twitter

It’s still unclear what the long-term impact of Musk buying Twitter will have on the social media platform. Some have reported users leaving by the thousands and advertising dollars moving elsewhere. An emerging trend is for businesses to look at other social media sites to reach consumers, including LinkedIn, TikTok, Reddit, Twitch, Mastodon and Discord.

Short-Term Video

The success of TikTok has led to more businesses using short-form video to reach consumers. The results are mixed. Not everyone has the personality or talent to appeal to a mass audience with video. If they decide to jump into the short-term video game, businesses should create videos that are useful and informative to the audience they are trying to reach.

Targeting Gen Z

The oldest members of the youngest generation are now young adults, making purchasing decisions. Businesses have found that shifting toward TikTok, which is where Gen Z spends the majority of its social media time, may help them better reach their audience. Digiday reports this has led some businesses to reduce what they spend on Facebook and YouTube.

Reevaluating Facebook

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, started 2023 by having its advertising practices ruled unlawful in the European Union. The EU also fined Facebook more than $410 million. That’s just the tip of the iceberg with Facebook, which is losing users and is no longer considered cutting edge when it comes to social media technology. As with Twitter, experts believe companies may reduce the time and money spent on social media marketing on Facebook.

Emergence of the Metaverse

The metaverse has received a great deal of buzz, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg changed his company’s name to reflect its importance. However, Facebook’s version of the metaverse is just one of many in production, with some, like Decentraland, already available online. Whether people will want to spend more time in virtual reality is another unknown, but companies such as Nike and Adidas already have a presence in the different metaverses. Expect more companies to do the same.

Becoming More Proactive

Many businesses now routinely put content onto social media. But does it convert into leads or sales? The smartest companies are using social media as a way to proactively contact interested consumers, offering them products and services and then closing the sale. They use social media not only as a way to post great content, but to identify and nurture sales prospects.

Better Niche Marketing

This has long been a trend, but expect it to become more important in the new year. Driven by the downturns at Twitter and Facebook, companies may turn to using social media sites that have smaller, but more engaged niche audiences. Creating content that targets those audiences, with greater detail or information on a particular subject, will help drive growth in the customer base. Companies that invest earlier in such content will reap the rewards down the road.

These social media marketing trends for 2023 will impact the marketing strategies for companies both big and small. The good news is that while digital marketing is constantly evolving, it also continues to provide a wide variety of marketing options.