Trends in social media: The Motherhood scours the headlines so you don’t have to. Check back throughout the month for more!
Key stat: 33% of US Gen Z consumers have purchased a product from an influencer-founded brand in the past year, followed by millennials (29%), according to Morning Consult. Beyond the chart:
Ever heard of playtech? Imagine marrying a toy with apps, UIs and tech devices. And if you haven’t been living under a TikTok rock, you might have wondered why Dr Phil, Bill Gates and Khloe Kardashian all punch a bouncing ball while standing in front of their living room with a TV screen counting the hits. Swedish playtech company Boxbollen is just what it sounds like, a bouncy ball you box with your bare hands. And in just a few years, founders and brothers Jacob and Victor Eriksson have grown the company into a TikTok favorite and involved some of the world’s most notable creators, celebrities and tastemakers to show their jabs and uppercuts.
Research shows that consumers respond better to social media ads featuring influencers. According to TikTok, 71% of users say they purchased a product because of the authenticity of the creator who recommended it. And 56% of customers feel they can trust a brand more when a creator shares its products. It’s about trust, which is why more brands are featuring creators in their ads than ever before. But finding success with this strategy is not as easy as just throwing a creator in front of a camera and letting it roll.
Marketing through social media personalities over the last few years has had a tremendous impact on the present state of the gaming industry. Today, many games depend on their success upon influential persons who have a large number of fans who promote and advertise new issues. This article examines the magnitude of influence that marketing has had in gaming. Explaining how it transformed both the game’s advertising and consumers.
“Sociable” is the latest commentary on important social media developments and trends from industry expert Andrew Hutchinson of Social Media Today. While the current spate of generative AI tools are interesting, and are already changing discovery behaviors and interactive processes, they’re really only scratching the surface of what’s possible, and are far from actual “intelligence” as the AI name suggests.
The landscape of influencer marketing has undergone a great transformation in recent years. No longer tethered to the allure of celebrity endorsements and macro-influencers boasting millions of followers, brands are now gravitating towards nano- and micro-influencers, armed with smaller but fervently engaged audiences. The key to forging authentic connections with consumers lies in partnering with content creators who deliver visibility, genuine endorsement and effective advocacy. Marketers have shifted their focus, acknowledging that the quality of engagement trumps the sheer size of an influencer’s following.
Every member of a procurement team is more than just a professional—they’re people. Parents, pickleball players, podcast enthusiasts—and those are just the P’s. On and off the clock, they research potential purchases just as everyone else might. There lies the magic of B2B influencer marketing. Influencer marketing has long been a staple for business-to-consumer (B2C) brands looking to cultivate more authentic connections with their audience. It’s not just a trend—it’s a proven strategy. It’s time for B2B brands to embrace the power of influencers.
As we inch closer to 2024, the influencer marketing landscape is brimming with potential for significant shifts and innovations. Influencer marketing is an industry that’s always on the move, and right now it’s gearing up for some big changes that could shake things up for brands and creators alike. What do these trends mean for the way brands will connect with their audiences? How will they affect the influencers we follow and love? If you’re curious about the future of liking, sharing and hashtagging, let’s peel back the curtain on what influencer marketing might look like in 2024—because it’s shaping up to be an exciting ride.
In a little over a year, Anna Kai went from 87 TikTok followers to more than a million. All it took to kick things off was one viral video. That video, a “get ready with me” (GRWM) confessional where she discussed dating and commitment with humor and a steady eyeliner hand, was the first step in building a following that many creators—and brands—can only dream of. In addition to her TikTok following, Kai counts a million followers on Instagram.
In 2024 new influencer trends will see them become increasingly indispensable to brands looking to tap into new consumer segments. Greater competition for eyeballs and the rapid pace of emerging trends have placed influencers at the core of every digital campaign. As marketers search for greater ROI on their social media strategies, the power of influencers to amplify the growth of brands make them a standout in the modern marketing toolkit.
Since cupcake company Baked by Melissa’s early days, co-founder and CEO Melissa Ben-Ishay has been the muscle behind its social media presence, posting regularly to Instagram and Facebook. Like many others, Ben-Ishay set her sights on TikTok in 2020 during pandemic lockdown, posting cupcake decoration videos, behind-the-scenes clips from the bakery where her brand’s signature bite-sized cupcakes are produced and other product videos. The videos did well enough, pulling in anywhere from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand views.
The Creative Marketer shares his ChatGPT prompt tips in this infographic. To enact these, add “Write like [INSERT CHARACTER]” at the start of your ChatGPT instructions.
