👉(Link:) Click here for the current version of Social Media Trends 2024.

‍

"Social media is dead! We are in the post-social media era!" The headlines of many articles currently sound something like this. Social media 2023 - it's a hangover, a crisis and a new beginning. To understand the big picture in 2023, we need to take a brief look back.  

‍

In 2021 there was a Corona-induced leap in growth. Social media user numbers and intensity increased significantly. With TikTok was a social media platform that was refreshingly new: viral, visual and creator-driven. The social media content evolution was in full swing. At the beginning of 2022, social media platforms were looking at a large, active and willing-to-buy user base (around 4.5 billion people) and had almost unlimited funds at their disposal thanks to a loose monetary policy and record prices on the stock markets.  

‍

This flight of fancy culminated in fantasies surrounding the creation of a "metaverse". First and foremost, Mark Zuckerberg has dedicated himself to the dream of creating a new virtual space in which people can meet realistically as 3D avatars. To this end, he has even renamed Facebook Meta and has invested over USD 10 billion in research and development over the last two years.

‍

The upswing on the markets led to another drastic upheaval in the social media sector. On April 13, 2022, Elon Musk announces his intention to buy Twitter for USD 44 billion. Shortly afterwards, Russian troops launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine and the world slid into multiple crises: Ukraine war, gas shortages and inflation follow a coronavirus pandemic that is still not fully digested. In purely social media terms, these terrible events initially mean that stock markets crash and platforms lose a lot of value.

‍

After the Twitter board first resisted the takeover, Elon Musk is now trying to get out of the Twitter deal, as his original offer is now well above market value. But it is too late for that. A deal that neither party ultimately wanted to go through will nevertheless become real on October 28, 2022. To get out of the financial debacle, Musk resorts to radical measures and has laid off around 65% of employees to date. You can find out what happens next with the short message service in the chapter "Trend #2 - Twitter: the social media experiment".

‍

The global crises are also catching up with Mark Zuckerberg. Meta is suffering from a lack of focus on its core product, battles with Apple and competition from TikTok. The Group loses around 70%, or almost USD 700 billion, of its market capitalization. Over 11,000 employees at Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp will be fired in November 2022. You can find out where Meta stands today with its ambitions in the chapter "Trend #1 - The big Meta(verse) update".

‍

TikTok's triumphant advance continued in 2022, but clouds are gathering here too. Now that TikTok has been banned in India since 2020, calls for censorship are growing louder in the USA. The Chinese TikTok operator Bytedance recently admitted that employees from China had spied on journalists from Forbes magazine. In mid-December 2022, members of parliament introduced bills to ban TikTok in the USA. You can find out more about TikTok in the chapters "TikTok revitalizes the industry" and "TikTok - Challenges in content reach and quality".

‍

One man's sorrow is another man's joy. YouTube (see chapter "YouTube Shorts - A new relevant social media format"), LinkedIn (see chapter "Trend #3 - LinkedIn: Monopoly position in B2B social media and personal branding") and - despite its meta affiliation - Instagram are doing well in 2023 and are enjoying high user growth and fewer political problems. You can find all the facts and figures about the social media channels in the article published at the same time "Social media platforms 2023 - user numbers, growth and classification".

‍

All social media platforms will be under increased pressure to be profitable in 2023. This means they must

‍

1. retain and grow their users in a competitive landscape by offering the best creators and the best content on the platform (See chapter Trend #4 - Content Creation is King [and now also Queen])
2. work on their advertising business by improving sales, usability and technology (see chapter "Trend #5 - Social Advertising Evolution")
3. find new forms of monetization (see chapter "The further development of Twitter").

‍

Other exciting trends, such as the topics of "Artificial intelligence/ ChatGPT in social media marketing" or the "Renaissance of community management" can be found below in the "Social Media Trend Spotlights 2023"

‍

How can social media platforms reinvent themselves while investing less? How can they consolidate and open up new business areas? Social media must and will have to reinvent itself to some extent, but it is definitely not dead. It remains exciting!

‍

Trend #1 - The big meta(verse) update

‍

Facebook - Year of Efficiency

‍

Facebook's user numbers have been stagnating for years. Facebook is even losing active users in its core US market. TikTok is a major competitor and impresses with a new algorithm and better integration of influencers/creators and music. Facebook also has an image problem and has to deal with political attacks and government regulations. However, instead of concentrating fully on Facebook and getting the world's largest social network back on track, Mark Zuckerberg is focusing on the dream of building the "Metaverse", which is unrealistic, at least in the short term.

