Content strategy trends: what content works on social media in 2023

Creating content in 2023 is challenging, and increasing content ROI will depend on how realistic and up-to-date your content strategy is. Think about it. AI can now generate text, images, videos, and code, making it cheap and easy for anyone to write a blog post or try to "go viral" with social media posts suggested by tools like ChatGPT.

It'll be more complicated than ever to cut through the noise and reach your target audience.

Brands must incorporate new content formats and craft a successful content marketing plan around your ideal client's specific needs to be relevant and valuable. If content marketing had a word of the year in 2023, it would be personalization. You want to revamp your content marketing strategy to prioritize audience segmentation, tailor content based on data, and find the best channels for marketing campaigns.

Originality and authenticity will rank high among the elements that increase the return on your content marketing efforts. And these trends will be most visible on social media. People are tired of seeing the same thing repeatedly, so the higher the number of new ideas in your content calendar, the better your chances of getting your message to the right people.

In short, keep an eye on these content marketing trends not so much to follow them to the letter but to find gaps and do what others don't. Use these recommendations as guidelines, and then build content around the buyer's journey, focusing on your audience's specific pain points and their social media habits. 

Let's start with the tactics and content strategy pillars we're taking with us from 2022.

No, your audience is still not interested in your product-focused message, so shift your content production to valuable stuff — if you haven't already. It's time to rethink your content strategy framework to see relevant organic traffic and decent conversion rates from social media efforts.

Simply put, create content to help potential customers solve problems with genuine solutions and actionable advice.

Go back to what defines your brand and find ways to consolidate your brand's identity through top-notch content delivered in formats that are easy to access on the go.

Think about your business goals and how content can help you meet them. Then, go back to your content management system, run a content audit to identify gaps in your current approach, and be intentional about content creation to build trust and loyalty.

Say goodbye to boring industry blogs and cookie-cutter LinkedIn blurbs that not even your employees read anymore.

Think beyond video testimonials, reviews, and case studies when putting down UGC ideas for your content strategy. HubSpot, for example, has been nurturing a community of fans who now share their video content and tutorials across platforms and social media channels — people are so happy with the product that they help spread the word and build their personal brands as they help grow the community.

You, too, can encourage your customers to take the spotlight. Teach them how to use your product to grow and share their success stories. When others want to learn about your product or service online, they will appreciate the user-generated content and trust it more than the information you've carefully crafted for your company website. 

As much as 73% of marketers state that the importance of video content in 2022 has increased from previous years. And there's potential for more in 2023. It's time to make room in your content calendar for high-quality demos, video presentations, and other video content.

Your marketing campaigns will have better ROI as you create meaningful connections with videos that attract and convert leads. You can also use video content for customer education, onboarding, or training to improve customer satisfaction and retention.

For B2B brands, LinkedIn is the platform to be and invest in with both organic and paid marketing efforts. It saw a 22% increase in engagement in 2022. Moreover, ads on this platform are more likely to build buying intent, while conversions are twice higher as on other platforms.

Use LinkedIn to deliver content, connect with potential and existing customers, increase organic traffic, and give your sales team qualified leads to work with.

Now that we've seen what can stay in your content strategy, let's move on to what's new in 2023 and how to use these trends to improve your marketing tactics.

It's easy to produce, great for testing trends, and most likely to generate engagement. Short-form video is THE social media format in 2023, and many marketers will incorporate it into their content strategies. What will make the difference is the content creation process and how you manage to use videos to guide your leads through the customer journey.

What are the best social media platforms for experimenting? According to eMarketer, your target audience is most likely to engage with this type of content on TikTok (48.5%), YouTube Shorts (25.3%), or Instagram (20.1%).

Building an audience by following "viral" trends is so 2022. People are tired of seeing the same memes and content formats (and repeatedly listening to the same trending sounds). To attract and maintain your viewers' attention this year, focus on original content. 

We're going back to basics when brands used to produce relevant content that made sense to their audiences instead of trying to keep up with social media trends.

You can create high-quality content with visual storytelling, customer success stories, and curated stories from your employees. You can even take existing content and repurpose it in a less formal format that is more likely to generate engagement.

Encourage your team to brainstorm content ideas outside the marketing department because a good content strategy in 2023 needs to include diversity and multiple points of view to cut through the noise.

Of course, only some things will be “usable” content that matches your audience. Conducting market research and using key performance indicators to understand what types of content perform well can guide your decisions as you create a content calendar for experimentation and repurposing content.

Gone are the days when your LinkedIn feed was flooded with dry and uninteresting content. LinkedIn creators and influencers show their personalities and sense of humor more than ever while providing top-quality value with their expertise and compelling content. 

LinkedIn micro-influencers are usually industry experts and have engaged audiences. Plus, their authenticity makes it easy for them to generate significant engagement fast. Work with micro-influencers who are on the same page with your brand to build trust and consolidate your brand's authority in your niche.

B2B TikTok marketing has passed its early stages and can no longer be ignored. If you still think that TikTok is a platform for silly stuff, it's only because you don't know its potential. This social media channel is a great place to reach young professionals.

By the way, having a TikTok account doesn't mean that your team will need to dance, joke, or be silly (you can if you want to!). Brands can use numerous ways and formats to show up on the platform with content that aligns with their core values and business goals.

Check out TikTok accounts of Adobe, Sage Accounting Software, Shopify, or Square and see how you can take a not-so-exciting product (sorry, guys!) and use it to create engaging, helpful, and relatable content.

These accounts will inspire you to build an effective content marketing strategy for your brand in 2023.

In past years, 71% of B2B ads scored ONE on a 1-5 scale of creative effectiveness, with five marking the most impactful creative. No need to tell you that it was bad for business. Creatives are the most significant contributors to sales in an ad campaign, so investing in the right assets will boost conversions and significantly impact ROI.

Give your sales funnel a makeover with creatives and valuable content. It will differentiate your ads from competitors and convince people to click.

Simply put, despite our best efforts, not all traffic can be tracked perfectly.

Offline and off-platform sharing of information like word-of-mouth interractions, sharing of videos in slack, pier groups discussing their options to use your services or not, etc. is nearly impossible for software to track.

So how does the savvy marketer stand out in this world? 

By giving the customer what they want (helpful info) in the format they prefer (Ex: short-form video or commenting useful advice), you use social media for what it was originally intended for–being social.

How can we track our efforts?

By asking how they found you, you can easily find what's really resonating with your target audience because that's exactly how they found you.

In a holistic way, this shift in strategy can help you meet your customers' needs more efficiently moving forward.

Dark social media also makes a perfect tool for social listening. Ask your target audience questions, help them with their problems, listen to your customer's complaints, learn from their experience, and identify new ways to interact with them.

A lot is going on in content production, and brand messaging needs to keep up with how the tools and expectations are changing. Search engines learn faster than ever before, and people continue to build new tools to remove the clutter from their online experiences.

Use these trends to identify the content formats that can become the core elements for a successful content strategy in 2023. Google Analytics and keyword research tools will help you, too, but listening to your audience and focusing on genuine interactions will be game-changers as you develop an effective content strategy for your brand.