Digital Marketing

The social media landscape evolves constantly. The platforms, trends, and ideas that may have done very well for you a few months ago may not deliver similar results in the future. New trends and strategies may emerge that would require you to adapt quickly to maximize the return on your efforts or risk being left behind.

As the new year approaches, now is the perfect time for marketers to take a holistic view of the landscape, and put themselves in the best possible position to hit the ground running in 2023. The trends that will carry into the new year have already begun taking shape, and it’s now a matter of recognizing them and getting on board at the most opportune time.

It’s easier said than done, though, especially when almost every digital marketer on the planet is looking to do the same thing. The competition is going to be tougher than ever and with these few months being some of the most lucrative for marketers, it’s imperative to get a jumpstart for the coming year.

10 important social media trends for 2023

1. Twitter is cool again

Twitter never appealed to marketers as much as other networks like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc did. There simply wasn’t enough opportunity to amplify campaigns as there is on the aforementioned platforms. The micro-blogging network’s bot problem also didn’t win it any favors with marketers.

There’s been a drastic change in the hype around Twitter this year because Elon Musk took it private. His ownership of the platform, as divisive as it may be, has been like a shot of adrenaline for the flagging platform. Twitter is now seeing record high active user and engagement figures.

There’s also a general sense of excitement to see what Twitter 2.0 could end up being. This presents marketers with a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor of what might be one of the biggest overhauls of a major social network in decades. An effective Twitter strategy can certainly pay dividends in 2023.

2. Capitalize on ChatGPT’s AI hype

Artificial intelligence-based large language models have been around for a while but most weren’t packaged in a simple user interface that enabled average users to experience this cutting-edge technology for themselves.

ChatGPT has changed that, it has allowed everyone to get a glimpse of the power that AI holds. Naturally, this has created a lot of hype around ChatGPT, as people use the AI chatbot for everything from crafting poems and stories to writing code.

There are plenty of AI-powered services available for marketers that can be deployed in campaigns to elevate the experience for users. AI-based solutions, whether for customer outreach or support, will dominate the landscape in 2023. 

3. It’s time to BeReal

For most people, social media is a curated feed of the best moments in life, whether that’s a dream vacation, the perfect meal, a luxury bag, etc. Life is rarely so picture perfect and there’s now a large demographic, particularly those under the age of 25, who would much rather see behind the facade that people put up on social media.

That’s previously why a photo-sharing app called BeReal has become extremely popular in 2022 and will only continue to grow in 2023. It sends a notification to everyone at the same time and encourages them to share one unfiltered, completely real photo with friends. While BeReal doesn’t offer any ad products for businesses at this point in time, it’s pertinent to keep an eye on how it evolves in the coming year.

4. YouTube Shorts can supercharge your subscriber growth

The primary goal for every YouTube channel is to have as many subscribers as possible. Amassing a major following takes time, since the algorithm that ranks videos is unpredictable and often doesn’t favor channels that have low engagement. YouTube Shorts presents a great opportunity to get those numbers up relatively quickly.

This feature is YouTube’s answer to TikTok and Instagram Reels. Given users’ love for short-form video, it sees incredible engagement. Utilize short-form videos on YouTube Shorts to get as many eyeballs on your content as possible. Views on shorts can lead to an increase in channel views and subscriptions, thereby helping grow your presence on the world’s leading video platform.

5. Social commerce is more powerful than ever

Early 2022 was the best time to get into social commerce, they’re features designed to help people make purchases without leaving their favorite social media networks. The second best time to start your social commerce journey is now. It shows no signs of slowing down and will continue its strong momentum in 2023.

By some estimates, global social commerce sales are expected to top $6 billion by 2026. The US alone is projected to have 108 million social commerce customers by 2025. Focus on relevant features like Facebook Shops, for example, to set up storefronts that make it possible for users to make purchases without leaving the platform.

6.  TikTok is where you need to be

TikTok has become one of the most lucrative platforms for marketers in just a few years and it shows no signs of slowing down. It has managed to poach the younger demographics from other social networks. That’s the secret behind its meteoric rise.