‍

Social media professionals have been complaining about Facebook's lack of support and usability for years, as described in this LinkedIn post, among others:

‍

‍

But not all is lost. Following the massive pressure on the markets and the changed overall situation, Mark Zuckerberg has recently shown some insight and admitted mistakes. In a video interview with the New York Times he announces that Meta will focus on greater efficiency and profitability. This gives hope that more improvements will be made to the core product Facebook and the high-flyer Instagram. In line with this, Facebook announced in mid-January that it was closing the Creator Studio and upgrading the Meta Business Suite instead. A real step towards less tool chaos(source). Last but not least, Facebook is dependent on the advertising business and this must now be expanded further. The Q4 2022 quarterly figures give cause for hope and the share price has also recovered significantly(source).

‍

Another reason in Facebook's favor is that the social media network is (still) doing extremely well in many markets. Facebook is still the most frequently used social network in Germany, with 69% of the particularly affluent target group of 30-49 year olds using it at least once a week, 33% of 50-69 year olds and even 17% of over 70 year olds(source).

‍

Marketers should therefore not write off Facebook. However, due to the very low organic reach on Facebook, engagement should always be accompanied by social advertising.

‍

Instagram: Social Media Hero

‍

There is also positive news at Instagram. Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, announced at the beginning of this year that it had broken through the 2 billion monthly active user barrier. Strong growth and still more users than TikTok. Is Instagram the social media hero of 2023?

‍

Copying TikTok mechanisms for the algorithm and the "Reels" content format seems to have paid off - once again. In principle, Instagram wants to maintain this course. Creators are to be strengthened on the platform and viral content is to spread even faster. BUT: Photos should remain relevant and social relationships - and that is the difference to TikTok - should not be ignored. Here, Adam Mosseri tells you what will change on Instagram in 2023.

‍

However, marketers who now want to fully rely on Instagram should be warned. Due to the increasing amount of content on Instagram and Meta's hunger for media budgets, organic reach on Instagram has fallen significantly across all formats in the last year(source). The use of influencers and social advertising should be included in the strategy here.

‍

WhatsApp: More applications for companies

‍

WhatsApp is still an untapped monetary treasure for the Meta Group. No usage figures have been published for some time, but we can assume that well over 2 billion people will be using WhatsApp in 2023(source). The message service has been completely free of charge for more than twelve years and is therefore unprofitable. In the current market situation, this can no longer continue. Meta has already started to tentatively monetize WhatsApp in 2022. WhatsApp currently earns money in two ways: with WhatsApp Business, business customers pay a small fee of less than one cent per message for marketing, sales and support. With WhatsApp Pay, users in pilot countries such as India can send money to each other and small businesses can also use this type of payment. Meta offers this service partly free of charge and partly with a small fee. Attempts are being made to expand the business quickly. A third option is always hotly debated: Advertising placements in the app. This could also be launched this year.

‍

And what about the Metaverse now?

‍

The Gartner Hype Cycle has rarely been more applicable. At the beginning of last year, the metaverse was still at the peak of exaggerated expectations, but today it is more likely to be in the valley of disappointment. A lot of money was "invested" in the metaverse by companies and individuals at the beginning of 2022. For example, 4.3 million dollars were paid to secure a piece of "land" in the sandbox metaverse (not from Meta)(source). Today, the various metaverses appear to have only a few thousand active users per day, falling further short of projections(source). The value of the piece of land today is only worth a fraction of the millions...

‍

‍

Figure 1 - Gartner Hype Cycle by Social DNA

‍

And with Meta? Mark Zuckerberg invests USD 10 billion here every year. Has this expenditure paid off? Yes and no! After all, Meta's metaverse "Horizon Worlds" has around 200,000 active monthly users(source). Although this is far below expectations of half a million, it is still a strong figure compared to the other metaverses. Meta also supplies the associated hardware. Anyone who has ever tested the Meta VR glasses knows how powerful this technology is. According to market research company IDC, 15 million devices have already been sold worldwide(source). Meta is finally allowed to sell its VR glasses in Germany. Just in time for Christmas sales, the glasses were offered for less than €500(more information). Zuckerberg has projected that the investment in the Metaverse will not pay off in one to two years, but rather in ten to 15 years. Let's wait and see when the metaverse reaches the plateau of productivity. In the meantime, we can pass the time with Instagram.