ChatGPT was the fastest-growing brand of 2023, according to a new report. No, AI didn’t write it. Morning Consult’s analyst team did, after tracking the share of US adults who said they were considering purchasing from a brand in January versus the share who said the same in October in order to determine growth. The OpenAI chatbot, which was released late last year, overtook TikTok as the fastest-growing consumer app ever by January, per the report. OpenAI also made the top 20, as did several social media and beverage brands, though the lists differ fairly significantly across generations.
Since social media entered our lives, influencer marketing has become a powerful tool for brands to build awareness and for individuals looking to become brands themselves. So, it’s little surprise that the industry that’s grown out of this convergence of powerful forces – celebrity and marketing – is very excited about generative AI.
A self-published author and a bookshop owner have told how TikTok’s #BookTok trend has changed lives and altered the publishing industry for good. Adam Beswick from Lancashire found fame on the site when he started advertising his books under the hashtag. Kirsty McKay, owner of The Book Dragon in Stockton, said #BookTok was allowing self-published authors to thrive. #BookTok has over 200 billion views on TikTok, the equivalent of everyone in the world viewing it 25 times. It has become a community of book lovers sharing favourite reads and reviews, as well as a place for authors to share upcoming work.
In a digital era dominated by short attention spans and content overload, traditional storytelling just doesn’t cut it anymore. To truly engage your audience and foster a connection, purpose-driven brands must embrace unconventional storytelling methods. Let’s explore how we can break free from traditional narratives.
Influencers continue to be a part of many brand marketing strategies. With a tight-knit community of followers, social media influencers have been able to foster authentic connections and trust among their audiences. Making their platforms a great environment to raise awareness around ongoing world issues and even promote a charity close to their heart. Yet in today’s environment where politics and social concerns are increasingly polarising, many prefer to stay silent to avoid the risk of a backlash. However, this also comes at a price, with many influencers being call out for remaining silence on important social issues, being labelled as “out of touch”, as a result.So how can content creators show their support to a particular cause, while not alienating a part for their audience?
Picture this: Scrolling on Instagram, you come across a video of a woman recounting a deeply personal story. After escaping domestic violence, she was able to shop for high-quality clothes to begin interviewing for jobs and putting the pieces of her life back together. She talks about the importance of clothing for building confidence and dignity, and she talks about the program that enabled this in her time of need. At the end of the video, she mentions that the organization that helped her is always looking for volunteers. After hearing the message and seeing the impact firsthand, you organize with your workplace to set up a staff volunteer day where your company spends the afternoon helping out with the clothing program. A few weeks later, you take your own clothes to donate to the cause. Through just one video, you’ve created a connection with an organization and have begun to make your own impact. This is what meaningful marketing is all about.
You’d be hard-pressed to find healthcare marketers that don’t understand the value of social media for healthcare, according to Jill Florence, Director of Enterprise Sales at Sprout Social. As Florence explains, “Social is a non-negotiable part of driving brand awareness and building connections with patients, physicians and community members. But it can be a challenge for the marketing teams on the digital front lines to overcome the concerns of security and privacy teams—especially at the intersection of HIPAA and social media.”
If you follow social media marketing news (which presumably you do if you’re reading this), you’ve no doubt read several stories about APIs, mostly in relation to third-party applications. But if you’re not a programmer, you may not understand what an API is, and how it relates to digital marketing systems. To provide some more insight on this, the team from Salesforce have put together this infographic, which takes a broader look at the various ways in which APIs can be used.
Instagram’s announced some new spam combatting updates ahead of the holidays, designed to help reduce the manual curation load on users, and the overall impact of spam and junk in the app. And as anyone who manages a big IG account knows, there’s a lot of spam activity happening every day, in varying forms.
Snapchat has announced some new generative AI additions for Snapchat+, its paid subscription package, which is now up to 7 million paying members, up from 5 million just three months ago. First off, Snap’s adding a new way to create visuals in the composer, using text prompts to produce AI images.
Which social apps should you be using to connect with teen users? The team from Pew Research have produced their latest report on teen social media use, based on surveys conducted among 13 to 17 year-old social media users between September and October this year. And much of it is as you would expect, with YouTube still the dominant online platform of choice, followed by TikTok and Snapchat, though the more recent trends are worth noting in your planning.
This is a very handy update for social media managers and web admins. Instagram has now added a new, dedicated domain for Threads, separate from Instagram itself, which will make it easier to track referral traffic from your Threads posts.