The platform is constantly being updated with new features and functionality, providing users with even more incentive to stick around, and helping grow its already 1 billion-strong user base further. Ad revenues generated by TikTok are already slated to match YouTube’s ad revenue by 2024, thus giving marketers all the more reason to tap into the incredible audiences available on this platform.

7. User Generated Content will drive more sales

User Generated Content or UGC tends to perform very well online. Most consumers are swayed by UGC when they’re considering making a purchase online. Marketers can tap into this by leaning into UGC for their products to increase sales.

Even if there’s no in-house team at your disposal to create content that looks organic, aim to incentivize existing customers to create content like a short video or just a simple post to talk about their experience. There are also plenty of freelance content creators that help brands with UGC content for nominal fees.

8. Prepare to get a lot more personal on LinkedIn

The LinkedIn of 2022 feels a lot different than just a few years ago and this monumental shift is going to carry into the new year. You may have noticed that posts on LinkedIn are exceedingly becoming of a more personal nature, much as they would on Facebook, even though this is supposed to be a “professional” social network.

Perhaps it’s a subtle change in the platform’s algorithm that’s favoring personal posts or perhaps people now want to show a more human side on a platform that has largely remained strictly business. LinkedIn is further supporting these initiatives by launching a Creator Fund and encouraging community-building. It’s an interesting space to watch as this is bound to bring new opportunities for expanding reach.

9. Closed captions on videos are a must

The vast majority of people watch the videos that they come across when scrolling through Facebook or Twitter on silent, particularly if they’re on the train or even having a relaxing cup of coffee at a cafe.

Since short form video now reigns supreme online, closed captions help catch users’ attention that may otherwise be fleeting since they’re not interested in listening to the audio. Captions are a great way to keep viewers engaged in the video. The added benefit is that they’re more accessible, enabling people with hearing impairments to participate as well.

10. Expand customer service through social networks

People are increasingly relying on social media for customer support. If they run into an issue with a product or service they’ve purchased, they’re likely to reach out to the company through one of its social media profiles. It’s best to focus on expanding your customer support presence across social media in 2023.

Be where the customers are, address their queries promptly, and utilize the inherently public nature of customer support through social media to convince others of your excellence in this department.

Set yourself up for success in 2023

There will most certainly be new trends and strategies that emerge as we get into the new year, such as the fluid and dynamic nature of social media. However, by focusing your energies on the trends highlighted above, you put yourself in a much stronger position to make the most of what the new year can offer.

It’s impossible to talk about digital marketing and not consider Facebook. The Meta-owned company is the largest social network on the planet with over 2.9 billion users. No matter what industry you’re in and what product or service you’re trying to sell, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to find a buyer on Facebook. To put that into context, consider that with over 2.9 billion users, Facebook’s reach expands to nearly 37% of the entire global population.

Annual ad spend on Facebook from the US alone tops $50 billion. It’s expected to grow 12.2% year-over-year in 2013 to a whopping $65.21 billion. If there was ever a vote of confidence needed in the social network’s ability to be what its advertisers need it to be, this is most certainly it.

Merely running ads on Facebook isn’t enough. If not done properly, it can quickly become a money pit that swallows your entire marketing budget whole without giving anything in return. It’s extremely important for marketers to know how to optimize and scale their Facebook ad campaigns in order to extract the maximum ROI.

What is scaling and why is it so important?

The main problem that marketers face when running ad campaigns on Facebook is that their Return on Ad Spend is extremely high. That simply means they’re spending way too much money than they should be to hit their campaign objectives. Even if it may seem like the logical thing to do, you don’t throw money at this problem.

Scaling up a Facebook ad campaign does require an increase in ad spend but that should result in a higher positive return.Scaling the campaign is a key part of overall optimization. It’s important because it enables you to reach wider audiences with the best possible ROI.

Tips to scale Facebook ads in 2023

Cast a wide net for your target audience

Audience saturation is one of the harsh realities of online advertising. Even if you’ve found the perfect target audience and the campaign delivers great results initially, there will come a time when that audience will become saturated. The initial results are promising in that the campaign is optimized enough to meet its objectives.