‍

Trend #2 - Twitter: The social media experiment

‍

The obscure chronology of the Twitter takeover, the difficult market conditions and the redundancies were described in the introduction. What are the consequences for social media marketers and users?

‍

The debacle with the blue hook

‍

First of all, it is important to understand that Elon Musk wants to turn Twitter into a "free speech" platform, i.e. to allow more contrary (and illegal?) opinions. One of Musk's first official acts was to allow controversial and banned accounts such as those of Kanye West or Donald Trump to be used again. Shortly afterwards, he tried to raise more money by selling a subscription including a blue verification tick. What he didn't think about was checking whether these tokens were genuine. The result? Many trolls secured the names of famous brands or people and tweeted verified nonsense:

‍

By now at the latest, Twitter could no longer be described as a "brand safe environment". Many brands such as VW, United Airlines and Pfitzer pulled the ripcord and stopped their advertising spending. Celebrities such as Elton John, Jim Carrey and many "normal" users left Twitter and migrated to other social media platforms.

‍

‍

-> Twitter verification examples gone wrong

Twitter alternatives seem to fail

‍

Right at the forefront as an alternative - strongly promoted in Germany by satirist Jan Böhmermann, among others - is Mastodon. However, it is already clear that the initial hype will not last. Many users have already moved away from the Twitter alternative(source) and Jan Böhmermann is still posting on Twitter. However, new social networks such as "Post" are also emerging. However, these platforms have not yet reached a critical mass. Therefore, existing social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, but also TumblR, Reddit and Discord should benefit most from the migration.

‍

If the takeover by Musk has had a positive effect for Twitter, then perhaps it is that, despite the migration of users, a lot of new users have come to the platform, whether through Musk's large fan base or the great media response.

‍

In the near future, Elon Musk will have to make an effort to attract more advertising customers to the platform again, as the advertising-based business model promises the fastest profitability. A first measure: stepping down as CEO should cool down the discussions(source).

‍

‍

The further development of Twitter

‍

The next short-term steps on the development roadmap include: Encrypted messages, longer messages and more "entertaining" ads.

‍

In addition, Musk is always coming up with new ways to monetize. His latest idea: after deleting inactive users, he is now planning to auction off the usernames that have been freed up(source) and he is even selling the Twitter neon sign at the main entrance(source).

‍

In the medium term, Musk wants to earn money through payments and creator monetization(source).

‍

In the future, Musk envisions developing Twitter into a super app along the lines of the Chinese WeChat. It remains to be seen how Twitter will develop for companies.

‍

Twitter will definitely be an exciting field of experimentation that the industry and the entire technology-interested world will be looking forward to. Security-oriented companies can still take a relaxed look at developments from the sidelines.

Trend #3 - LinkedIn: Monopoly position in B2B social media and personal branding

‍

In recent years, LinkedIn has become the world's leading platform for professional personal branding and B2B social media marketing. User numbers have also risen in the last year with an increase of 25 million users in Q4 2022 alone to a total of 900 million worldwide(source). Even more important, however, is the increase in user activity on the platform. According to its own data, LinkedIn has been able to increase user sessions by 418% since 2018 and thus by more than 100% per year(source). This trend will continue or even intensify - provided no new competitor emerges.

‍

Bye Bye Xing

‍

In the DACH region, competitor Xing has given up the fight against LinkedIn. Why should I go to Xing when almost all the important people are now active on LinkedIn? The announcement that groups and event pages will not be continued cements the move away from the social media platform concept towards a new focus on professional development(source). The exodus from Twitter should also ensure a further increase in users worldwide.

‍

LinkedIn's competitive advantage

‍

Users give LinkedIn a competitive advantage over other social media platforms:

‍

1. On average, LinkedIn users have a higher level of education and a higher household income(source).
2. The profiles of LinkedIn users are usually filled out in detail and kept up to date.

‍

In times of deteriorating third-party data (cf. Trend #5 - Social Advertising Evolution), the platform's own information about its own users is a decisive competitive advantage in order to offer effective targeting in social advertising campaigns.

‍

However, this is also reflected in social advertising prices. On no other platform is it currently so expensive to reach your customers or generate traffic for your own website (see chapter Social Advertising Benchmarks). Social media marketers will therefore have to continue to rely on alternatives in social advertising in order to operate cost-efficiently.

‍

New functions on LinkedIn

‍

LinkedIn is developing dynamically. New features introduced in 2022 include LinkedIn Audio Events, automatically generated subtitles for videos and the ability to enable notifications from individual profiles or pages. In addition, the ability to not only share other people's posts yourself, but also to repost them, which means that no new post is created, but the original post is given a greater reach.

