Abstract
- Beware of influencers. Brands should carefully select influencers that match their target audience to avoid potential backlash and negative impact on reputation and market capitalization.
- Popularity of TikTok. Despite ongoing legal debates, TikTok remains a powerful platform for reaching younger generations, making it a popular choice for brands targeting Gen Z.
- Genuine engagement. In an age where AI-generated content is on the rise, it's essential for brands to prioritize authentic, human content and authentic connections with customers to stand out and build trust.
Social media marketing involves creating customized content for social media platforms to increase customer engagement and promote your brand. This strategy provides significant benefits to businesses by building and fostering strong connections with customers on their preferred channels.
According to a March 2023 Statista report, there are 308.27 million social media users, which is 91.9% of the total US population. As such, social media marketing offers a huge opportunity for brands to engage with customers on the channels of their choice. In this article, we take a look at how brands are leveraging social media marketing and how social media marketing has changed in 2023.
social marketing, influencers, brand value
Sometimes, even if your brand is making the right claims, shutting out your core audience can turn out to be a bad PR move. So did Anheuser-Busch, which recently partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and used her photo on Bud Light cans to promote LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion. The controversy began when Anheuser-Busch sent her Bud Light beer, and she posted a video of herself dressed as Holly Golightly from “Breakfast at Tiffany's” while promoting her product.
The Bud Light campaign promotes the concept that everyone should be able to be themselves, a value that most of us agree with. However, it did not sit well with many of the brand's conservative customers. Since the campaign began on March 31, Anheuser-Busch's stock price has fallen nearly 4%, and its market capitalization has fallen from $132.38 billion to $127.13 billion.
Entertainers Travis Tritt and Kid Rock recently posted videos on social media showing how angry they are about Anheuser-Busch's influencer marketing campaign. Tritt said he was going to remove Anheuser-Busch products from Ryder during a concert tour, and Kid Rock machine-gunned a case of Anheuser-Busch beer. Many other not-so-famous people also spoke out on social networks, letting people know that they were dissatisfied with the campaign.
The moral of the story is to know your customer. It's great to be diverse and inclusive, but be prepared for backlash.
Related article: Social media trends to expect in 2023
TikTok still leads the way in short-form videos
While there is a federal move to ban the use of TikTok, the state of Montana is moving forward with legislation that would ban the social media network completely. The app is owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance, and some U.S. government officials are concerned that TikTok poses a national security risk.
That said, social networks continue to grow in popularity. According to a 2023 Insider Intelligence report, TikTok is the third largest social network with 834.3 million monthly users worldwide, and by 2025, the number of users is expected to reach nearly 1 billion. I am. According to a 2023 Statista report, 113 million TikTok users are American, more than any other country. The majority of TikTok users (60% in fact) are his Gen Z. This makes this social network extremely popular for brands targeting Gen Z as a target market.
Sasha Ramani, associate director of corporate strategy at MPOWER Financing, a global provider of scholarships and non-cosigned loans, told CMSWire that in 2023, the lasting impact of working with influencers will help brands grow. He said that awareness will be strengthened and the company's revenue will be increased in an innovative way. Social media continues to evolve. “Highly engaging and fan-favorite social features like TikTok Challenges have taken the world by storm and made the platform a hotbed for fruitful influencer partnerships,” Ramani said.
Many brands are using TikTok as their preferred medium to reach younger audiences. While some brands create their own TikTok accounts and post videos showcasing their products and services, many brands use TikTok influencers to reach a wider audience. We are choosing to collaborate. More than 42% of U.S. marketers are using TikTok for influencer marketing in 2021, and this number is expected to reach 49% this year, according to a 2022 Insider Intelligence report.
Brands using or considering using TikTok should closely monitor attempts by state and federal authorities to ban its use, as no one wants to invest in a campaign that suddenly loses most of its target audience. become.
Related article: Deciding on the best social media platform to connect with your customers
Focus on youth-centered content
According to Business DIT's 2023 report, approximately 94% of the Gen Z population is active on social media, accounting for 61.1 million users in the U.S. alone. Although Gen Z only makes up 27% of the U.S. population, they remain the youngest, most ethnically diverse, and largest generation in U.S. history, according to a 2023 report from Insider Intelligence. Therefore, many brands in 2023 are putting a lot of effort into this generation.
