For all its growth and influence, one of the constants of social media is that it is constantly changing.
With TikTok, for example, part of the reason it became popular was its short videos, which made its content concise and accessible but perhaps easily forgettable. Today, users will notice that there are increasingly longer videos on the platform.
Users are also encouraged to upload a series of captioned photos, many of whom use them to tell their life journeys, and these photos then play out in a carousel through which you can scroll across rather than down.
While user-generated content is the cornerstone of social media, companies using these platforms are also encouraging their customers to share reviews of the products and services online.
The longer videos and the photo carousels are among the trends Vivienne Ethangatta, Corporate Communications and Social Media Manager at Safaricom, has noticed in her job managing how the company navigates through social media.
Vivienne sees TikTok’s changes as part of its strategy to make the platform more appealing to content creators and empower them to monetise their content.
Despite its popularity amongst Kenyans, TikTokers are yet to start making money directly from the platform.
“For TikTok, the marketplace platform is a key point for users to generate revenue, and we are really excited about when these features will come to Kenya,” says Vivienne.
Another constant on social media is the endless stream of new social media channels. The biggest in 2023 would probably be the launch in July 2023 of Threads, an app by Meta that mimicked X (formerly known as Twitter). Threads quickly garnered users, but it was a flame that flickered off as quickly as it had flared.
Beyond TikTok’s seeming omnipresence, the stream of troubles at X and the experiments at Meta, it is impossible to ignore the prevalence and influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on social media.
With generative AI, for example, social media users can quickly churn out the content they need to keep their followers engaged and eventually hooked.
Nekta Born, Integrated Media Manager at Safaricom, and Vivienne are of the view that AI has the potential to change marketing, optimizing advertising spending and campaigns with minimal human intervention.
Looking forward, Augmented Reality (AR) has the potential to offer customers immersive product and service experiences from anywhere in the world.
Whatever happens, Vivienne and Nekta agree that content will continue to dictate audience engagement with brands online and that brands must continue to develop unique strategies based on their content and target demographic.
They shared insights on current social media trends and how they anticipate these trends will shape marketers’ approaches in the year ahead.
Watch the video below to learn more about what to look out for on social media this year.
