Happy New Year! 2023 is here, a time for new beginnings and setting goals. People and brands alike are looking ahead to the new year with exciting plans and aspirations. Additionally, there are likely to be new trends in the world of social media, with platforms continuing to update and evolve. It will be interesting to see what the new year has in store for the world of social media. Let’s take a look at the upcoming social media holidays, trends around creator marketing campaigns, and new platform updates.
January Social Media Holidays You Need To Know About
There are many holidays that brands may celebrate in January, such as New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and National Chocolate Cake Day. The decision of which holidays to celebrate is ultimately up to each brand and should vary depending on the brand’s products, target audience, and marketing strategy. Here are a few top holidays in January and hashtags for content marketing strategy.
January 1 – New Year’s Day #NewYearsDay
January 16 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day #MLKDay
January 22 – Chinese New Year #YearOfTheRabbit #ChineseNewYear
Take advantage of the days that matter most to you with influencer marketing campaigns.
Brands That Stay On Trend
2022 was a year full of notable Instagram creator marketing and TikTok creator marketing brand campaigns worth highlighting. Each of these campaigns effectively utilized the influence and reach of the chosen creative partners to showcase the brand and its products to a broader audience. They also leaned into the creators’ creativity to make the posts authentic, entertaining, and innovative.
Cher Decades – Body Mists
Brand Campaign: @ScentBeauty @Cher @Walmart
Creator: @gabis_vintage
Campaigns around scents can be hard to market, but not with creators like Gabrielle Jones. This 21st-century girl loves 20th-century fashion and shows her audience. This was perfect for Cher’s campaign highlighting the decades of body mists. Gabrielle took her viewers along for an engaging video highlighting the history of Cher while transitioning in and out of Cher-inspired outfits based on that decade’s scent. See for yourself!
@gabis_vintage Which Cher decade is your fav?! Click the link in my bio to shop Cher Decades Scents today! Available now at Walmart and Walmart.com! @ScentBeauty @Cher @Walmart #ad #Cheryourdecade #chercostumes #cher #cherfashion ♬ For a cool opening! 70s funk style(961515) – hiroster710music
VSCO
Brand Campaign: @VSCO
Creator: @heykelseyj
Kelsey J. shared an editing tutorial on how she creates a vibey film look on photos using VSCO. Some comments read: “I need to start vsco-ing,” and “I’ve never thought of using VSCO! I’m def gonna give it a try.”
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Metro by T-Mobile
Brand Campaign: @metrobytmobile
Creator: @brendyperezzy
Metro by T-Mobile activated a campaign with our creators on their Instagram via the collab tool – an impactful, super easy way to leverage creator content on brand channels. Brenden Perez danced with his dog Jazzy which made people go to the comment section to show their love.
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Speaking of tools on social media…
Platform Updates
Now for platform updates. As the world of social media continues to evolve and expand, platforms are constantly updating and improving their features to serve their users better. In the recent month, several major social media platforms have released new updates and features that are worth noting.
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Instagram is introducing new tools that aim to increase engagement and encourage users to share more personal interactions on the platform.
The first tool is Notes, which allows users to leave short, 60-character posts using text and emojis at the top of the inboxes of followers or people on their Close Friends list. Notes will be visible for 24 hours and replies will arrive as direct messages in the inbox.
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Instagram is also updating its group chat function with group profiles, which are only visible to group members, and Collaborative Collections, which allow users to save posts to a private collection within a group chat.
The Instagram influencer network is also adding two more interaction-prompting options to its Stories feature: Candid Stories, which prompts users to capture and share in-the-moment content that is only visible to those who also contribute, and a new way to share music.
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TikTok
TikTok is testing a new feature that allows users to view videos in a horizontal, full-screen format similar to YouTube. The feature, which is currently being tested with select users globally, can be activated by tapping a “Full Screen” button that appears on some videos. This is the latest in a series of updates that TikTok has made in an effort to keep users engaged and prevent them from switching to other apps, including Instagram’s Reels and YouTube’s Shorts.
TikTok is also extending its age gate feature to creators of short-form video worldwide. The feature, which was introduced last year for live videos, enables creators to restrict their content to viewers 18 and over.
The company has partnered with Bumble and Meta to prevent the spread of non-consensual intimate imagery on its platform through StopNCII.org. TikTok introduced Content Levels in July to prevent users with teen accounts (aged 13 to 17) from viewing content containing adult innuendo, profanity, or sexually suggestive material. In the past 30 days, TikTok says the feature has prevented teen accounts from viewing over 1 million overtly sexually suggestive videos.
More updates from TikTok include still image carousel posts, longer video uploads, and a “TikTok Now” feature similar to the BeReal app.
An upcoming feature to look out for is the Nearby feature, which is said to be released sometime in 2023.
This would display local content to users. The feed is currently being tested alongside a feature that allows creators to add location tags to their videos. It is not yet clear whether the Nearby feed will only display videos with location tags. The feature is similar to Snap Map on Snapchat and Instagram’s searchable map, both of which allow users to find local content and discover nearby places. TikTok’s recommendation algorithm would pair with the Nearby feed to show users personalized and relevant local content. The feature could potentially impact platforms like TripAdvisor and Google, making TikTok the new search engine. It is unknown if the Nearby feed will be widely rolled out, but stay tuned.
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YouTube
YouTube has announced several updates, including a new feature that allows Shorts creators to choose a frame from their clip as the thumbnail within the Shorts creation process. The feature is currently only available to Android users, and it is not yet possible to change the thumbnail after a Short has been uploaded.
YouTube is also releasing a series of Shorts myth-busting clips on the YouTube Creators channel to help creators understand the Shorts process better.
In addition, YouTube has publicly launched a new automated system called “Aloud” that can translate videos into other languages to reach a wider audience. The system is developed by YouTube’s “Area 120” experimental project team and is available for beta testing through a waitlist.
YouTube says:
“You can dub a video with Aloud in a couple of hours and it comes at no cost. This tool might be one of the easiest ways to expand your audience, because 80% of the world doesn’t speak English.”
YouTube is also introducing “YouTube Emotes,” which allow viewers to share graphics in their comments on clips, similar to Twitch emotes.
for the times where words just aren’t enough… introducing YouTube Emotes! 🥳
now everyone can join in & react to all the biggest Ws across streams w/ new emotes.
we’re starting with emotes for Gaming but more types of emotes to come, stay tuned👀
more: https://t.co/H2iZYffWAS pic.twitter.com/rpTmVvnCtj
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) December 5, 2022
The world of social media is constantly changing and evolving, with major platforms releasing new updates and features regularly. These updates can have a significant impact on the way users interact with and experience the platforms. It will be interesting to see how they continue to develop and adapt in the coming year.