Casey Jones, founder, director and head of marketing at CJ&CO, a global digital marketing company, told CMSWire that 2023 will see more focus on youth-centered content. “Gen Z is the current and future generation of consumers, so any content needs to be tailored to how they think,” Jones said. “For example, Gen Z doesn't like the idea of being sold products. Instead, they're more interested in immersive and imaginative brand experiences.”
To effectively market to Gen Z, brands should engage with their favorite platforms like TikTok and Snapchat, leverage social influencers, and focus on their interests and behaviors. “We've found that eye-catching visuals and bright colors are more effective than ever. Plus, content that truly speaks to their interests drives more engagement,” Jones said. We suggested brands leverage this approach and prioritize youth-centric content.
Generative AI is impressive, but the human touch is essential
In the past two months, ChatGPT has gained over 100 million users. This is a feat that took TikTok nine months to accomplish. Generative AI models such as ChatGPT, Bing Image Creator, Google Bard, Bing Chat, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion now allow businesses to instantly generate content, images, and videos using simple text descriptions . Generative AI technologies have the potential to bring many opportunities, but they also further reduce the human element in customer interactions. If a brand’s content is all created by AI, it will be difficult to build connections with human customers.
“Another thing that has changed in social media marketing in 2023 is the increased importance of humanized content,” Jones said. “With the growing popularity of AI writing tools like ChatGPT and Jasper AI, many brands are using machine-generated content on social media. Well, no matter how good the content is, it lacks a human touch. Humanized content, on the other hand, uses first and second person pronouns and feels like a two-way conversation. ”
Content written by humans is often filled with humor, wit, and compassion that appeal to people's emotions, so in a world full of machine-generated content, human content can help companies stand out from their competitors. Jones believes that it also helps make the company shine.
User-generated content is another way brands can use humanized content on social media. “One of the key ways brands are leveraging social media marketing is by creating more user-generated content,” said Bridget Reid, co-founder of online editing tool The Word Counter. “Brands use social media to showcase user-generated content and encourage customers to share their experiences with the brand. This has led to increased engagement and brand loyalty,” said Reid. brand. “
Authentic, authentic, and organic content is most appealing.
Social media users are very adept at recognizing advertising and marketing hype delivered on social media platforms. They can also spot inauthentic brand voices and may push away such attempts, unfriend them, and unsubscribe.
Crystal Uys, marketing and communications manager for ExcitedCats.com, a cat care site with articles on cat guides, health, and supplies, told CMSWire that in a world where fake news is everywhere, brands He said there is one thing that is very valuable to him. It's social media and it's about telling the truth to your audience. “Different groups consume content differently, but people are always looking for the most reliable information,” Uys said. “If you can position your brand as one that prides itself on providing only the highest quality information and content, your audience will do the rest. It's not about your brand; it's about your brand. It’s about the people we are trying to serve,” Uys said, adding that while this has always been true, 2023 shows it will be even more important.
Similar to Uys, Kathleen Marchetti, director of marketing at Next PR, told CMSWire that social media marketing in 2023 is all about authentic connections. “Users can smell blackhat marketing tactics and fraud from a mile away. To connect with their target audience and build trust, brands need to show up and use a human touch. You need to show your side,” Marchetti said, adding that executive social media is also a driver of humanizing the brand. “Company leaders need to be active on their social pages, sparking conversation, and building real connections with their followers. These are the faces of their brands, but more than that, they need to be active on social media than on their corporate pages. This expresses the brand's values.”
Final thoughts on social media marketing
Social media has become even more important in people's lives during the pandemic and will continue to be an important way for brands to connect and engage with customers on their preferred channels in 2023. Brands should be wary of working with influencers who may not appeal to their target audience, but collaborations with influencers can still be effective.
TikTok is a popular social channel that reaches young people through short-form videos, despite legislative debates. Overall, social media is an essential part of modern marketing strategies, but to avoid potential backlash it's important that brands navigate each platform carefully and prioritize true engagement with their audiences. is.
