Consumer intelligence and analytics platform Talkwalker, in partnership with Khoros, has released its annual Social Media Trends Report for 2023.
Subtitled “How to disrupt a disruptive consumer,” The eighth edition of the eagerly report looks at the 10 biggest trends for 2023, and how they are driven by the needs of consumers.
The report reveals that consumers will be more willing to explore new shopping channels, as the rising cost of living drives increased demand for affordability. With the growing emergence of social commerce in regions such as China where nearly half (49.5 per cent) of social media users have made a social purchase, the UK is set to follow suit in 2023.
Three quarters (75 per cent) of consumers say the pandemic has driven long-term changes in their behaviours and preferences. The year ahead will see businesses and their brands prioritise customer experience through social media, enabling a prompt and efficient response not only to provide customer service in real time, but to build customers for life.
The coming year will see disruptor brands focused on sustainability take a larger share of the market. Savvier consumers will also increasingly interrogate ecological claims, the report suggests, leading to more backlash against potential greenwashing. The report found that consumers want businesses and their brands to take action, with 82 per cent wanting companies to put people and the planet before profit.
The year ahead will also see the rise of decentralised networks, as concerns grow around the lack of control users have about what’s published, how data is stored and censorship issues on social networks.
The report includes data-led insights and expert analysis from global experts and industry veterans on why businesses and their brands need to get closer to their consumers, and prioritise their needs with a seamless ability to predict their ever-changing demands.
David Low, global CMO at Talkwalker says: “We all know the digital ecosphere has disrupted how marketers engage with consumers. In this new environment, marketers must focus on forging symbiotic relationships through a better understanding of online conversations and taking quicker action. It’s this new understanding that will help brands create meaningful experiences and become closer to their consumers.”
The report has also identified 10 key social media trends for 2023. They are:
- The cookie finally gets debunked – the beginning of the end for third-party cookies, consumers are increasingly frustrated by the lack of privacy
- Social media meets a new social standard – fake news maybe getting cleverer, but consumers are wising up to
- Decentralised networks – the future of social media run by consumers, not big business
- Multi-sensory social media – brands will invest in bringing sensory elements to digital experience from gamification to full immersive digital malls
- Social commerce – consumer will be willing to explore new shopping channels
- The Metaverse – immersive reality, Web3 and blockchain will see consumers in a 3D worlds
- Predictive analytics – AI-powered predictive analytics integrated at scale to accurately forecast the next big industry trend
- The environment, no longer an afterthought – consumers and brands will come together for impactful environmental change
- Customer experience gets even more social – social media will be the go to place for brands to connect with customers
- Personas are over, think communities – brands will move further away from personas an target their broader brand communities
The report used insights identified using Talkwalker’s Consumer Intelligence platform. Most examples and visualisations used data from January to August 2022, although additional data may have been used in some circumstances. Mentions of topics were gathered from a variety of media, including news sites, social media channels, blogs, and forums, and Talkwalker clainms its method offers “Up to 90 per cent accuracy, with the ability to detect sarcasm and ironic comments.”
