73. My 2023 Content Predictions: Leaving Social Media Trends Behind
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A lot is changing in 2023 when it comes to content creation, but one thing hasn’t changed: video content absolutely still needs to be part of your 2023 marketing strategy.
As a video marketing coach, I'm going to be sharing my 2023 predictions that you should be keeping in mind while creating your content in the new year. You might be surprised to learn what’s becoming popular…and what’s falling away.
Content Predictions for 2023
Educational Content
My first prediction is that we’re going to see a shift in the type of content we're creating. Over the past few years, we've really seen public obsession focus on mainly entertainment-based content, but now I'm seeing it shift back toward more educational content.
We’re all familiar with the culture of social media trends in the arena of Instagram reels and TikToks; that kind of content has been extremely popular over the last couple years, but I definitely see focus on social media trends fading away as we head into 2023.
Honestly, as strange as it sounds, this category of content doesn't even need to be part of your strategy. Social media trends such as lip syncs, fancy transitions, skits…all of these things are on their way out. As we move into this new stage of navigating the online space, your content needs to exchange entertainment and social media trends for value. Value needs to be at the center of everything you're creating.
At the end of the day, people want to connect with brands and creators. They don’t just want to follow trending content. And quite literally, as we go into 2023, people are totally over hearing and seeing the same social media trends repeated on their feeds.
Because of this, you really want to lean into the more educational side of your content. But what does making educational content look like?
This could involve more talking-to-camera content. This could be demonstrations on how to use your product or how to do something else. This could even be very digestible quote videos that have text on them and offer a quick-tip hack or a swift perspective change.
In addition to this type of educational content, specifically with talking-style videos, there’s now been a resurgence of dynamic captions when editing your content. Not only does this make repurposing other content for reels (for example, a talking video on TikTok) a lot easier, but it makes it a lot more engaging.
Keep in mind that with any type of educational content, it’s very important that the education is good. Make sure you're adding that little win, that little shift, that little transformation that's going to leave your audience better than you found them.
Rebel Content
On to my next prediction, which is what I'm calling rebel content. What this basically means is that we’ll need to lean into my overarching prediction that social media trends are out when it comes to TikTok and reels. We’ll need to begin stepping outside of the box of what we think we're expected to post for our specific industry or what the algorithm prefers for us to post.
I often hear people saying they're feeling forced to post according to social media trends. They're feeling forced to post reels. However, going into 2023, I truly believe that creating your own path and adding in a little bit more experimentation could actually be just as beneficial for you as following social media trends has been in the past.
So what exactly does rebel content include? It mainly consists of a lot of experimentation: testing out new formats, new ways of editing, new ways of organizing your ideas into video content, etcetera. This also means using your own audios, whether it's making your own original audio, using something like a voiceover, or simply using a music you want to use, not just following the social media trends.
Of course, trending audios are still going to be beneficial for you in terms of your reach, but I don't think social media trends are going to be as much of a non-negotiable factor going into 2023. Just use your favorite song or a song that feels on-brand or makes sense with the content you're posting. Overall, rebel content just means posting content you want to post, not what you think the apps want you to create.
Comfort Creators
My next prediction for social media trends involves comfort creators. This is something that we’ve seen the emergence of over the past few years: essentially, we’ve seen people using social media apps start gravitating toward specific creators that have an essence of comfort. As in, when you go to your favorite creator’s page, you feel all warm and fuzzy.
This comfort content has really resonated over the past year, but now I see a bit of shift: this comforting content that had done really well for comfort creators is now applying to brands and small businesses as well.
This looks like longer, more casual, vlog-style content. For example, when you’re talking to the camera, maybe you’re performing a process or going for a walk. This could also mean things like putting together a series.
Not only does the concept of a series help with engagement, and really save you time in terms of generating new content ideas, but your audience knows what they can continue to come back for, and even having that expectation makes them feel comforted. The ability to have something predictable in an unpredictable world feels reassuring.
This also comes down to brands needing to have a human connection point in their content. People want to see the founder, the team, the customers, the clients, whoever is a part of your brand. People want to see that in your content. They don't just want to see perfectly shot photos or graphics.
My 2023 Strategy
Now that we've covered my predictions for social media trends for the year, I want to specifically talk about my marketing strategy.
If you go over to my Instagram, you'll see a really big shift from the type of content I was creating at the beginning of 2022 to what I was creating at the end of the year.
For me, my easiest and most impactful type of content at the beginning of the year was social media trends. I would put my own spin on them, choosing the social media trends that felt the most relevant to my brand, and that went fine. But as the year went on, I started focusing on how I could lean into the lowest lift possible when it came to content while really focusing on original videos—so, essentially, already following my prediction for the next year.
What I was really focusing on was stockpiling multi-use footage, which is my plan heading into the new year as well. I already have several months’ worth of content from my recent brand shoot, at-home shoots, shoots I've done with friends, and just stock content in general.
This also leans into my own marketing strategy of wanting to be smarter with how I'm repurposing content. By creating stuff that's not based on social media trends, I can post more consistently on platforms like YouTube shorts or TikTok, which means I can really get the most out of short-form video while it's continuing to boom.
Another part of my strategy is turning content that isn't video into video content. An example of this has been my podcast: not only have I been turning podcast episodes into YouTube videos, but I've also been taking snippets from that YouTube video or even just the audio or snippets of audio from a podcast episode, and I've been turning those into short-form video content. Not only do I use this to promote the podcast, but I also use it to add value and allow me to be present on a lot of different platforms and make sure that I'm not just posting graphics talking about a podcast episode when video has really been what's performing well in 2022.
Get Original!
All in all, 2023 is going to be the year of smarter original video content that is a lot simpler and easier, which will allow you to get the most bang for your buck when creating your video content. It’s also a year of moving away from social media trends and into more “rebellious” content.
If all my predictions resonated with you and you want to leverage them in your own video marketing strategy, I highly recommend looking into my group coaching program, the Video Content Camp, where I show you exactly how to see growth in your video confidence, your community, and your sales, all with simpler video content.
WORK WITH NATASHA:
Create your video growth plan for 2023 during a 60-minute live webinar on January 26th at 12 pm EST: https://shinewithnatasha.com/webinar
Join my signature program: https://shinewithnatasha.com/accelerator
Participate in the FREE video challenge: http://videoconfidencechallenge.com/
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