Get to know the CEO: Manu Muraro tells us what 10 social media trends to watch for in 2023

Social media marketing skills continue to be in high demand within the US tech sector. 

Need for qualified employees with a paid social media background rose more than 116% since the pandemic began, according to available data on LinkedIn. 

But what are considered required “social media skills” for someone to list on their resume varies from job description to job description. Some companies will want to hire a person with extensive viral video experience, while others might want a person to dive into the data to find the best ways to stretch a marketing department’s budget. 

Manu Muraro, founder and CEO of Atlanta-based Your Social Team, has had a front-row seat to the changing social media landscape. For close to six years she and her agency have helped hundreds of local brands develop a strong social media strategy on Instagram. 

She’s specifically built out an Instagram training program and content template library to help brands learn those social media skills to create the most buzz-worthy content for their online audiences. 

The Changing Social Media Landscape 

Muraro told Hypepotamus that Instagram is far from just a photo-sharing social platform. In fact, it holds a lot of power for brands looking to find new customers and engage with loyal fans online. 

“For businesses that want to sell and really create a bond with their audience, Instagram is by far the best. Many people have been annoyed with Instagram lately because of lowering engagement. That’s an inevitable consequence of being on a platform that is over a decade old. The competition just grows each year. But the great news is that today a lot more people shop, discover, and hire via Instagram than a few years back when engagement may have been better,” she added. 

While newer on the scene, Tik Tok remains more effective as an awareness tool for brands, since the culture of engagement is not prone to generate direct sales through content, aside from without running ads.

Social Media Trends in 2023 

Your Social Team’s branding is hard to miss. The fun bursts of color, Muraro said, harkens back to her time as a creative in the corporate world at places like Cartoon Network. 

“I was very intentional about building a fun brand and showing people that we don’t need to take ourselves too seriously on social media. Small business owners get too much aggressive marketing about how they should do their social media, which causes a lot of stress and pressure to have lots of followers and look popular. In my corner of the internet, I make sure I show people not to worry as much about these things and focus on learning how to bring more revenue to their business and be proud of the content they put out in the world,” she said. 

So what social media trends does Muraro expect to see in 2023? She has a list of 10 things to watch out for. Here are the changes she expects you’ll see on your newsfeeds this year: 

1. A HEALTHIER RELATIONSHIP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA: We will understand that social media is a business tool and not the top priority in anyone’s business, lowering the pressure for vanity metrics and the toll on our mental health.
2. AI WILL BLOW UP: We’ve seen AI copywriting apps popping up in 2022. Now Canva, the most popular tool for creating social content, has just added an AI copywriting and image generator feature. So, while I believe we still have a little time until AI becomes an effective tool in video creation, we expect AI copy and images to become a common content creation tool in 2023.
3.  SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS WILL CHARGE MORE: Social media managers’ work will become more valued, especially as they are able to create content that drives sales.
4.  INFLUENCERS WILL SEE LESS FOLLOWER GROWTH AND MORE REVENUE: With Reels bringing fewer followers, growth will continue to be a struggle, but the money spent in the Content Creator Industry will continue to grow by the billions!
5. THE BEST WAY TO GROW YOUR INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS WILL BE BY DOING THE FOLLOWING:
   • Original Reels Audios
   • Collaborations
   • Instagram Lives with Guests
   • Thoughtful, non-spammy givaways 
6. DIRECT SALES FROM INSTAGRAM WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE: People will continue to buy more and more from your organic content. Be salesy.
7.  WE WILL SEE FEWER LIKES AND COMMENTS BUT MORE SAVES AND SHARES: People are more thoughtful about how they engage with each piece of content.
8.  REELS WILL BE AS EASY TO MAKE AS STORIES: We will stop overthinking Reels and use more existing clips, simple videos recorded in the moment, and graphics.
9. ENTERTAINING AND FUNNY CONTENT WILL CONTINUE TO REIGN: Everyone wants comic relief during their day. Memes, insightful Tweets (or Tweet mock-ups), funny Reels, and other entertaining content continue to be hot in the new year! The trick is to continue to innovate in the formats to keep your audience interested.
10. STATIC POSTS WILL HAVE A COMEBACK: This is a bit of wishful thinking. But historically, Instagram ends up doing what people want the most, even though many times it feels like the opposite. I believe that Instagram will continue to make changes to broaden the reach of photos and static content.