BEYOND 2023 - EXPLORING SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS AND FUTURE PROJECTIONS FOR 2024

As we bid farewell to 2023, we decided to take a final look back to examine the Social Media trends of the past 12 months and potentially get some insights on what to expect in the digital realm in the upcoming 2024.

The following article is based on the Social Media Marketing study conducted by Social Media Examiner. In it, more than 2 100 marketers shared their outlook on how they use social media to grow and promote their brands. The results of the study shed light on various topics, including:

• The advantages of Social media marketing: how social media helps achieve digital marketing goals and how the years of expertise give the upper hand

• These are the platforms that not only promise but deliver the best exposure, leads, traffic, sales, and client loyalty.

• Marketers’ favourite social media platforms: how they have been using them so far and their strategic plans for the future

• Organic reach: how marketers leverage organic activities

• Video marketing: where videos reach a wider audience and sell more

• Social Media paid advertising: marketers’ most used platforms

A Quick Overview of the Study’s Findings

Facebook continues to lose its position as the social media giant. Since 2018, marketers have been slowly but steadily switching to other platforms. Since then, their interest in Facebook as a favourite way to connect to clients has declined from 67% to 45%. Only 37% of marketers who took part in the study stated their plans to increase organic activities on Facebook.

Despite this, Facebook's dominance remains strong. An overwhelming 89% of marketers utilize Facebook, with Instagram following closely at 80%. For 45% of marketers, Facebook ranks as their most crucial social platform. Additionally, 67% of them employ Facebook ads, and nearly half (45%) consider the Facebook platform the most pivotal for their advertising efforts. Moreover, Facebook stands out for driving the highest traffic and making the most significant contribution to sales.

YouTube is gaining power. Almost 70% of digital marketers expressed their interest in learning more about organic video reach on the platform and about 60% of them plan on increasing their usage of YouTube video.

Instagram remains a highly favoured social media platform, maintaining its status as one of the top choices among marketers. Alongside YouTube, it continues to attract considerable attention and curiosity in the marketing realm, with 56% of marketers planning to increase their Instagram organic activities.

TikTok is also on the rise. The adoption of TikTok among marketers increased from 18% in 2022 to 22% in 2023. A noteworthy 38% have intentions to boost their engagement on the platform and a substantial 48% express interest in gaining more knowledge about TikTok.

Here is the Deep Dive into the Report

The study begins by addressing key questions and common challenges faced by digital marketers, with a primary focus on enhancing sales and generating leads, a priority for over 50% of marketers. Other significant objectives include increasing brand exposure, cultivating a broad base of loyal followers, and boosting traffic to the brand's official platforms.

Social Media Presence: Benefits for the business

Around 86% of marketers affirmed that their social media efforts have significantly amplified their business exposure and have increased the traffic to the brand’s platforms by 76%. Additionally, it is worth mentioning that marketers with 2 or more years of social media experience demonstrate better sales results. Most of them attribute their success to platforms like Facebook and Instagram. These are also the two leading platforms that they count on to develop a loyal fanbase.

When it comes to generating leads, things look a bit different. Here leading platforms are Facebook and LinkedIn.

Preference of Social Media Platforms: B2C & B2B

The most commonly used platforms remain Facebook and Instagram, with TikTok notably gaining power, with growth from 18% in 2022 to 22% in 2023.

The most favourite channels for B2C marketers are Facebook and Instagram, followed by Linkedin, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok.

On the other hand, the most preferred channel for B2B marketers is LinkedIn, closely followed by Facebook Instagram, and the rest of the social media platforms. B2B marketers’ interest in Facebook and Instagram dropped from 51% in 2022 to 43% in 2023.

What About Organic Reach Strategies?

About 14% of marketers have indicated their decreased interest in Facebook when it comes to organic reach activities, while a significant 37% have stated the opposite - they will be still counting on Facebook as the most important platform for user engagement. 43% of them are not going to take active measures to change their digital strategies.

In the meantime, 56% of marketers are turning to Instagram to boost their organic reach. 59% of B2C marketers express plans to increase their Instagram presence, compared to 52% of B2B.

For YouTube, around 63% of marketers will work on increasing organic reach. For LinkedIn, the number is 55%, for TikTok - 38%, and for Twitter - 16%.

Marketers were asked about the social media platforms they are eager to gain more knowledge about. Instagram maintained its top position for the fifth consecutive year, while Facebook slipped to the fourth spot, trailing behind LinkedIn.

Notably, B2C marketers exhibit greater interest in learning about Instagram and Facebook compared to their B2B colleagues. Meanwhile, B2B marketers display a significantly higher interest in acquiring insights about LinkedIn.

Which Social Media Platform is Favourite for Video?

The study indicates that marketers are planning to turn to video marketing. They show the most interest in Instagram videos (66%), YouTube videos (66%), and Facebook videos (53%). As YouTube and Instagram topped the list of video platforms, interest in Facebook has dropped from 63% in 2022 to 57% in 2023.

Again, there is a slight difference between B2B and B2C. B2C marketers are more open to diving into Instagram videos (72% B2C vs. 59% B2B) and Facebook videos (62% B2C vs. 49% B2B). On the flip side, B2B marketers show a stronger interest in understanding LinkedIn videos (65% B2B vs. 44% B2C).

What About Paid Advertising?

The ad platform most used by marketers for paid advertising is Facebook (67%), followed by Instagram (52%). B2C marketers are more likely to use Facebook ads (71% B2C vs. 61% B2B) while B2B marketers are prone to using LinkedIn ads (39% B2B vs. 17% B2C).

Even though most marketers pointed out Facebook as their preferred platform for paid ads, the usage percentage has dropped from 51% in 2022 to 46% in 2023. Interestingly, the overall interest in paid social ads has increased from 22% to 25%.

When marketers had to identify the platform they wanted to get more insights about, Instagram took first place with 60%. B2C marketers showed consistent interest in Facebook and Instagram, while their B2B counterparts kept their focus on LinkedIn.

We hope you found these findings as interesting and insightful as we did! On behalf of Streameye’s team, Happy creating and advertising in 2024!