Social Media Marketing in 2023
Welcome to a new year! 2022 was full of fascinating growth, pivots, and unexpected drama with social media marketing. From continued adoption of Tiktok, Instagram’s attempt to pivot to (and then pivot back from) a video forward feed, to the blue check fiasco and continued issues at Twitter, last year gave us all a lot to chew on when considering how social media fits into the marketing and communication strategies of our businesses/organizations. But, for better or worse, last year is over and 2023 has arrived.
Unlike other resources, here at the Something Else Blog and Else Communications, I won’t be trying to predict the next best social platform, whether or not AI will reach singularity this year, or other lofty forecasts. Because for most small business owners and nonprofit staff, it won’t matter.
But there are some key takeaways from last year that are great to keep in mind when working on your strategy and content for the coming year:
- Algorithm aware > algorithm obsessed
- Social media safety
- Community focused marketing
Algorithm Aware > Algorithm Obsessed
Social media marketing means you do need to have a rudimentary awareness and understanding of how each platform’s algorithm works. While most social media platforms pretty uniformly prefer video and photo content over everything else at this point, the degree varies. As does how the use of hashtags, on platform space use (feed vs. story vs. reel), and source of content (was it uploaded natively, or reshared from an outside platform) impact algorithmic ranking and success.
You could spend all your time reading articles on each minute change and shift announced by each platform, chasing after the supposed best formula to get your posts seen. But given that from Tiktok to Meta each platform uses some degree of AI to run its content algorithm, you’re never guaranteed that formula will work. Plus, as we saw this past summer when Instagram reversed its plan for a video-forward feed after pushback, we aren’t actually as beholden to the algorithm as you might think.
Instead, aim to be algorithm aware. Know what type of content performs well given larger, overarching algorithmic rules, as well as according to your own analytics and audience. But rather than chasing after the algorithm, focus on content you want to produce, and can produce consistently and well.
Social Media Safety
Another theme we saw throughout 2022 was the growing awareness that depending too much on social media as your main platform for marketing and outreach can be needlessly risky. Whether it’s an extreme algorithm shift, legislating away use of a platform for certain users, or a platform facing uncertainty after changing ownership, social media’s volatility has become more apparent than ever.
This is a problem for businesses and organizations that invested primarily in social media, rather than say strategic SEO or email marketing.
It’s never a great idea to place all of your eggs in one basket, and that’s especially true for social media where trends, memes, user habits, and algorithms change in the blink of an eye. Which doesn’t mean you should give up on social media altogether. Instead, consider creating an outreach and communications plan that strategically and safely uses social media for branding, outreach, and community space, while continuing to drive traffic to your website and (if applicable) brick and mortar location.
Additionally, if you haven’t yet looked into and invested in options for email marketing now is the time. From more traditional options like Mailchimp and Constant Contact, to options like Substack, there are a lot of ways to make sure you continue to have a digital footprint and platform to interact with your community. Minus the seemingly constant threat of loss of traction due to a capricious algorithm, audience, or company owner.
By investing on off-platform options for outreach and presence, you ultimately safeguard your social media strategy by allowing it to support your goals, rather than eclipsing them.
Community Focused Marketing
There’s a reason Else Communications focuses on small businesses, nonprofits, and mission-driven organizations: community matters.
When you’re a small business or nonprofit, you have to be super aware of your community. What is happening in terms of local economy, which broader national trends are translating, where are folks learning about you and what you offer?
But social media is the opposite. It is by nature vast and global. A hashtag that’s trending could be used by millions, and yet still not be relevant to your customers. The latest meme might be hilarious, but isn’t translatable for your brand or audience. That’s why it’s necessary to get away from focusing so much on what’s trending, to what your community is actually about.
By focusing less on trends, and more on consistent, responsive communication with your community on and offline, you’re building sustainability and longevity into not only your social media presence, but broader marketing and branding strategies. In my opinion, it’s also a lot more rewarding, and therefore more fun, to focus on what resonates with the people who follow you on social media because they believe in your product/service/mission.
Else Communications Can Help Make 2023 Great
It’s easy to start off a new year bright eyed and with a list of resolutions longer than a CVS receipt. But you aren’t on your own when it comes to meeting those goals. Whether you’re looking to grow your social media presence, establish an email marketing strategy, optimize your SEO and get onto that first page of results, or are looking for support for donor engagement or grant writing, Else Communications can help.
Reach out to discuss your needs and schedule a complimentary consultation.
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