Can you remember all the key TikTok trends of 2023? There were a lot, as explained by TikTok: “2023 on TikTok was the year we embraced the culinary delicacies known as girl dinners, shared know-before-you-go tips from the biggest concert tours of the year, asked ourselves “what can’t we make with cottage cheese?” and couldn’t stop thinking about the Roman Empire. From foolproof recipes to funny skits, throwback tracks and thriving small businesses, the global community continued creating, connecting and celebrating on TikTok, influencing culture and impacting lives.” If these are just now jogging your memory, then the 2023 “Year on TikTok” overview could be a ride, highlighting all the key trends of note that sparked engagement in the app throughout the year.
The post Influencer Marketing Resources: December 2023 appeared first on The Motherhood | A Social Media Marketing Agency.
Influencer Marketing Industry Resources
1 in 3 Gen Zers have bought from an influencer-founded brand in the past year – December 18, 2023
Key stat: 33% of US Gen Z consumers have purchased a product from an influencer-founded brand in the past year, followed by millennials (29%), according to Morning Consult. Beyond the chart:
- Influencers are no longer just voices for other brands. They’ve become their own standalone media channels, diversifying their platforms and revenue streams.
- “If you look at the influencers that have done particularly well in this space, not only do their products have to be aligned with their own brand, they have to be authentic,” said our analyst Blake Droesch on an episode of our “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail” podcast. “But before all that, [influencers] need to have that platform, and that massive reach.”
- The top influencers among US teens in fall 2023 were Alix Earle and MrBeast, according to Piper Sandler. MrBeast already sells his own products, and Earle is on her way to starting a brand.
How Boxbollen Works With The World’s Top Creators And KOLs – December 17, 2023
Ever heard of playtech? Imagine marrying a toy with apps, UIs and tech devices. And if you haven’t been living under a TikTok rock, you might have wondered why Dr Phil, Bill Gates and Khloe Kardashian all punch a bouncing ball while standing in front of their living room with a TV screen counting the hits. Swedish playtech company Boxbollen is just what it sounds like, a bouncy ball you box with your bare hands. And in just a few years, founders and brothers Jacob and Victor Eriksson have grown the company into a TikTok favorite and involved some of the world’s most notable creators, celebrities and tastemakers to show their jabs and uppercuts.
5 ways to make the best TikTok ads using social media creators – December 13, 2023
Research shows that consumers respond better to social media ads featuring influencers. According to TikTok, 71% of users say they purchased a product because of the authenticity of the creator who recommended it. And 56% of customers feel they can trust a brand more when a creator shares its products. It’s about trust, which is why more brands are featuring creators in their ads than ever before. But finding success with this strategy is not as easy as just throwing a creator in front of a camera and letting it roll.
Dispelling Myths: The Reality of Influencer Marketing in the Gaming World – December 13, 2023
Marketing through social media personalities over the last few years has had a tremendous impact on the present state of the gaming industry. Today, many games depend on their success upon influential persons who have a large number of fans who promote and advertise new issues. This article examines the magnitude of influence that marketing has had in gaming. Explaining how it transformed both the game’s advertising and consumers.
Sociable: The age of virtual influencers is coming, bringing new considerations for brands – December 7, 2023
“Sociable” is the latest commentary on important social media developments and trends from industry expert Andrew Hutchinson of Social Media Today. While the current spate of generative AI tools are interesting, and are already changing discovery behaviors and interactive processes, they’re really only scratching the surface of what’s possible, and are far from actual “intelligence” as the AI name suggests.
What’s the Best Social Media Influencer Option for Your Business? – December 7, 2023
The landscape of influencer marketing has undergone a great transformation in recent years. No longer tethered to the allure of celebrity endorsements and macro-influencers boasting millions of followers, brands are now gravitating towards nano- and micro-influencers, armed with smaller but fervently engaged audiences. The key to forging authentic connections with consumers lies in partnering with content creators who deliver visibility, genuine endorsement and effective advocacy. Marketers have shifted their focus, acknowledging that the quality of engagement trumps the sheer size of an influencer’s following.
How B2B influencer marketing will grow your brand – December 6, 2023
Every member of a procurement team is more than just a professional—they’re people. Parents, pickleball players, podcast enthusiasts—and those are just the P’s. On and off the clock, they research potential purchases just as everyone else might. There lies the magic of B2B influencer marketing. Influencer marketing has long been a staple for business-to-consumer (B2C) brands looking to cultivate more authentic connections with their audience. It’s not just a trend—it’s a proven strategy. It’s time for B2B brands to embrace the power of influencers.
