The Social Media Landscape Is Changing: Here's What You Need to Know

Aug 15

Social media is constantly changing, but in the last few months, the shifts and swings have been in overdrive.
New platforms, rebranded platforms, and AI-created content have made a lot of brands stop and question whether they are taking the best approach to their social strategies.
If this sounds like you, let’s dive into what is changing on social media and how it should (or shouldn't) affect your marketing plan and brand strategy.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

The Social Media Landscape Will Always Change. Plan for It.

One thing that will always remain constant about social media is that it will always change. While there may be periods of stability when audiences and platforms seem to fit the same mold for an extended period of time, a shift will always happen.

Instead of waiting for a major change to occur, make it a part of your planning to regularly review what is happening with social media and see if it means you should shift any of your existing strategies.

We recommend at least a bi-annual check-in to meet with your team, discuss changes in the social media landscape, and decide if you need to make any pivots.

Follow Your Audience to the Right Platforms

As social media changes, the main factor to keep your eyes on is your audience.

If you aren’t sure where you should be spending your time or what type of content you should create, consider your ideal customers. Where are they spending time? What are their social media habits? Match your efforts on prioritized channels to meet your audience where they are.

Regularly review the demographics of social media platforms to determine which platforms are best for attracting your target audience.

Most brands focus their attention on the platforms with the largest user base and widest variety of demographics keeping in mind a B2B or B2C approach.

LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter/X
YouTube

Depending on your audience, your brand may also want to focus on one or two lesser-used social platforms if your target audience regularly uses them.

TikTok
Reddit
Pinterest
Snapchat
And now . . . Threads

Unless you are a major national brand like Nike or Apple, your brand likely doesn’t need to be on every social media platform. And in many cases, there just aren’t enough resources on marketing teams to cover all social platforms. You can choose the top three to five platforms where your audience spends time and focus your efforts there. If you start broad, you’ll quickly start to see which platforms get the most engagement. Let the data help you prioritize.

Only Create a Strategy You Can Deliver On

Social media presents many opportunities to connect with audiences and showcase your brand, which makes it easy to overplan, over-strategize, and over-extend your resources.

With so many platforms and opportunities, you may want to plan to publish content on a variety of platforms. But you have to be realistic about your resources.

As you create your strategy, ensure that you have the resources to deliver.

If you want to create high-value content: Do you have a subject matter expert who can provide unique insights and perspective?
If you want to create high-quality content: Do you have a graphic designer, videographer, or copywriter to create your content?
If you want to create a community atmosphere: Do you have a person dedicated to engaging with users, responding to comments, and starting a dialog?
If you want to join a new platform: Do you have the time and resources to test tactics and iterate until you produce desirable results?
If you want to use paid ads: Do you have the budget to compete with others in your industry? Do you have the platform expertise to plan, buy, test and adjust your campaigns?

The answers to these questions will help you determine what you need to do to generate results and if you have the resources needed to meet your goals.

Adjust as Social Trends Shift

At the time of publishing this post, a few major shifts are impacting social media. Here are a few of the biggest trends in mid-2023 that are impacting social strategies.

Twitter’s Brand Change

As of June 24, 2023, Twitter is no longer branded with a blue birdie. Owner Elon Musk has rebranded the platform as X. Twitter is such a strong brand that the former blue branding may hang on for a while as brands and users decide if and when they will embrace the new black X branding.

As of now, it doesn’t seem that the branding change should warrant a major shift in your strategy. But it does mean there are a few things to keep your eye on.

Changes at Twitter may impact the number and demographics of users. Keep checking in to make sure your audience is still using the platform.
Currently, it isn’t necessary to update Twitter icons in your marketing materials to the X branding. (Most tools and website plugins have yet to adopt the new icons.) But this may change over the next few months as more and more users adapt to the new branding. Don’t worry about changing it yet, but revisit the idea in a few weeks.

The Introduction of Threads

As Twitter evolves, Meta (Facebook’s parent company) is challenging the platform by creating a nearly identical social site. Threads is very similar to the style and content delivery of Twitter. The new platform hit the 100-million-user mark at a record rate, but Treads isn’t a must-have social media strategy just yet.

A few things to consider as you approach Threads.

If you have an Instagram account, it’s easy to create a Threads account in a few steps. It may be worth it to create your account and explore the platform.
Threads is in a testing phase. No one really knows how the platform will fit into the market yet. Most social media scheduling tools do not yet have options for scheduling Threads, so you will need a more hands-on approach to managing your content.
If you have the resources to test a new platform, give it a go. If not, wait to see how users and the market embrace (or reject) the platform before investing resources in your presence.

Explosion of AI Content Creation Tools

Content is becoming easier than ever to create with the introduction of a plethora of artificial intelligence (AI) tools that generate copy, graphics, and videos. But that doesn’t mean AI is ready to replace your social media content creation strategy.

If you start using AI for social media content creation, here are a few things to keep in mind.

AI doesn’t replace humans; it supports humans. If you use AI to create content, you still need a person to check the content for accuracy, tone, brand guidelines, and bias.
Right now, AI tools are best used to support your content creation. They aid in generating ideas, developing outlines, and creating initial drafts. But the best content will always have a human component that connects the content to a unique voice and perspective. Don’t rely too heavily on AI just yet.

Create a Social Media Strategy Built for Change

Social media is always changing, and your social media strategy will need to continually evolve along with it. Use these tips to keep up with changes, and if you don’t have the resources to manage the ever-changing shifts in social media, find a partner who does.

At SpotOn Digital, we have teams tasked with following social trends and adjusting strategies to keep up.

See how our team of social media strategists can help your brand keep up with shifting social media expectations and effectively use social to engage your audience and convert buyers and customers. Contact us to learn more.

Raubi Perilli