Once you see the ad costs and frequency start to increase, that’s when you know that the audience has been saturated. Scaling up the campaign from there will require you to expand the target audience. This method of horizontal scaling is best executed in a separate ad set, so that you’re instantly able to see what results the expanded audience is able to achieve. Compare multiple options by running A/B tests and then add the winning segment to the optimized ad set. 

Duplicate ad sets that are performing well

It’s best not to change things on ad sets that are performing well. There’s no point in messing up their performance. Instead, duplicate those successful ad sets with a higher budget to more effectively reach the entire intended audience.

However, audience overlap should be kept in mind when duplicating ad sets, since multiple ad sets will be targeting the same audience. This is one of the more aggressive tactics for scaling up campaigns and when executed correctly can deliver incredible results.

Opt for gradual budget increases

Increasing the ad budget is an important part of scaling up your campaigns but it needs to be done in a mindful way. For example, if your current budget is $100 and the campaign is performing well, bumping it up to $500 a day won’t bring you a 5x bump in performance. The fact of the matter is that a significant budget increase can restart the learning phase for the campaign which is what you want to avoid when scaling up a campaign that’s performing well.

It’s considered to be a good idea to increase the budget by 15-20% on ad sets every couple of days. This will ensure that the performance of the campaign remains stable as a new learning phase won’t kick in. This gradual approach to budget increase will ensure that the ad set has a longer life and is able to continue its winning streak.

Leverage lookalike audiences

Lookalike audiences are what makes Facebook advertising so powerful. This method of horizontal scaling opens up an entirely new audience for your campaign based on the data that it has already collected. Create lookalike audiences for your campaigns once your existing audience segments have become saturated.

Facebook’s algorithm uses those seed audiences to find people who are most similar and are most likely to be the relevant audience for your ads. For example, a seed audience can be your list of highest paying customers or those that have interacted the most with your posts.

Pay attention to ad fatigue

If your audience is seeing the same ad over and over again, they now have what’s referred to as ad fatigue. Regardless of the method you utilize to scale up that campaign, if they’re no longer interested in the creative, the campaign isn’t going to benefit from any of it.

When scaling up a campaign, it’s just as important to test new versions of creatives. This can include minor changes to the ad copy and the creatives that are already performing well. Keeping things fresh for the audience helps retain their attention for longer. Otherwise, they will begin to subconsciously ignore your ads if they’ve already seen them multiple times, thereby defeating the whole purpose of scaling up.

For Facebook ads, the proof is in the pudding

Great digital marketers are incredibly data-driven. Dive deep into your campaign’s data to figure out where it’s struggling and what needs to be done in order to turn things around. The data is also going to show you clearly which ad sets can be scaled up for maximum impact.

As long as an entirely simple approach of merely increasing the ad budget every time a campaign is to be scaled up is avoided, there’s a lot of value that can be unlocked continuously from your best-performing Facebook ad campaigns.

Social media marketing can be a whole new world of marketing for many people. There are things that seem easy to understand and other areas that seem more complicated. Giveaways frequently fall into the latter category.

Here are a few reasons you should consider doing a giveaway on social media.

Grow Your Followers

One of the biggest reasons to initiate a giveaway is to grow your follower base. You use your giveaways to build new audiences on other social media channels as well.

Get More Email Subscribers

You can easily use a giveaway as a means to get more email addresses. Just use a lead capture form or require people to sign up for your newsletter to participate.

Build a Community

When done properly, you can use a giveaway to build a sense of community. This will maximize your increase in followers and fans and require you to keep engaging with your new followers.

Boost Brand Awareness

This is an excellent way to help people get more familiar with your brand. To increase awareness, ask people to tag their friends in your post. Giveaways are an excellent way to get people to notice your company.

Increase Engagement

Whatever campaign you are working on, there’s little doubt that giveaways help drive engagement with your brand. This gets people talking and commenting on your posts.

Gather Social Proof

Depending on how participants enter your giveaway, you can also use it to build social proof. For example, if you require them to post an image with your brand hashtag, you will get a wealth of user-generated content that may prove useful in future marketing efforts.

Promote Products

Another fantastic reason to participate in social media giveaways is to promote your new products or products that need to get some more traffic. This kind of promotion is an excellent way to generate more sales and increase leads.