6 Influencer Marketing Trends To Watch In 2024 – December 6, 2023
As we inch closer to 2024, the influencer marketing landscape is brimming with potential for significant shifts and innovations. Influencer marketing is an industry that’s always on the move, and right now it’s gearing up for some big changes that could shake things up for brands and creators alike. What do these trends mean for the way brands will connect with their audiences? How will they affect the influencers we follow and love? If you’re curious about the future of liking, sharing and hashtagging, let’s peel back the curtain on what influencer marketing might look like in 2024—because it’s shaping up to be an exciting ride.
What creator Anna Kai looks for in a brand partner – December 6, 2023
In a little over a year, Anna Kai went from 87 TikTok followers to more than a million. All it took to kick things off was one viral video. That video, a “get ready with me” (GRWM) confessional where she discussed dating and commitment with humor and a steady eyeliner hand, was the first step in building a following that many creators—and brands—can only dream of. In addition to her TikTok following, Kai counts a million followers on Instagram.
Predicting the influencer trends of 2024 – November 29, 2023
In 2024 new influencer trends will see them become increasingly indispensable to brands looking to tap into new consumer segments. Greater competition for eyeballs and the rapid pace of emerging trends have placed influencers at the core of every digital campaign. As marketers search for greater ROI on their social media strategies, the power of influencers to amplify the growth of brands make them a standout in the modern marketing toolkit.
TikTok creators are increasingly tapping into food-centric content — and brands are following – November 28, 2023
Since cupcake company Baked by Melissa’s early days, co-founder and CEO Melissa Ben-Ishay has been the muscle behind its social media presence, posting regularly to Instagram and Facebook. Like many others, Ben-Ishay set her sights on TikTok in 2020 during pandemic lockdown, posting cupcake decoration videos, behind-the-scenes clips from the bakery where her brand’s signature bite-sized cupcakes are produced and other product videos. The videos did well enough, pulling in anywhere from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand views.
Artificial Intelligence
How To Train ChatGPT To Write In Your Brand’s Tone of Voice – December 10, 2023
The Creative Marketer shares his ChatGPT prompt tips in this infographic. To enact these, add “Write like [INSERT CHARACTER]” at the start of your ChatGPT instructions.
ChatGPT and PepsiCo’s Starry were the fastest-growing brands of the year: report – December 7, 2023
ChatGPT was the fastest-growing brand of 2023, according to a new report. No, AI didn’t write it. Morning Consult’s analyst team did, after tracking the share of US adults who said they were considering purchasing from a brand in January versus the share who said the same in October in order to determine growth. The OpenAI chatbot, which was released late last year, overtook TikTok as the fastest-growing consumer app ever by January, per the report. OpenAI also made the top 20, as did several social media and beverage brands, though the lists differ fairly significantly across generations.
How Online Influencers And Idols Are Using Generative AI – December 1, 2023
Since social media entered our lives, influencer marketing has become a powerful tool for brands to build awareness and for individuals looking to become brands themselves. So, it’s little surprise that the industry that’s grown out of this convergence of powerful forces – celebrity and marketing – is very excited about generative AI.
Publishing
TikTok’s #BookTok trend ‘literally changed my life’ – December 3, 2023
A self-published author and a bookshop owner have told how TikTok’s #BookTok trend has changed lives and altered the publishing industry for good. Adam Beswick from Lancashire found fame on the site when he started advertising his books under the hashtag. Kirsty McKay, owner of The Book Dragon in Stockton, said #BookTok was allowing self-published authors to thrive. #BookTok has over 200 billion views on TikTok, the equivalent of everyone in the world viewing it 25 times. It has become a community of book lovers sharing favourite reads and reviews, as well as a place for authors to share upcoming work.
Nonprofit/Social Good
Mastering Purpose-Driven Brand Storytelling On Social Media – December 11, 2023
In a digital era dominated by short attention spans and content overload, traditional storytelling just doesn’t cut it anymore. To truly engage your audience and foster a connection, purpose-driven brands must embrace unconventional storytelling methods. Let’s explore how we can break free from traditional narratives.
A good influence: How social media influencers can collaborate with charities for social good? – December 5, 2023
Influencers continue to be a part of many brand marketing strategies. With a tight-knit community of followers, social media influencers have been able to foster authentic connections and trust among their audiences. Making their platforms a great environment to raise awareness around ongoing world issues and even promote a charity close to their heart. Yet in today’s environment where politics and social concerns are increasingly polarising, many prefer to stay silent to avoid the risk of a backlash. However, this also comes at a price, with many influencers being call out for remaining silence on important social issues, being labelled as “out of touch”, as a result.So how can content creators show their support to a particular cause, while not alienating a part for their audience?
