Social networks continue to be hyper-relevant in the 2024 digital landscape. Social platforms were the second most popular type of website and app in 2023 (second only to messaging and chat-related sites and apps). The number of social media users continues to climb year over year with no signs of slowing, along with usage. In fact, 53% of consumers say they increased their social media use over the past two years and the average user is now spending 2.5 hours per day on social platforms. Because of this, we’ve created a report to help our clients and friends stay up to date with trends and changes.

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter continue to dominate as platforms used by businesses, and TikTok is being increasingly adopted by brands, so we’ll primarily discuss these platforms. Speaking of TikTok, its rapid takeover continues with the app being crowned the fastest growing social platform in 2023 (as well as 2022, 2021, and 2020) growing at almost double the rate of the next three in line (Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube).

Companies are beginning to take social media more seriously as part of their digital marketing strategy—and we couldn’t be more thrilled. 38% of companies outsource all or part of their social media to an agency. Despite major social platforms still playing the imitation game, content distribution is becoming more important than ever, with 48% of businesses either creating entirely unique content or customising for specific channels. Knowing what channels your audience uses for which purposes is key to improving your social media strategy. Social media platforms have become an unlikely competitor to Google, with 51% of Gen Z women preferring to search on TikTok rather than Google and the majority of Gen Z preferring social search to search engines.

Content distribution is becoming more important than ever, with 48% of businesses either creating entirely unique content or customising for specific channels.

Overall, these changes in user behaviours across social media networks present an opportunity for brands willing to adopt newer technology and platforms beyond the traditional mix.

Instagram

Instagram maintains its status as a prolific social network, particularly for the younger generations, despite competition with TikTok over short-form video (which TikTok is winning, in terms of engagement). As a result, Instagram heavily prioritised short-form video content from the launch of Reels in 2020 until mid-2022, when Adam Mosseri announced that Instagram would try to bring more balanced content mixes to user feeds. Despite this announcement, Reels still benefit from higher reach and engagement, earning 67% more engagement than other post types.

Reels still benefit from higher reach and engagement, earning 67% more engagement than other post types.

Instagram has had some exciting updates in 2023. In Reels, they continue to pinch (or should we say borrow?) features from TikTok like dueting and stitching posts (called “Remix” on Instagram) as well as dual camera mode allowing you to film from front and back cameras simultaneously. For Creators, new additions include increasing their collaboration feature to up to 3 accounts,  and adding the ability to create broadcast channels in the messaging area. These additions come as no surprise to those suspecting Instagram will pivot toward prioritising Creators over brands (including us)—stay tuned!

Meta’s also following in the platform-formerly-known-as-Twitter’s footsteps, launching a paid verification system. This allows brands and users to get the coveted blue tick for the cost of money instead of influence.

Our top tips for Instagram

• Never use links in your captions!
• With Instagram moving away from hashtags and towards keywords, you should limit your hashtags to 2-3 per post (rather than the previously recommended 10-20) and instead try to capture industry keywords in your captions.
• Always film your Reels in portrait mode. Speaking of specs, our preferred image/graphic specs on Instagram are 4:5 to optimise your real estate on user feeds.
• Stories are a great tool for connecting with your audience, but reusing the same graphics or templates over and over will increase your odds of an unfollow. Stay original!
• Picking a cover for your Reel is important for curating your grid, especially if the video fades in from black.

Facebook

Facebook differentiates itself from other channels with three features that keep even the most disengaged users from deactivation: events, groups, and Marketplace. Using the first two of these to reach your audiences can be powerful tools—particularly groups, which are sorted within the Facebook algorithm differently to standard posts. Building an engaged group can act as a form of unlimited user generated content, where your audience is starting conversations and giving feedback on your brand without prompting. Marketplace can be utilised as another sales channel for your Facebook or Instagram shop or be powerful placement for paid Meta ads for e-commerce businesses.

Facebook is, as any social media manager knows, constantly updating their business and creator tools. Recently, they announced that Creator Studio will be merged with the updated Meta Business Suite. In 2023 Facebook also introduced the new pages experience with some changes to the way pages operate. Notably, they removed the ability to “like” pages (leaving only the “follow” option), made it possible to switch into pages and interact more easily from the page, and redesigned the layout for page owners, among other changes.