Boost Sales

Because of the increase in followers, brand awareness, and engagement, you are almost guaranteed to see a boost in sales after a giveaway. An increase in revenue is the ultimate motivation for most giveaways, even if the stated goal is to get more leads or increase brand awareness.

How to Use a Giveaway With Social Media

Now that you have a better idea of why you should consider a giveaway on social media, how do you run one?

Decide on a Goal

Before starting any giveaway, you should understand what your objective is. For example, maybe you want to grow your email list. Giveaways are an excellent opportunity to grow this valuable resource. To participate, simply have everyone submit an email to be part of the contest. This will help you grow your list of potential clients to offer your promotions and discounts to.

Overall, some popular goals include:

• Increase followers
• Drive engagement
• Get more email signups
• Boost brand awareness
• Promote new products

Remember that you always want to pick a measurable goal, as this will let you confirm whether or not you reached it.

Choose a Platform

One of the first things to do is pick the appropriate social media platform to do your giveaway. It is best to use the one that has the strongest presence and the most engagement with its audience.

You should also remember not all social media platforms are the same. Depending on many variables, some platforms may be better for what you are doing. Once you have the social media platform in mind, you can move on to the next step.

Pick the Prize to Promote

The next thing you will need to do is decide what you will give away. Make sure what you are giving away is a quality prize that makes people want to win it. If it isn’t attractive enough, people won’t share it, and you will see a low engagement.

You want to make sure the prize is proportionate to what participants should do to win it. For instance, if you are looking for more followers, offering sample products may be a great way to get them involved. If you want them to use your brand hashtags, a bigger prize will need to be offered, as this will require more effort on their part.

Plan the Details

Now, it is time to plan out the details of your giveaway. The most important details to consider are the following:

• Timeline: When does it start, and when does it end? You will need to make the last day to participate clear in your announcements.
• Posting schedule: Once you know the timeline, you can decide when and how often you will post about the giveaway to maximize participation.
• Eligibility: Decide who can participate in the giveaway. Do the participants have to be a certain age or in a certain location?
• Mode of participation: Decide how participants will participate, whether by sharing your post, using your hashtag, or another method.
• Winners and announcement: Think about how many winners you will award and when you will announce the winners.
• Prize: You already decided on the prize, but this is a good time to confirm that it will appeal to your audience.
• Confirm the platform’s rules: Before finalizing anything, make sure your giveaway complies with the rules of the social media platform you will be hosting it on.

Consider Using Tools

If you want to make it easier to track and run your giveaway, consider using one of the many available tools. Several tools even offer free plans with limited features or a limited timeframe, so this doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive.

Conclusion

Hosting a giveaway on social media is an excellent way to grow your business. It can help you gain more followers, build an online community, spread brand awareness, gather leads, and more. You just need to make sure to choose the social media platform your audience is on and select a prize your audience wants and is appropriate for what you are asking them to do. With the right strategy, your giveaway will help you meet your business goals.

If you are working on getting more traffic to your website, there are many things you need to take into consideration. One of the best ways to increase your traffic is to get quality backlinks integrated throughout your pages. This can be a bit tricky, which is why we have a few tips below to help you.

1. Build Links From Websites With Outdated Sources

With this step, you need to find some websites in your niche that have:

• Stopped giving a service
• Shut down
• Stopped updating resources
• Moved to new URLs
• Changed names

Then, look for backlinks that still exist to those websites. From there, reach out to the websites containing those outdated backlinks and suggest your page as an alternative.

For instance, when SEOMoz changed to MOZ, there was an opportunity to reach out to many sites still linking to the outdated SEOMoz.org addresses.

Why does this work? You are adding value to the websites you reach out to. For starters, you inform them that their link is outdated, which hurts their rankings and visitor experience. On top of that, you give them a valuable alternative resource that requires minimal effort to link to instead.

2. Use Your Top Referral Sources

Referral sources are the websites that are already sending traffic to your website. So, they already link to your content, giving you a backlink. If you already have a backlink from these sources, then you know the content they linked to is useful and high-quality.

