Top 5 PR & Social Trends for 2023
The UK started 2022 with a fully-fledged hangover from Covid and then ploughed headfirst into the fall-out of a European war, the cost-of-living crisis, spiralling energy bills and the not-too-small matter of two new Prime Ministers in less than two months.
Through the unprecedented societal upheaval, with heads still spinning across the nation, PR and social media campaigns got bigger and better as one of the most effective ways of connecting brands with consumers.
Now, as the curtain draws shut on what has been the most topsy-turvy year on record, we look ahead to 2023 and share our predictions for the future of PR and social media.
As the grey clouds loom and uncertainty builds, here’s what brands should be considering investing their budgets in over next 12 months…
Go big or go home
Just like in the recession of 2008, the brands who continue to invest significantly in PR and social in 2023 will come out of the other end of this current financial crisis best placed.
While demonstrating authenticity and remaining in tune with the real-world struggles of customers will be paramount for successful brands, it is those brands who continue to invest in their public presence through PR and social media who will reap the biggest rewards in 2023.
Yes, the new year is not going to be an easy one and there will be serious and multi-faceted challenges to overcome, but brands must remain firmly in public view to succeed. When daily life seems most difficult, it is those brands who speak up, listen to their customers and continue to challenge, entertain and disrupt rather than pulling the plug on PR, marketing and social media spend, who we’ll all be talking about this time next year.
Show us your ‘why’
In another year of likely upheaval, brands will need to robustly demonstrate what they stand for to consumers in 2023.
Be it climate change, sustainability, cost-of-living causes or others, it is those brands who firmly and publicly plant their values flag in the ground who will prosper most.
Talking the talk is no longer enough – brands must demonstrate much more than the ability to change their social media profile picture to support a trend. Positive, tangible action is required as consumers will be asking ‘why’ far more in 2023.
Newsworthy organic content is king
Organic content that is newsworthy will become a headline feature of PR in 2023 as the economic downturn sees brands cut budgets.
Whether that be riding and driving the news agenda with an on-trend newsjacking programme, creating a clickable piece of video content that surfs a current media trend, or producing an eye-opening infographic that sits on your website for media to link back to, brand marketeers feeling the weight of expectation amid reduced spend can lean heavily on trending news to power their campaigns and stories towards great coverage.
That’s not to say brands should lose sight of their roles as entertainers and fire-starters – turning heads and lightening the mood in a year that already looks set to be one of the most challenging on record will still be hugely important for cut-through. But it is those creative organic campaigns that use a finely-tuned news compass for navigation which will reap the real rewards next year.
The biggest Twit
Grab some popcorn, Twitter’s the biggest drama to hit our phone screens this year, and the company’s ups and downs will continue into 2023.
After Elon Musk bought the social media channel in 2022, there have been numerous changes, from policy through staffing.
In the midst of the uncertainty, new and rival platforms such as Hive and Mastodon have popped up to try and persuade users to sign up.
Although we can’t predict with absolute certainty what Musk’s plans for Twitter will be, we’re expecting him to start looking for a strong leadership team who will run the day-in day-out of the platform while he retains CEO status.
What does this mean for the brands we work with? Right now, we’re continuing Twitter organic and ads as usual as active users continue to climb. However, we’re keeping a beady eye on the state of play and will continue to adjust strategies to suit the channel at any given time.
Influencers grab a bigger piece of the marketing mix
The importance of influencers on the wider marketing channel mix will continue to grow in 2023. No longer a nice-to-have but a must-have, influencers prove their ROI via all measurements, from performance to brand.
We’re pivoting our relationship with influencers from creators to consultants; they are the expert in their relative niche, know the audience, and we work with them to maximise campaign results.
However, it can be tricky to find the right influencer for your campaign with hundreds of influencer search engines out there (good ones, too!).
In fantastic news, Meta recently announced they’ll be re-launching their Brand Collabs search function as Creator Marketplace. This offers an in-app option for influencers to share their availability for work alongside interests, and brands to search for influencers.
This is great for brands as it means they will be able to find influencers who align with campaign topics. As an agency, this will help us add to our roster of engaged influencers, adding to our existing Brazen Buddies database.
TikTok’s version offers brand-to-influencer payment through the app, which isn’t something Meta can currently offer – but we predict this will be the next natural step.
And then? We reckon that this could lead to Meta managed campaigns, with the social channel taking a commission for collabs they set up.
We can’t wait to work with more influencers in 2023, so get in touch if you’re looking to turbocharge your influencer strategy 🚀
Influencers
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