Our top tips for Facebook:

• Check your page bios. The new page experience has a lower character count, and we’re seeing lots of cut off bios on business pages!
• Explore options for engagement outside of posting on your feed. Interact with other businesses or leaders in your industry or use marketplace, events, groups, stories, and reels.
• Add as much detail as you can to your business page—this is often one of the first places potential clients/customers will look! Adding your business hours, website link, direct contact details, and pulling your Shopify feed into a Facebook shop are great tools to add value to your page.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s algorithm works a little differently than other social networks, as the primary purpose is to connect users with information and insights relevant to their industry and interests—unlike other platforms, which mainly aim to entertain. As LinkedIn says, the algorithm “is not designed for virality”.  Instead, LinkedIn looks for content that comes straight from your first-degree connections, so having the right people engage with your content is essential. The key metrics for success are relevance, expertise, and engagement so if you’re working in finance you probably shouldn’t be posting about marketing.

The key metrics for success are relevance, expertise, and engagement.

One of the key elements of a successful LinkedIn presence for businesses are LinkedIn articles. These articles will rank in Google searches like any other web page, and by writing  for SEO you can achieve significant reach from users outside your LinkedIn audience as well as in it. Speaking of LinkedIn articles, one of their newest features in 2023 was collaborative articles, allowing users to add their own insights to AI-generated articles. This can be a great tool for your team members to showcase their specialties.

If you’re working in an industry that thrives on connected networks, LinkedIn groups is an opportunity for you. Creating a group centred around an interest your business is involved with can give you more opportunities for networking and reach. With community management features available like a weekly newsletter to group members, LinkedIn groups push this content to their audiences beyond the platform itself. Neat!

Our top tips for LinkedIn

• Engage with industry leaders via your business page, not just through comments and likes but through sharing resonant posts with additional information showcasing your knowledge.
• Respond to all comments you receive on your posts—meaningful engagement is a key metric here so start conversations!
• Show off your expertise by creating relevant and specific content. The more you can drill down and give specific insights or advice, the better.
• Connect with people who work within the industries you’re targeting and market your content toward this audience. This might seem like an obvious one, but lots of companies will only connect with fellow industry members and miss opportunities to reach their target audiences.

Twitter / X

Yep, it still exists! Rebranded to X officially on July 23, 2023, this social media giant may have lost some of its market share (particularly following Meta’s launch of Threads) but it still holds a significant position as the 9th most visited website globally and has 4.02 million Australian users. With the introduction of a paid subscription model for their verification system and other unpopular changes (like  dramatically changing a well-established and iconic brand), X is losing users making the future of the platform unclear.

X is the 9th most visited website globally and has 4.02 million Australian users.

However, X can be a successful tool for businesses to engage their audiences and showcase their personality. Iconic brands like Wendy’s and MoonPie have had success using ultra-trendy language and content to reach their audiences. X’s ads also reach 5.8% of the world’s population over the age of 13.

One standout on X for marketers is it has one of the lowest CPMs of the major platforms. Still, with X recently coming under fire for potential breach of advertising laws by using “native” advertising, and with most major brands ditching X paid ads due to concerns over content moderation, it’s important for marketers to keep a watchful eye on  the latest trends.

Our top tips for Twitter

• Reactive is the name of the game here! Proactive content still has a place, but you should have a specific (fast) workflow process that enables you to jump on of-the-moment topics on X.
• Keep it light and stay away from politics. With content moderation at an all-time low on X, staying away from controversial topics will reduce your community management needs—and it will be worth it.
• Understand your audience. X is all about communities and niches, so it’s important to speak your audience’s language.
• Get (pop) cultural! References, memes, and trends are an easy in with your audience—just make sure they’re relevant to your target market.