Use that content as a guide for what type of content that website (and your audience) likes. You can then create more content like that. Doing so should increase your chances of getting a backlink.

3. Publish Complete Guides

The best way to move up Google rankings is to have plenty of high-quality backlinks. One of the best ways to do this is to publish complete or ultimate guides.

These guides work well because they are a large chunk of information gathered in one place. Many complete guides are between 4,000 and 5,000 words and tend to cover the scope of a specific topic. Longer content performs better with the Google algorithms than shorter articles.

The first step to proceeding is to choose a good topic. Select something that is popular but isn’t overdone. You don’t want to be the umpteenth ultimate guide to something, so do your research. Make sure your topic is very specific and offers unique value.

Once you have a topic, get it outlined. List out all the subtopics. For instance, if you are creating an ultimate guide to bathing a dog, you might have subtopics that look like this:

• Pre-bath work
• Shampoo selection
• Lathering the coat
• Rinsing the coat
• Conditioner application
• Towel drying

From your outline, get everything detailed and planned out. Remember that you need to cover all the important details thoroughly, making it comprehensive and informative.

4. Create the Right Type of Content

Complete guides are just one type of content more likely to get backlinks. You should also consider posts about “why” or “what.” You may also want to consider videos and infographics.

Just remember that choosing the right type of content isn’t enough. You also have to make amazing content.

5. Use Your Brand Mentions

One resource that many people seem to forget is to use their brand mentions. That means there are many websites out there that may mention you without linking to you. These mentions can be easy to get backlinks with because the author already talked about you.

Simply shoot them a friendly email, reaching out and asking that they link back to your article or website. Instead of asking directly, send out a feeler email. This will be written like, “I saw your recent post on such and such where you mentioned this brand. I have written this article talking about X, would you like to see it?”

These get double the response that a direct request for a link gets.

6. Become a Source for Bloggers and Reporters

Some of the best backlinks you can get are from reporters and journalists, as these will be white hat links. Various services can connect you with reporters and bloggers, such as HARO (Help a Reporter Out). This will take some effort, but it can be worth it.

When using websites like this, remember to keep your pitches brief and only respond to requests that you can actually help with.

7. Use “Skyscraper” Content

To utilize skyscraper content, you must first understand what it is. Skyscraper content builds on the top-ranked website for a piece of content in which your industry has previously performed well. Your goal is to create content that is five to 10 times better than the existing content. This is a “skyscraper” because it puts you ahead of the other content.

For example, you may have noticed that all the popular lists of tips on a certain topic in your industry only have about 10 to 15 tips. If you create a list with 100+ or even 50+, it will stand out and be several times better than the existing content.

8. Write Testimonials

If there is a tool, product, or service that you regularly use, reach out to them, and offer to write a testimonial in exchange for a backlink. They will get social proof and marketing via the testimonial. You will get a backlink in the author portion of the testimonial, as you’ll write something like “[Name] from [Business]” and link to your website.

9. Get Inspiration From Competitors

Like any other part of your digital marketing plan, you can also get inspiration from your competitors. This is as simple as seeing what websites backlink to your competition. You will likely find plenty of great backlink opportunities.

For example, if your competitor has a backlink within a forum, consider joining the forum to get your own backlink. Or if they wrote a guest post on a particular website, send that website a pitch for a guest post of your own.

Conclusion

Backlinks help you boost your SEO rankings and bring more traffic to your website. The above strategies will help you build backlinks with white hat methods, boosting your company’s reputation and online presence.

Sources:

https://backlinko.com/high-quality-backlinks

https://www.monsterinsights.com/how-to-get-backlinks/

If you are working on getting more traffic to your website, there are many things you need to take into consideration. One of the best ways to increase your traffic is to get quality backlinks integrated throughout your pages. This can be a bit tricky, which is why we have a few tips below to help you.

1. Build Links From Websites With Outdated Sources

With this step, you need to find some websites in your niche that have:

• Stopped giving a service
• Shut down
• Stopped updating resources
• Moved to new URLs
• Changed names

Then, look for backlinks that still exist to those websites. From there, reach out to the websites containing those outdated backlinks and suggest your page as an alternative.

