The Top Social Media Marketing Trends Today [2023]

As we continue through 2023, it's safe to say that the social media marketing boom is a staple that is here to stay and that it's simply always best to stay on top of trends. Social media has absolutely engulfed traditional marketing, and if your Shopify online store isn’t engaging with its audience across social media platforms, you’re missing out.

Social media marketing has repeatedly demonstrated its value in promoting and marketing small businesses. It is a dynamic area, and marketers must stay current on the newest social media marketing trends to stay ahead of the competition.

Today, 77% of businesses use social media to reach customers, as businesses are often the first to leverage the power of new technology, using social media to connect with their audience and customers. More than just for building brand awareness, social media is also used as a revenue driver, helping you reach more people and increase profitability.

In this article by Ecommerce Pro, we’re helping you stay current, going into the latest trends and marketing strategies we’ve been seeing in 2023 so that you can better reach and connect with your audience across multiple social media platforms.

Here are the top Social Media Marketing Strategies & Trends in 2023:

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1. Short Form Video is Here to Stay

In 2023, reels and video shorts will continue to triumph as consumers continue to show an overwhelming preference for short and easy-to-digest content from their favorite businesses and influencers. You’ll be able to easily spot this trend by the sheer popularity of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Coupled with infinite scroll, these short-form videos are downright addicting.

Micro-stories like these are a great hook when it comes to interacting with customers and getting your marketing message across. By creating short-form videos, you’ll be able to interact with customers where they are currently spending much of their time.

Short-form video isn’t an emerging trend any longer, it already captured the attention of millions of people, becoming a part of their daily lives.

Now is the time for forward-thinking Shopify brands to invest more time and thought into short-form video production so that your brand stands out on social media and beyond. Another great thing about this type of media it's a great way to get new followers since reels and TikToks are presented to other users and not just followers.

Hot tip: To seize a user's attention, you need to be aware of the ever-increasing short attention span, and capture the viewer within the first 3 seconds of your video.

2. Hooked on Edutainment Content

An emerging trend, social media is not only a medium for amusement and distraction anymore, but also for education. More and more social media users are becoming drawn into content that teaches them something new, is helpful, or delves into intriguing facts. This trend is called “Edutainment”, or entertaining educational content.

Edutainment is gaining popularity because it is an enjoyable approach to help your audience learn more about your brand or products while having fun. Popular edutainment content on social media includes health, beauty, fitness, science, history, culture, finance, and business, but there are really no limits to the forms edutainment content can take, and we’re sure your Shopify business can come up with educational video content as well as blog content that will draw in user’s interest to your brand.

Relating to short-form videos, much of Instagram Reels and TikTok content today consists of edutainment material. The bottom line is that it might just pay off to keep your customers entertained by educating them on how your brand and its products might add value to their lives, thereby adding to your business success.

3. Sell More With Social Commerce

If you’re sleeping on social commerce, it’s time to wake up to a whole new source of revenue. Social commerce is what happens when you take ecommerce and social media to create a new sales platform for your brand.

For years businesses and social media platforms have worked to figure out how to transform social media networks into powerful sales platforms, allowing brands to sell products and services directly through social media.

This is a powerful marketing and sales tool to tap into because, with social commerce, the entire shopping experience takes place right on social media—from product discovery, and research, to checkout—effectively removing friction from the customer journey.

Popular among Millennials and Gen Z, 81% of online shoppers research brands and products on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Ultimately, what's great about social commerce is that you can give consumers the option to proceed directly to checkout without leaving the social network, speeding up the process and lowering the possibility of shopping cart abandonment.

Today, social apps that also house built-in native social commerce features include Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and TikTok.

Learn about the Ways to Increase Online Store Traffic in 2023.

4. YouTube is Catching Up

While Facebook continues to reign supreme as the most popular social media platform to date, YouTube is catching up and is right on its heels. An interesting trend, YouTube might have the momentum to depose Facebook in a few years with its 2.3 billion active users. For now, Facebook is still ahead with its 2.9 billion users.

YouTube happens to also be the 3rd most visited website in the world today, and with Shopify’s new YouTube integration through the Google & Youtube App, you’ll be able to get your products in front of shoppers who are looking for what you’re selling.

While short-form video is top at the moment, the long-form video content found on YouTube is just as compelling and captures the attention of all generations, including Baby Boomers who are less likely to be on TikTok or Instagram. So if you’re targeting an older demographic, YouTube is where you should be.

It's obvious that YouTube's growth isn't about to slow down as it keeps coming up with new ideas, adjusting to trends, and incorporating ecommerce functionalities. It will be exciting to see how online brands on Shopify will use YouTube integration to interact with their target audience in fresh and original ways.

5. Micro-influencers are Still Influential

Using micro-influencers is by no means a new trend, but it's here to stay in helping brands reach more people through social media in 2023. For small businesses, micro-influencers are far more attainable, budget-friendly, and effective in terms of putting your products in front of a large audience.

Unlike big-time famous influencers, micro-influencers work with brands at far more reasonable prices, which is great for brands on a budget. Micro-influencers also have a specific group of followers and you can find influencers whose followers match your target demographic, making it easier and more effective as you’ll be showing ads to the right group of people.

Another reason why micro-influencers are great and here to stay is because they often come across as genuine and honest—their audience tends to trust them and their options, and this effect carries over to the brands that they collaborate with, making people trust you in turn.

If you decide to work with a micro-influencer to promote your business on Shopify, it's best to look for influencers whose followers are the same kind of people you wish to reach, ensuring a far more effective campaign.

6. AI Generated Content

It's hard to ignore AI and the role it has been playing in the digital space, across ecommerce and even social media. AI and the mass adaptation of the technology are fairly new, so it's unclear what the drawbacks may be and there are already some ethical and creative concerns regarding the booming trend. However—it is trending and being used across Shopify and social media, helping merchants and marketers churn out content faster than ever, whether that's social media copy, image generation, or video creation.

While AI content across social media and ecommerce is handy, it's not perfect. One rather big concern is the lack of creativity. Plus, sometimes AI makes mistakes and shows biases. There is, however, a novelty aspect to AI on social media, and it captures the attention and imagination of its audiences.

In the end, AI-generated content will carry on after 2023, and we’ll probably see further integrations and uses across online business and social media marketing. Even though there are some issues, the benefits like quicker content creation, personalization, and saving time and money can't be ignored. It’s best to adopt AI as a helpful tool rather than a crutch to assist you in social media marketing, content creation, and running a better ecommerce Shopify business.

Conclusion

The world of social media is quick and dynamic, always changing and expanding to accommodate new trends and new ways to help you increase your bottom line when you know how to use these platforms well.

From the rather predictable continued reign of short-form videos and the rise of “edutainment” content to the fusion of ecommerce and social media, the opportunities for brands to engage and connect with their audience only get deeper. Moreover, the ascent of YouTube as a formidable platform, the enduring influence of micro-influencers, and the fascinating turn of mass adoption in AI are set to reshape the internet as we know it.

Now that you know some of the biggest trends in social media and ecommerce, incorporating these trends effectively into your social media marketing strategy can set you on a path to success. However, it's crucial to balance innovation with authenticity. Social media, at the end of the day, is about forging meaningful connections with your target audience, and these trends should serve as tools to enhance and deepen that connection.

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