‍

It was already announced last year that organic Carousel posts will be introduced, this feature is not yet available for everyone, but will definitely come in 2023(source).

‍

Further features are planned for 2023. These include the function for pre-scheduling posts, which is already available for private profiles. The LinkedIn Business Manager is also already available in the beta phase and will be rolled out further in 2023. This will include improved navigation and a media library. On product pages, LinkedIn allows a company page to create a separate section for each core product.

‍

Our favorite announcement, however, is the introduction of so-called "Thought Leaders Ads". LinkedIn will thus make it possible to place the posts of corporate influencers and other personal brands as advertisements(source). The format would also be particularly suitable for social CEOs. Around 41% of CEOs of large European stock corporations are already active on social media(source). Who will ultimately be able to promote their posts and how exactly is not yet clearly defined.

‍

Trend #4 - Content Creation is King [and now also Queen]

‍

TikTok invigorates the industry

‍

Competition stimulates business. This is what happened with Instagram, Facebook and even LinkedIn. They all had to adapt to the recipe for success of the "attacker" TikTok in order to avoid losing even more users. In addition to the pure focus on videos and the better connection with music and sounds, TikTok's success can be explained above all by the changed "content recommendation algorithm".

‍

Excursus: How does the TikTok algorithm work?

‍

The TikTok algorithm recommends content based on a combination of several factors that are weighted differently and constantly adjusted. The most important factors:

‍

1. Playing time and frequency of the videos
2. User interactions
3. Relevance of the sender
4. Topicality/ trending content

‍

The exclusion and devaluation criteria for content include, among others:

‍

1. Spam/ Hatespeech
2. Keywords defined by TikTok
3. Reported content

‍

You can find other relevant factors in this infographic:

‍

‍

Figure: Social DNA infographic TikTok algorithm

‍

The list is based on our tests, experience and information from TikTok and is arranged according to estimated weighting.

‍

The evolution of social media algorithms

‍

The predominant algorithm of the pre-TikTok era, as developed mainly by Facebook, has many overlaps with the TikTok algorithm. The difference lies more in the weighting of the algorithm factors and a decisive change. While Facebook only displayed content from people or companies in the newsfeed that users were connected to themselves or whose content contacts had interacted with, this "social" connection is hardly important for TikTok. What counts here is whether the user has an affinity with the content and how viral or popular this content is with others. In the new social media world, content from personal networks tends to be devalued, whereas content from creators/influencers and "one-hit wonders" is being upgraded. Many therefore also speak of the transformation of a social graph into a content graph.

‍

It can be said that TikTok has made social media less social.

‍

For social media marketers, this realization means that content creation is becoming even more important. Because past followers now count less than before. Boring content spreads even more poorly. The direct competition is content creators/influencers. Real content machines who focus their lives on always producing the perfect post. We can learn from them, for example, that quantity and speed are often underestimated compared to the quality of the content. What else social media marketers can learn from creators and influencers can be found in this article about the Elevator Boys on TikTok has shown.

‍

In combination with the increased relevance of content in social advertising (see next chapter), content is no longer just king, but now also queen.

‍

Requirements for social media content in 2023

‍

The overarching trend continues to be towards moving images. Image posts have now been overtaken by videos on all relevant platforms(source). The 9:16 (portrait format) can no longer be neglected for social media videos. This format is required for the placement of videos in TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and in all story placements. Other important points here are the transitions between the individual shots. Quick cuts, zoom ins and different perspectives give a video more movement and speed. The use of suitable audio and music edits also plays an important role when publishing video content. The videos do not have to be glossy productions, but they still have to be of a sufficiently high quality and, above all, created in a way that is suitable for the platform. Videos should be supposedly authentic, or rather non-promotional and non-branded. Ideally, corporate video productions should be supported by likeable "brand faces", as the direct address by a person in the video is one of the most popular formats. Every content strategy should be enriched with photos and graphics as well as strong statements and content that offer added value.

‍

Trend #5 - Social advertising evolution

‍

Cookieless Future

‍

Last year, most browser providers decided to no longer allow cookies in order to protect users' privacy. However, without cookies, we can access less data in the area of social advertising. This means poorer measurement of conversions and poorer targeting in the ad managers in relation to third-party data. In addition, higher advertising costs can also arise due to increasing wastage.