TikTok

We get it—TikTok is scary! Despite its massive growth since launch, many brands are hesitant to add TikTok to their roster of social media channels to keep up with. Short-form video content is more time consuming to create than “standard” content formats of text, image, and graphics, and the younger audience can seem like a bad fit (or utterly confusing!). However, TikTok isn’t a youth-only platform, like you might think, with 59% of TikTok users being older than Gen Z (i.e. 26+). Not being on TikTok is a missed opportunity—the app generated $821 million in consumer spending in Q1 2022 alone. Videos make up an estimated 82% of consumer internet traffic, and 64% of consumers make an immediate purchase after watching branded social videos.

64% of consumers make an immediate purchase after watching branded social videos.

When you consider that 40% of TikTok users are not on Facebook and 67% are not on Twitter, you’re missing out on a huge potential audience by not using this channel. In fact, despite having less users than Instagram, TikTok appears to be more engaging, with users clocking higher usage times. It also happens to be the most downloaded app globally—pretty good, right? But that’s not to say it’s a download-and-forget situation (like our good friend Threads is shaping up to be) with 29% of users opening TikTok daily.

40% of TikTok users are not on Facebook and 67% are not on Twitter.

For those of you who are already using TikTok, some of the latest features include the exciting launch of TikTok Shop (look out Meta!) with integrations across all major e-commerce platforms. This is set to be a gamechanger with so many TikTokers already utilising the app for search and shopping! Another feature brands will love is the introduction of Keyword Insights, allowing you to search for top-performing keywords in TikTok ads in voiceovers, text overlays, and captions.  Finally, they’ve taken several pages out of the Meta playbook with the launch of photo carousels and text posts.

Our top tips for TikTok:

• Get trendy but not cheugy (that’s Gen Z for “cringe”). Jumping on TikTok trends can be a fantastic way to boost your reach, but make sure you fully understand the trend you’re jumping on to.
• Leave the landscapes for your hikes, TikTok is best done in Portrait Mode only.
• Trending audio should always be your first choice for background music—and yes, TikTok has a business-friendly music library too.
• Don’t keep it too professional, low-fi content can be crucial in achieving reach on TikTok! If your videos are TOO polished, they appear overly commercial and fail to draw in larger audiences.
• Stick with what you know and bring it back to your brand to get the best results for ROI not just reach. A video of you dancing might get a million views but it’s not a sustainable brand strategy.

Influencer Marketing

It’s no secret that the Australian economy has been better. While many companies begin cutting down on social media and other digital marketing deemed “non-essential”, collaborations and sponsorships have reportedly taken a hit. This decline could be helpful for smaller businesses looking to partner with influencers—with less market saturation, the visibility potential can be higher than ever on a lower budget.

Despite the temporary uncertainty from businesses, the influencer market is growing year on year and is expected to hit $21.1 billion in 2023. As it turns out influencers are, well, influential. 61% of Gen Z survey respondents said they trust influencer and brand recommendations over their own friends and family. 49% of consumers said that they depend on influencer recommendations to decide on purchases and over 80% of Gen Z and Millennial respondents said that their favourite influencer would have at least some influence on their decision to purchase a specific product or brand. The return on influencer marketing has not dropped much from its peak a few years ago—influencer marketing campaigns earnt on average $5.75 for every dollar spent in 2021 and an estimated $5.20 per dollar spent in 2023. Marketers are jumping on board, with one study finding 67% of respondents intended to increase their influencer spend in 2023.

61% of Gen Z survey respondents said they trust influencer and brand recommendations over their own friends and family.

Our top tips for Influencer Marketing

• Choose an influencer whose audience aligns with your target audience, instead of an influencer who is in your target audience. This is a key difference!
• Be clear in what content you’re looking for—formats, post type, frequency, and usage.
• Go for micro or macro influencers over bigger influencers. Converse to what you might think, smaller influencers have more influence with their audience.
• Review your target influencers engagement statistics and audience value before engaging with them. Bots won’t buy your products.

Got questions about this State of Social? We’re always here to help—get in touch on hello@ravel.com.au to discuss our take on the world of social media.

If you’re looking to become part of the 38% of companies outsourcing social media to agencies – we can help with that too! Drop us a line to hear what we can do or find out more about our service offerings.