Marketing With Purpose: Why Organizations Must Lead With Their Values – November 29, 2023
Picture this: Scrolling on Instagram, you come across a video of a woman recounting a deeply personal story. After escaping domestic violence, she was able to shop for high-quality clothes to begin interviewing for jobs and putting the pieces of her life back together. She talks about the importance of clothing for building confidence and dignity, and she talks about the program that enabled this in her time of need. At the end of the video, she mentions that the organization that helped her is always looking for volunteers. After hearing the message and seeing the impact firsthand, you organize with your workplace to set up a staff volunteer day where your company spends the afternoon helping out with the clothing program. A few weeks later, you take your own clothes to donate to the cause. Through just one video, you’ve created a connection with an organization and have begun to make your own impact. This is what meaningful marketing is all about.
Healthcare
A healthcare team’s guide to HIPAA compliance on social media – December 6, 2023
You’d be hard-pressed to find healthcare marketers that don’t understand the value of social media for healthcare, according to Jill Florence, Director of Enterprise Sales at Sprout Social. As Florence explains, “Social is a non-negotiable part of driving brand awareness and building connections with patients, physicians and community members. But it can be a challenge for the marketing teams on the digital front lines to overcome the concerns of security and privacy teams—especially at the intersection of HIPAA and social media.”
Trends in Social Media
What Is an API and How Does It Work? – December 14, 2023
If you follow social media marketing news (which presumably you do if you’re reading this), you’ve no doubt read several stories about APIs, mostly in relation to third-party applications. But if you’re not a programmer, you may not understand what an API is, and how it relates to digital marketing systems. To provide some more insight on this, the team from Salesforce have put together this infographic, which takes a broader look at the various ways in which APIs can be used.
Instagram Adds New Anti-Spam Measures, Including Improved Engagement Filtering Tools – December 13, 2023
Instagram’s announced some new spam combatting updates ahead of the holidays, designed to help reduce the manual curation load on users, and the overall impact of spam and junk in the app. And as anyone who manages a big IG account knows, there’s a lot of spam activity happening every day, in varying forms.
Instagram Adds Looping Video to Notes, New Note Reply Options – December 13, 2023
Instagram’s adding some new elements to its inbox Notes feature, with video notes, as well as new engagement options, designed to help drive more spontaneous interaction in the app. First off, there’s video Notes. Now, when creating a Notes in your IG Direct display, you’ll be able to include a 2-second, looping video, which will be visible to your mutual followers or Close Friends in their Notes tray for 24 hours.
Snapchat Announces New Generative AI Elements for Snapchat+ Subscribers – December 12, 2023
Snapchat has announced some new generative AI additions for Snapchat+, its paid subscription package, which is now up to 7 million paying members, up from 5 million just three months ago. First off, Snap’s adding a new way to create visuals in the composer, using text prompts to produce AI images.
New Research Shows YouTube Remains the Top Social App for Teens – December 12, 2023
Which social apps should you be using to connect with teen users? The team from Pew Research have produced their latest report on teen social media use, based on surveys conducted among 13 to 17 year-old social media users between September and October this year. And much of it is as you would expect, with YouTube still the dominant online platform of choice, followed by TikTok and Snapchat, though the more recent trends are worth noting in your planning.
Threads Adds Separate Link URL To Help Track Referral Traffic – December 10, 2023
This is a very handy update for social media managers and web admins. Instagram has now added a new, dedicated domain for Threads, separate from Instagram itself, which will make it easier to track referral traffic from your Threads posts.
TikTok Highlights Its Top Content Trends of the Year – December 6, 2023
Can you remember all the key TikTok trends of 2023? There were a lot, as explained by TikTok: “2023 on TikTok was the year we embraced the culinary delicacies known as girl dinners, shared know-before-you-go tips from the biggest concert tours of the year, asked ourselves “what can’t we make with cottage cheese?” and couldn’t stop thinking about the Roman Empire. From foolproof recipes to funny skits, throwback tracks and thriving small businesses, the global community continued creating, connecting and celebrating on TikTok, influencing culture and impacting lives.” If these are just now jogging your memory, then the 2023 “Year on TikTok” overview could be a ride, highlighting all the key trends of note that sparked engagement in the app throughout the year.
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View the archives of trends in social media curated by our influencer marketing experts:
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
The post Influencer Marketing Resources: December 2023 appeared first on The Motherhood | A Social Media Marketing Agency.