HubSpot, in collaboration with its partner “Meltwater,” has published a trend analysis that you can use to inform your own social media strategy. The aim of this survey was to find out how companies can stand out from the competition. This article explores ways to optimize a social media strategy in 2023.
10 Social Media Trends of 2023 in the EMEA Region
- High Importance of Engagement
- How are marketing professionals trying to optimize engagement rates?
- Where should these communities be built?
- Focus on Sales
- Increased Use as a Customer Service Channel
- Search Functions as a Key Factor
- More Collaboration with Micro-Influencers
- Targeted Use of Short-Form Videos
- Expanding to Multiple Platforms
- Increasing Budgets
- Credibility Is Everything
- Individual Approach
One word says it all: community. An overwhelming majority (87%) believes that building a vibrant online community around their brand will be the key to success in 2023. Another 41% state that this focus on community became even more important over the past year. The importance of social media therefore changed fundamentally from 2021 to 2022.
One word says it all: community. An overwhelming majority (87%) believes that building a vibrant online community around their brand will be the key to success in 2023. Another 41% state that this focus on community became even more important over the past year. The importance of social media therefore changed fundamentally from 2021 to 2022.
The current survey by HubSpot and Meltwater made it clear that both Facebook and Instagram are considered the most effective platforms for building communities. However, there are industry-specific differences. Non-profit organizations in particular have increasingly focused on Twitter in recent years to establish their communities.
Important tip: Use social listening programs such as HubSpot to analyze how customers talk about you on social media channels and increase your engagement rate. Regularly analyzing discussions about your brand provides valuable insights into opportunities for specific interactions.
The survey found that 84% of marketing professionals answer “yes” when asked whether social media is the future of e-commerce and consider social shopping to be very or rather important for their social media strategy. 37% see increasing revenue as one of the most important goals when using social media marketing. In recent years, social media apps have evolved from news feeds into fully-fledged e-commerce platforms. Instagram in particular is one step ahead in this area. Other platforms are also trying to further develop their potential in social commerce. 42% of social media marketing professionals state that their brand currently sells products through social media.
Quick tip: Experienced marketing professionals are convinced that Instagram and Facebook offer the greatest potential for a high ROI.
Customers use social media not only for shopping, but also to contact customer service. 70% of the marketing professionals surveyed say that they provide customer service via social media. 81% of respondents believe that social media will be the preferred channel for customer support in 2023.
Quick tip: It is recommended to set up monitoring streams on social media. This type of social listening is a simple way to closely monitor questions, comments, feedback, mentions, and other interactions that require a quick response.
According to search experts at Google, younger generations are turning away from traditional search engines. Gen Z users rely on Instagram and TikTok 40% of the time, for example, to find favorite cafés or answers to relevant questions in their lives. According to the survey, this trend is also expected to spread to the wider social media community. Users are increasingly searching for brands on social media rather than search engines. Eight out of ten marketing professionals surveyed expect social search to play an important role. 24% have taken measures to optimize their accounts, and 94% of these expect a high to average ROI. 5% see social media as a trend.
Important tip: You can optimize social media accounts for social search by adding relevant keywords and hashtags or by using an easily searchable username consistently across all social media channels. According to respondents, Instagram and Facebook are the best platforms for search.
One third of the social media marketing professionals surveyed work with influencers. Of the 19% who said they do not, they plan to start working with influencers this year. 71% of B2C companies planned to use influencer marketing in 2023. Many brands rely on micro-influencers because of their lower costs and highly engaged communities rather than celebrities. In the context of working with influencers in social media, marketing experts say that content quality is more important than follower count. 86% of all respondents choose “micro” and “nano” influencers with fewer than 10,000 followers, half also work with macro-influencers, and 20% work exclusively with celebrities. In the future, influencers will play an increasingly central role in social media marketing strategies.
Important tip: Think about what best suits your product and choose the right influencers accordingly. The most popular areas are lifestyle, blogging, fitness, health, and fashion, followed by travel, food, and family.
84% of marketing professionals state that short-form videos are the most effective format for them. 37% achieve their highest ROI with them. Short-form videos therefore play an important role on social media, and significant growth is expected in this area in 2023. More than 60% of social media strategies include Instagram Reels, TikTok, and similar formats.
Important tip: Credibility is the most important factor in creating authenticity, helping to build the strongest possible connection and trust with the brand.
Many social media marketing professionals actually view TikTok as a solid investment in the future. Almost half of the respondents (45%) planned to use the popular platform for the first time this year, and 28% expected this channel to deliver the strongest growth. Another 27% said that TikTok offers brands the greatest potential for expanding their target audiences. More than half of the respondents planned to allocate additional resources to this effort.
Important tip: For some companies, lesser-known channels can be useful. Explore your niche market, find out where your target audience is active across the social media landscape, and use these channels.
Social media is developing into one of the most important means of communication. In Europe, companies' investment in social media advertising increased by 42%. Similar growth can be observed in Africa and the Arab Emirates. A full 94% of the marketing professionals surveyed believe that influencer marketing contributes to the success of their brand. According to a survey by “Meltwater,” 54.9% of professionals planned a higher budget for social media marketing in the following year. 39.1% recommended no change to the budget, while 6.7% recommended reducing the budget.
Invest in social media marketing technologies and make sure you understand your technical infrastructure. With different social media tools, you can track your goals more effectively.
Half of the respondents believe that content should reflect the values of the brand. The most popular types of posts are 48% authentic posts, 43% informative posts, and 65% humorous posts. 62% of social media marketing professionals believe that content does not need to be polished or overly professional. Authentic and credible content is crucial.
Quick tip: Create personas to develop an accurate picture of your target audience. This makes content creation easier.
It is no longer sufficient to share the same content across all platforms in exactly the same way. Create different content for each social media platform rather than simply copying and pasting the same content. However, it is not necessary to experiment constantly: 54% of experts agree that minimal modifications to similar content are sufficient for the respective platform. In contrast, 29% believe that completely new content is essential. 17% are convinced that using the same content on every platform is sufficient.
Source: HubSpot/Meltwater Social Media Trends Report 2023
