Paid Social Predictions 2023 From Booyah Experts

Social media for a time seemed to be one of the few consistent channels in the marketing realm. There were a couple of top dogs, and you catered to them. However, over the last couple of years, things have shifted. Tik Tok and advertising on Tik Tok has become a must for many brands, while a big performer like Facebook has transformed into Meta and has seen returns and popularity drop. The social world is volatile at the moment. Will Tik Tok government sanctions impact advertising? Will rising channels like BeReal introduce advertising? Is LinkedIn advertising now relevant for all brands?

2023, perhaps more than ever, will see brands and clients looking to marketers to wade through the unknown to make sense of the landscape and provide valuable tactics and ideas for paid social campaigns. We’ve asked our experts to tap into their clairvoyant sides to predict what 2023 has in store. Below Director of Media Madison Meagher, Account Director Sara Young, Senior Video Production Strategist DeAndre Upshaw, Digital Media Strategists Meagan Traver, Nick Capocelli, and Monica Panepento, and Digital Media Manager Sami Heffernan weigh in.

Booyah asks, “What paid search predictions do you have for 2023?”

Madison Meagher: Across both social and media, we will see an increase in zero-party/user data collection. With that, I expect more talk and use around ‘data clean rooms’ and working with partners in that space as we expand our ways to work with non-PII data for both targeting and tracking purposes.

CTV/OTT advertising will continue to expand with companies like Netflix now offering ad space. On the social side. I expect the ‘Metaverse’ and its advertising options will start to pick up given what we are hearing so far and what is currently available.

Influencer/content creators will continue to lead much of the social ad space given social commerce as a whole is still growing and performing well as these platforms allow brands to advertise and sell those products more directly from the platforms.

A final note about AI-based automation and machine learning. All of our partners/platforms are investing in AI technology and are incorporating this more into their products and capabilities. AI/predictive analysis will likely dictate how much of our targeting is done.

Sara Young: eCommerce-focused brands have expressed nervousness around expectations going into this year, based on the potential economic recession. Because of this, I predict that brands will be more conservative with their strategy. The burden will be on us as the agency partner to come to the table with a solid strategic foundation, while also presenting new opportunities that are properly future-proofed and come with vetted benchmark expectations.

I also predict that the first half of 2023 will come with a lot of change as brands set and reset expectations in the new year. All partners should be ready to be nimble alongside our brands, with quick pivots to budget and strategy as needed to support our clients’ end business objectives.

DeAndre Upshaw: More short form video! Increased need for UGC and creator-driven content! More content should be repurposed and reformatted for video ads!

Meagan Traver: Shareable, bite-size content will be what goes viral in 2023, primarily in the form of video produced by users (UGC, or user generated content, supported by the surging need for ‘real content’ i.e. platforms like BeReal, people making multiple Instagram accounts, etc.)

Also, mobile traffic will continue to be the primary device source that folks will use to browse online and interact with their people.

Nick Capocelli: Over the next year we are anticipating continued rises in costs across Meta, meaning we will need to more heavily lean into ways that can improve efficiency, such as more automation and leaning into Advantage+ capabilities on the platform, as well as exploring other platforms that can offer similar performance with greater ability to create efficiencies and reduce costs.

I am also expecting the data loss we have experienced to continue to occur, meaning many clients will not be satisfied with the level of granularity that will exist within Meta’s targeting. This means we should explore other ways to get in front of our ideal users, like finding partners that can get more granular in the way they develop audiences.

Monica Panepento: I think we will see a move towards in-app shopping options in 2023. Most platforms have some sort of product where advertisers can promote their eCommerce products and these options will continue to grow and improve over the next year.

The hype over TikTok is not going away in 2023, and advertisers should be using TikTok as part of their marketing strategy. The platform continuously releases new updates and plans to increase new advertising options in 2023. We will see a wave of new advertising options, both with paid ads & influencer marketing.

Sami Heffernan: I think with Elon buying Twitter, and Meta decreasing in popularity there will be a sharp shift to TikTok as well as other media outlets that are less traditionally trafficked.

Booyah: What kind of strategies should clients be thinking about to help them manage the shifts you mentioned?

Madison Meagher: Work with content creators/influencers if you are able! You can repurpose those assets across various platforms.

Invest in foot traffic and/or brand lift studies to better understand the power of digital on your business success. Ensure you are looking at more than Google Analytics when vetting performance. Invest in more tools and partners to understand your funnel. Don’t forget about building a nice (fast-loading) website and landing pages. Once users click on an ad, you need to make sure they have a great site experience after if you want conversions (essentially, invest in organic, too!).

INVEST IN VIDEO. Youtube, CTV, etc. there are so many ways to drive performance through good video. Finally, collect as much 1st party data as you can from your customers/site visitors! It is useful in so many ways and is invaluable from a digital standpoint.

Sara Young: User generated content is not going away anytime soon! Not only does it position your brand in a relatable light, but we have also found that it drives engagement as well as conversion. If you’re already using UGC, you should start A/B testing to find the right mix of creator type, messaging, visual overlay, length, etc to determine what drives the best results for your brand and objective.

DeAndre Upshaw: Try out user-generated content – it is affordable, authentic, and a great way to reach your consumers where they are.

Meagan Traver: When producing video content, be less focused on long-form polished pieces, in favor of shorter (15s or less) more authentic feeling creative (an ad that doesn’t look like an ad and appears native to the social platform). Video assets should generally be a part of your strategy, and ideally, you are designing with each platform in mind, as opposed to just repurposing assets for each platform.

Brands need to design with mobile in mind and think about website/app experience on mobile devices. People make big purchases and do more complex tasks now from their phone. How can you shorten/streamline your path to conversion?

Nick Capocelli: The main tactic every advertiser running on Meta should explore is greater automation and efficiency through Advantage+. We have already seen extremely efficient results from our efforts within this campaign type and believe this could be the next big unlock on the platform.

Monica Panepento: Influencer marketing is going to continue to be on the rise. More and more Gen Z and Millennial consumers are buying products they see from creators on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, etc and anyone who wants to engage with this younger audience should be prioritizing influencer marketing as part of their strategy.

I also think there will be more shopping options where consumers can browse and purchase products directly from social platforms. Clients should prioritize making mobile-friendly experiences that make buying their products easy & accessible from any platform.

Sami Heffernan: I am interested to see what happens with Netflix starting ads. I think it will affect their revenue model at the beginning but could be beneficial later on. I also wonder with the layoffs and the ~recession~, how these lifestyle changes will affect our clients internally, as well as the verbiage and tactics used to target different audiences.