It’s approaching that time of year again. When January feels about 10 weeks long, the Christmas buzz has disappeared as quickly as the songs have and we’re setting New Year goals that will be forgotten about by February. Yep, 2023 is coming!
In the digital world, things were full speed ahead this year. The retail space completely changed, with more & more brands embracing
Social Commerce. Influencers continued to dominate social advertising, and privacy updates put marketers into an absolute panic (we’re still not over it).
But as we look ahead to 2023, what digital trends can brands expect to see? And what should they be considering in their marketing strategies?
SOCIAL COMMERCE WILL BE BIGGER THAN EVER
At Pull, we’ve long believed in the power of Social Commerce. So much so,
we hosted a whole masterclass on it to show you why it’s so important and how to get started! And it’s going to be more prominent than ever next year, so make sure your brand gets involved.
The shift in consumer behaviour over the past few years has changed the retail space as we know it. More & more consumers are wanting to purchase products from within the social platforms that advertise them and to be honest… it’s a no brainer really and this won’t be slowing down next year.
Actually, with the constant introduction of new features on social media platforms & the popularity of new apps, social commerce will start to become something that consumers rely on to make their purchases. Ever hear people talking about TikTok shop and the viral gilet that everyone bought? There are many reasons this happens, but one of the main factors is accessibility.
So, if your brand has yet to get their products up & running on social media… don’t hold back for long!
EMERGING SOCIAL NETWORKS
Now, we’ve all kept up with the Elon drama right? Twitter going down in flames etc? But this change in social network history has seen the emergence of some new platforms.
Rising from the Twitter ashes (joking, it’s not dead…yet), is
Hive Social, which is aiming to welcome a new age of social media and bringing back what you used to love about it in a new way.
With the promise of chronological new feeds (bring back 2015 Instagram that’s what I say) and no shadow banning, the app has been described as a hybrid between Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr, with text, image and video posts supported.
So, why should brands jump onboard? Firstly, Hive hit 1.5 Million users in November 2022. Now I’m not saying it’s gonna be the next TikTok BUT, if that many users are rushing to download – your audience probably are too.
Also, we saw the
BeReal craze right (if you didn’t, where were you?) and how easy it was for brands to reach their users in an authentic & natural way. Hive poses the same opportunities – so don’t get left behind!
While it’s hard to say just how big TikTok would have become without a leg up from a global lockdown, what we’re increasingly seeing is that users are being drawn to alternative social networks that cater more to the ways in which they want to engage and consume content and allow them to feel truer to their authentic selves. As such, expect to see even more new social networks springing up.
THE RETURN OF META ORGANIC REACH?
Sorry, to bring up old heartbreak but we all remember the iOS14 & 15
updates last year right? Well, despite the increase in privacy settings and initial panic, there were ways we could get around them and still create effective email and paid social campaigns.
However, the lack of tracking options available to advertisers has meant that the return on ad spend (ROAS) has dropped for paid ads. This means there’s now even more importance on the old organic reach.
Now, I hear you! “Meta organic reach is dead” – and yep, this is technically right but also wrong. With the introduction of new platforms over the past few years, it comes as no surprise that Meta has seen a huge decline in organic reach. But 2023 is the year to bring this back. Meta are even changing the algorithm to focus on it.
So how? Making sure your page is set up with the ‘New Page Experience’ properly is key. This is a new way for you to manage your brand and is designed to
make it easier for you to build your business, grow an audience and connect with them.
Secondly, to take
full advantage of connected & unconnected distribution (people who follow you and those who don’t), optimise your content for shares by creating content that sparks the interest of those outside your audience and attracts conversation. But most importantly – make original content! TikTok shout about this, and there’s a reason why the platform is so popular. Authenticity will always win!
VISUAL SEARCH
The way consumers shop around has completely changed. Gone are the days of spending your whole Saturday wandering around town looking for the best pair of shoes for that outfit. Now, all it takes is a few quick clicks and you can see a variety of colours, sizes and even customer photo reviews (these are an actual a god send).
Visual search is a tool that allows users to search through products on the internet using images rather than text, by searching a particular keyword, and it has become something consumers, and mostly Gen-Z, rely upon to make their purchases. So, learning to adapt your brand to this will be key.
Take Pinterest for example, their “idea Pins present
more opportunities for brands to get their content on users' feeds, expanding brand awareness.” It is also a chance to visually see all aspects of what your brand can offer. Users can even submit images of them wearing your products, which again, is a god send. No more fake written reviews. We want to see actual real life people wearing what we’re looking to buy!
Getting involved with visual search has a number of great benefits for a brand, but one big one is you’ll find consumers are less likely to return the products. Win! The visual search element will help them determine whether the product is right for them, and this is key to replicating the typical ‘high-street search’.
So, if you’re looking to expand the way you advertise your products next year, our digital team would be happy to help.
THE RISE OF GOOGLE ANALYTICS 4
Something is coming in July… and it’s not another heatwave. In July 2023, your Google Analytics will be switched over from Universal Analytics to Google’s newest Analytics version,
Google Analytics 4.
GA4 is a new kind of property with different reports than what you're used to seeing in your current Universal Analytics properties. The change promises more effective measurement, privacy & automation and better ways to analyse data. But we can’t lie, it’s also a bit of a faff to switch over.
Ans there’s one more catch. If you wait until July next year to make the switch, you won’t be able to import any of your historical data, so the sooner you migrate over, the more data you’re going to have pulling into GA4 and the sooner you’ll be able to report year-on-year data accurately, as well as giving you more time to get used to the new version before UA is turned off in July 2023.
Now if you’re reading this going into an absolute panic, don’t fear. We can help with the migration process –
all you’ve gotta do is ask!
Whether you’re a small brand wanting to get started with social commerce, or a larger brand wanting to take full advantage of an up-and-coming social platform, keeping an eye on where these trends go next year will be crucial for growing your business. And if you need a little help along the way, our digital team would be more than happy. Get in touch at
info@thepullagency.com.
Posted 6 December 2022 by Liv Povey