For instance, when SEOMoz changed to MOZ, there was an opportunity to reach out to many sites still linking to the outdated SEOMoz.org addresses.

Why does this work? You are adding value to the websites you reach out to. For starters, you inform them that their link is outdated, which hurts their rankings and visitor experience. On top of that, you give them a valuable alternative resource that requires minimal effort to link to instead.

2. Use Your Top Referral Sources

Referral sources are the websites that are already sending traffic to your website. So, they already link to your content, giving you a backlink. If you already have a backlink from these sources, then you know the content they linked to is useful and high-quality.

Use that content as a guide for what type of content that website (and your audience) likes. You can then create more content like that. Doing so should increase your chances of getting a backlink.

3. Publish Complete Guides

The best way to move up Google rankings is to have plenty of high-quality backlinks. One of the best ways to do this is to publish complete or ultimate guides.

These guides work well because they are a large chunk of information gathered in one place. Many complete guides are between 4,000 and 5,000 words and tend to cover the scope of a specific topic. Longer content performs better with the Google algorithms than shorter articles.

The first step to proceeding is to choose a good topic. Select something that is popular but isn’t overdone. You don’t want to be the umpteenth ultimate guide to something, so do your research. Make sure your topic is very specific and offers unique value.

Once you have a topic, get it outlined. List out all the subtopics. For instance, if you are creating an ultimate guide to bathing a dog, you might have subtopics that look like this:

• Pre-bath work
• Shampoo selection
• Lathering the coat
• Rinsing the coat
• Conditioner application
• Towel drying

From your outline, get everything detailed and planned out. Remember that you need to cover all the important details thoroughly, making it comprehensive and informative.

4. Create the Right Type of Content

Complete guides are just one type of content more likely to get backlinks. You should also consider posts about “why” or “what.” You may also want to consider videos and infographics.

Just remember that choosing the right type of content isn’t enough. You also have to make amazing content.

5. Use Your Brand Mentions

One resource that many people seem to forget is to use their brand mentions. That means there are many websites out there that may mention you without linking to you. These mentions can be easy to get backlinks with because the author already talked about you.

Simply shoot them a friendly email, reaching out and asking that they link back to your article or website. Instead of asking directly, send out a feeler email. This will be written like, “I saw your recent post on such and such where you mentioned this brand. I have written this article talking about X, would you like to see it?”

These get double the response that a direct request for a link gets.

6. Become a Source for Bloggers and Reporters

Some of the best backlinks you can get are from reporters and journalists, as these will be white hat links. Various services can connect you with reporters and bloggers, such as HARO (Help a Reporter Out). This will take some effort, but it can be worth it.

When using websites like this, remember to keep your pitches brief and only respond to requests that you can actually help with.

7. Use “Skyscraper” Content

To utilize skyscraper content, you must first understand what it is. Skyscraper content builds on the top-ranked website for a piece of content in which your industry has previously performed well. Your goal is to create content that is five to 10 times better than the existing content. This is a “skyscraper” because it puts you ahead of the other content.

For example, you may have noticed that all the popular lists of tips on a certain topic in your industry only have about 10 to 15 tips. If you create a list with 100+ or even 50+, it will stand out and be several times better than the existing content.

8. Write Testimonials

If there is a tool, product, or service that you regularly use, reach out to them, and offer to write a testimonial in exchange for a backlink. They will get social proof and marketing via the testimonial. You will get a backlink in the author portion of the testimonial, as you’ll write something like “[Name] from [Business]” and link to your website.

9. Get Inspiration From Competitors

Like any other part of your digital marketing plan, you can also get inspiration from your competitors. This is as simple as seeing what websites backlink to your competition. You will likely find plenty of great backlink opportunities.

For example, if your competitor has a backlink within a forum, consider joining the forum to get your own backlink. Or if they wrote a guest post on a particular website, send that website a pitch for a guest post of your own.

Conclusion

Backlinks help you boost your SEO rankings and bring more traffic to your website. The above strategies will help you build backlinks with white hat methods, boosting your company’s reputation and online presence.

Sources:

https://backlinko.com/high-quality-backlinks

https://www.monsterinsights.com/how-to-get-backlinks/