‍

Social media platforms are trying to counteract this development by improving social advertising algorithms. It is recommended to play out to larger target groups and the algorithms decide even more strongly on the basis of the reactions to the campaign to whom it is then preferably played out. But this harbors a danger. If you allow the platforms to act in an uncontrolled manner, you could only reach a small part of the target group that reacts well to the ad at the beginning of the campaign (e.g. almost exclusively 18-24 year old men or similar). To counteract these dangers, social media marketers should consider the following tips:

‍

Social advertising hacks 2023

‍

Content targeting: The desired target group should already be reflected in the design of the ad.

‍

Manual campaign management: Close monitoring of campaign playout and quick adjustments are becoming even more relevant.

‍

AB Testing: Because many ads no longer achieve the desired results, marketers need to test more variants and only then allocate a large part of their budget to winning creatives.

‍

Integration of (corporate) influencers, creators and KOLs: Personal brands bring their own specific target group with them. In times when targeting is more difficult, companies can take advantage of this. Meta already offers solutions for integrating influencers into the Ad Manager. LinkedIn wants to follow suit and will probably introduce corporate influencer ads in 2023.

‍

Analytics: Advertisers need to improve their own attribution models and switch to server-side tracking.

‍

Those who focus fully on content and implement these changes will win the social advertising game in 2023. Social advertising is still an elementary component for achieving business goals. A new playing field for ads will be the YouTube Shorts format and more advertisers will also be added to TikTok.

‍

Social Advertising Benchmarks

‍

In this infographic you will find the average advertising costs per click of the most important social media platforms in Germany:

‍

Figure Social DNA Advertising Benchmarks 2023

‍

These figures are rough approximations without guarantee. They are based on empirical values from Social DNA. Advertising costs are influenced by a variety of factors such as target group definition, timing and the quality of the advertisements (format, visual, content). It is not unusual for prices per campaign to fluctuate greatly.

‍

Social Media Trend Spotlights 2023

‍

Artificial intelligence/ ChatGPT in social media marketing

‍

At the end of 2022, OpenAI published the ChatGPT language model. A chatbot based on artificial intelligence that delivers frighteningly good answers. In contrast to the familiar chatbots, ChatGPT can be used to hold actual conversations and - even better - to give the artificial intelligence work orders that are carried out at an unprecedentedly good level. Many are already talking about the biggest technical revolution since the iPhone or the Google search engine. More and more AI-based applications are currently flowing onto the market. ChatGPT can also be used for social media marketing. For example, we are testing its use as an agency for

‍

• Spell check and support for the creation of texts and titles (ad copies)
• Inspiration for marketing campaigns and other topics
• Summary of longer texts

‍

For social media platforms, the emergence of AI chatbots could mean a flood of new shareable content. Companies should explore the possibilities of using AI-powered software to become more productive, but continue to rely on original content creation to stand out from the crowd.

‍

YouTube Shorts - A new, relevant social media format  

‍

With YouTube Shorts, Alphabet has finally succeeded in launching a successful content format beyond long-form video. Like Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts is a TikTok clone. Users can upload video clips of up to 60 seconds in 9:16 format. According to YouTube, it now reaches 1.5 billion users per month. Not bad for a service that has only been around for 1.5 years. Of course, "Shorts" benefits from the high YouTube user numbers, but an ecosystem of its own is now also developing here. Until now, ads on YouTube Shorts have only been possible via detours, but this is set to change in 2023. YouTube then wants to push ads on Shorts more strongly and also allow influencers/creators to participate(source).

‍

Many dusty YouTube channels are finally coming back to life. Social media marketers can now get involved and create content for YouTube shorts or at least gain initial experience by repurposing their reels or TikToks here.

‍

TikTok - Challenges with content reach and quality

‍

The fact that TikTok will have a difficult time in 2023 was discussed in the introductory text. In addition to the threat of a ban, TikTok will face further challenges. Many users also mean many problems. Mark Zuckerberg can tell you a thing or two about that. Specifically, the flood of new users means a further reduction in organic reach. Not every piece of content can be played out to as many people, which can be demotivating for new users. TikTok will also have to make improvements to its ads, as there are currently still many ads that are close to the limit of what is tolerable in terms of quality and frequency. The announcement to offer competitive prices for social advertising in 2023(source) will not improve the quality of the ads either. Nevertheless, we still see TikTok as the channel that sets standards in terms of content and where the most creative creators seem to be at the moment. However, the competition never sleeps and YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels are an attractive alternative.

