What is a Trend?

A trend is the state of a changing and constantly evolving or developing innovation. It is also referred to as a general direction that something is changing, developing, or veering toward. It may also refer to a fashion or craze, i.e. a fad. In social media, something that is trending is the subject of numerous posts (MBN, 2023).

In the business context, trend is a gradual change in a process, output, or condition. It’s a common or average occurrence. If I say, “There has been a trend toward shorter-term mortgages,” it means that more people are now opting for shorter-term mortgages. In other words, shorter-term mortgages have become increasingly popular.

14 Communication Experts’ Prediction on the SocMed Trends of 2023

According to the Forbes, 14 communication experts let out predictions about the biggest social media trends in 2023. As technology continues to strive, social media trends also continue to flourish. Social media has become one of the best ways for businesses of all sizes to market themselves in recent years since it has a huge scope and a lot of different platforms.

But social media trends can be short-lived, especially as technology changes and the popularity of different platforms goes up and down. Therefore, it is essential for professionals to remain current on new marketing trends and best practices so they can incorporate them into their own strategies. If you want to stay ahead of the curve with your social media campaigns in 2023, take a look at these 14 predictions made by members of the Forbes Communication Council.

1. Influencer marketing will expand

The use of influencer marketing will increase exponentially and spread beyond cutting-edge innovators to organizations with less developed marketing practices. Leaders in marketing who harness the power of influencer marketing will develop structured systems to source and manage a company’s influencer sphere, enabling them to quickly identify topic trends and respond with turnkey influencer content. – Jen Iliff, WunderLand

2. Employee Advocacy Will Take Priority In Brand Building

Trends keep us on our toes in social media! Short-form video, increased video budgets, content creation, and influencer marketing will dominate. In addition, businesses and organizations will prioritize employee advocacy as a means of constructing an authentic brand. – Jennifer Gaier, Elwyn

3. AI Will Help Power Social Media Marketing

With all of the incredible advances in AI, it will continue to dominate the social media. Marketers will need to be savvy enough to be early adopters of this technology, understand when and how to leverage AI capabilities, ensure that the appropriate data and applications are utilized, customize it to meet their specific needs, and speed up their time to market. – Esther Flammer, Wrike

4. More Brands Will Turn To TikTok

In 2023, the most significant social media trend will be the evolution of TikTok for brands as they seek to engage consumers in new ways and generate growth via brand marketing and social commerce on the platform. Marketers can take advantage of it by employing platform-savvy individuals and empowering them to create content that sparks cultural conversations and capitalizes on the hottest trends. – Donna Tobin, DDB Worldwide

5. Company Leaders Will Openly Communicate When Things Go Wrong

Visionary leaders will emulate Southwest by admitting errors, articulating clear action steps, and living up to brand aspirations. TikTok will be an indispensable portal to additional news and “how-to” content. YouTube will become more indispensable to communicators and the public than ever before. Twitter will continue to exist as a result of its ROI for niche users. We succeed by embodying our values. – Sylvia Ewing, Elevate

6. More Focused Communities Will Form

Significant growth of groups and communities on social media platforms will facilitate collaboration on topics and individuals of interest. My personal hope is that communities will be created to solve real-world problems; according to the principles of Wikinomics and the sharing of problems, the collaboration of minds can quickly solve problems through the sharing of data, ideas, and resolutions. I also desire a decrease in public shaming and blaming. – Gary Lyng, Hitachi Vantara

7. Marketing Will Move To Niche Platforms

More specialized social media platforms, such as Substack to help people publish newsletters and Patreon to help creators monetize their work, are gaining popularity. As these platforms continue to evolve and gain traction, marketers will need to monitor where and in what format they can most effectively engage their audiences. It may no longer be all about 280 characters. – Pontera Nicole Zheng

8. Brands Will Experiment With Virtual Influencers

Social media audiences are becoming increasingly interested in virtual influencers. The interactivity of these digital creations with viewers across online platforms and the metaverse affords brands new opportunities for collaboration. Those who are willing to experiment will reap the benefits of reaching early adopters and contribute to the development of profoundly engaging experiences. –  Victor Potrel, TheSoul Publishing

9. Owned Social Media Will Be A Primary Focus

Instead of paid media, owned social media will become the primary focus of B2B marketing. This change is a result of the politicization of existing social media channels, which reduces platform predictability. In addition, marketing budgets are decreasing while concerns about privacy and cybersecurity are rising. B2B marketers will increase engagement with owned assets organically. – Deetricha Younger, Deetricha Younger, LLC

10. Brand Communities Will Supplement Social Media Efforts

Social media platforms are continuously evolving and frequently fragment the close-knit communities they create. The solution is not to immediately adopt the next trend, but rather to consider how your owned brand community can complement your social efforts. Self-service knowledge hubs, genuine conversations, and cross-platform integrations are excellent starting points. – Dillon Nugent, Khoros

11. Long-Term Creator-Affiliate Partnerships Will Grow

Creators want to be compensated for their content; I’m interested in return on investment. We can now have both: Creator-affiliate platforms support hybrid payment methods. Including a placement bonus in addition to sales commissions, for instance, could be a viable compromise. And one-time campaigns are less effective than long-term partnerships with creators, so play the long game— it works. – Cristy Garcia, impact.com

12. User-Generated Content Will Become More Important

I believe the biggest trend for marketers to consider in 2023 is the increasing significance of user-generated content, such as ratings and reviews. Marketers can capitalize on this trend by encouraging customers to post reviews and ratings on their social media profiles and by highlighting user-generated content on their own social media channels. – Eileen Canady, BST Global

13. ChatGPT Will Help Produce Content

In 2023, ChatGPT will have the greatest impact on social media trends, as marketers will be able to utilize OpenAI’s platform to produce high-quality content rapidly. ChatGPT will have a significant impact in 2023, from composing social media posts to generating social media advertisements on the fly. Five days after its launch in December 2022, ChatGPT reached one million users. – Dabbah Dave, Robocorp

14. Creators And Influencers Will Gain Autonomy

Social media trends are occurring more frequently and fading more quickly than ever before, so if brands want to participate, they must invest more trust in their content creators and engaged influencers. It also means fewer rules, which will require brands and agencies to do the work up front to ensure that they are engaging creators who will produce results with minimal direction. – Dixie Roberts, DKC/HangarFour