‍

Renaissance of community management

‍

Funnier, cheekier, more viral - active community management as the new secret weapon.

‍

In 2023, active community management is stepping out of the shadow of other social media strategy measures more than ever. This is because it now goes far beyond replying to and liking messages and comments. Companies that stand out on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and the like impress with eye-catching, innovative and cheeky community management. Companies such as Aldi, DB, Duolingo, Netflix and Dr. Oetker are leading the way!

‍

They not only respond to criticism, but also use it as inspiration for their own cross-platform content production, parodying it in a humorous way and incorporating current trends. They also manage to initiate lively discussions with their own community by interacting with current trends, news and viral posts and commenting on them from their own perspective.

‍

Battles and "arguments" between the companies in the comments are also the order of the day - whether in the comments column or actively in their own posts.

‍

‍

Many of these funny comments and posts go viral and thus give companies more reach within and outside their own target group.

‍

So be willing to experiment and be bold, then active community management can become your secret weapon for a strong online presence and community in 2023!

‍

Click here for the TikTok contribution from Deutsche Bahn

‍

Social shopping - postponed again!

‍

Contradictory reports reach us in relation to social shopping. Instagram is saying goodbye to social shopping in order to focus more on advertising(source). From February, there will also no longer be a "store button" in the app(source). This will finally render social stores useless. Nevertheless, we read in trend articles that 2023 will be the year of social commerce. How does that fit together?

‍

The social media platforms want it, the marketers want it, the influencers want it, the companies want it. Only the users don't seem to want it!

‍

Face it, dear marketers, you can long for this trend, but this will probably not be the year of social commerce. We will continue to see attempts to make social shopping socially acceptable and, of course, social media is one of the most important channels for sales. However, we still prefer to make the sale itself on a website or Amazon. Social media is the ideal platform to charge the brand with emotions, present itself innovatively, draw attention to products and learn more about them. However, an online purchase is rarely an ultimate impulse decision and the next exciting post is just a little thumb movement away. Marketers are well advised to use social media as a platform for sales preparation. Then they will also create more attractive posts with added value.

‍

New social media platforms have a hard time

‍

2023 will probably not be the year of new social media platforms. Network effects are making it increasingly difficult for new platforms to enter the market. Why should I go to BeReal if the only form of content bores me after a few weeks and the interesting content from my friends on Instagram is prepared in the same way? What's the point of a politically correct but technically less mature Mastodon, on which I have no reach?

‍

Ideally, new social media platforms need an existing user base and impressive resources to get started (Alphabet -> YouTube Shorts or Bytedance à TikTok) or can only develop slowly in a very specific niche. Any innovation is adapted too quickly. The big players either buy up small platforms or copy new features and integrate them into their apps. This nips any competition in the bud (as happened with Clubhouse).

‍

Employer branding and social recruiting are becoming indispensable

‍

It starts now! 2023 is the year in which the first members of the baby boomer generation will retire. The baby boomers born between 1960 and 1975 still provide almost 13 million workers. From now until 2036, they will gradually disappear, meaning that around 30% of the working population in Germany will retire.

‍

The many job vacancies meet the self-confident Generation Z. These digital natives are looking for self-realization, fun at work, a good working atmosphere, purpose and sustainability - in addition to good pay and fixed employment contracts. The first place to go to find out about a potential employer? Social media! Companies need easy-to-find social media channels with credible and excellently prepared employer branding postings. Companies that are not among the most sought-after top brands also need to invest heavily in social recruiting measures such as ads or influencer campaigns. It's time to get started.

‍

Strategic recommendations for action

‍

1. You'll be on the safe side with Instagram and LinkedIn in 2023 A lot will happen on TikTok and Twitter in 2023. Brands should be vigilant, experiment and learn.
2. Due to changes in social media algorithms and challenges in social advertising targeting, content creation is becoming even more important.
3. Of course, the quality of content must be right, but quantity and speed have often been underestimated in the past. This has consequences for companies
   • Invest in content in-house production and/or increase agency budget for content.
   • Stay close to the trends and algorithm changes. Either through your own research or regular exchanges (daily to weekly jour fixes) with your agency partners.
   • Strengthen relationships with influencers and creators, learn from them and use their content for your channels after consultation.
4. Venturing into YouTube Shorts. 9:16 Content needs to be created for Instagram and TikTok anyway.
5. If you haven't already done so: Start your employer branding strategy now to reap the first rewards with a strong social recruiting campaign at the end of the year.