9 social media trends and tips for April 2023

1. Social media news: Catch up on the latest platform updates

Stay up to date with the biggest social media platform news and developments for April 2023:

• Meta rolled out its Meta Verified subscription service to the US.
• Facebook extended Reels to 90 seconds, and added the option to automatically sync video footage to music.
• Instagram launched 2 new ad types: ads in search results, and reminder ads which enable users to opt into notifications for future events or launches.
• Twitter will begin removing legacy verified checkmarks from April 1.
• Twitter is reported to be increasing the visibility of Tweets from around 35 celebrity accounts, including Elon Musk’s own.
• Twitter will give priority to Tweets from verified accounts “in the coming weeks.”
• Twitter added a Tweet bookmark count alongside the retweets, quotes and likes count, which you can see when tapping on a Tweet to view more detail.
• TikTok now shares insights on the best-performing ad keywords, which you can filter by popularity, CTR, country, industry and more.
• TikTok has begun to block non-business accounts from linking to app stores from their bio. This option will remain available, without a fee, to TikTok business accounts.
• TikTok launched Series, a new way for creators to share premium content behind a paywall.
• TikTok now allows users to refresh their For You feed. (Go to Settings and privacy > Content preferences > Refresh your For You feed.) This enables users to start over by resetting the recommendation algorithm, as if they have just signed up to the app.
• LinkedIn launched native scheduling for company pages, audio-only events, and the ability to follow other company pages as your page.
• Pinterest is expanding its Shuffles collage creation app to 9 more countries, including Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands.
• Snapchat now lets users restore one Snap Streak for free, during a test phase.
• Reddit launched Simple Create, which enables marketers to create ads in 3 quick steps.
• Bluesky, a decentralized alternative to Twitter backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, is now available in the App Store, as an invite-only beta. And there’s rumors that Meta is also working on its own decentralized, text-based social media app.
• Lemon8, the ByteDance-owned alternative to Instagram, recently entered the US App Store’s top 10 charts.

2. Social media trends: TikTok replaces Instagram as the most-downloaded app

Based on its latest app performance data, data.ai intelligence reports that TikTok was the most-downloaded app in Q1 2023, overtaking Instagram. The rest of the rankings remained more or less unchanged, with Facebook still topping the charts for the highest number of monthly active users.

3. Instagram tip: Use Reels to drive reach, and photos to drive engagement

At the beginning of 2023, Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri admitted that the platform was overfocused on video last year. He also stated that Instagram was working on restoring a more even balance between videos and photos.

But have things changed? According to some creators, as well as several small tests reported by Later, photos (including both static images and carousels) seem to have made some form of comeback. Later themselves saw a 100% engagement rate increase on their Instagram photo posts. And another small experiment showed that, while Reels continued to benefit from higher reach, photos received much higher engagement.

Therefore, if your social media goals include engagement and building communities, it might be time to consider prioritizing photo posts again on Instagram.

4. Insights from a social media expert: Interview with PSV football club’s Head of Content & Media

We recently interviewed Jordy Koppen, Acting Head of Content & Media at PSV Eindhoven football club, about his social media learnings and best practices based on his 7+ years of experience. Here were some of his insights:

• What’s your top advice for social media teams? “Put in place (and stick to) a social media strategy that supports your wider club or business goals. At the end of the day, that’s why we have social media channels: to help reach these higher-level goals.”
• What are PSV’s main (social) media goals? “Fan engagement, fan acquisition, and monetization.”
• Why do you have multiple accounts on the same platforms? “To further segment our target audience and content goals. […] Having these separate channels helps us to offer our audiences a more tailored, personalized experience on social media. […] At the same time, this segmentation allows us to build new fanbases.”
• How do you stay on-brand? “We focus on both ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ brand guides and elements. The ‘visible’ brand includes all visual cues, such as our logo, motto, shirts, fonts, etc. […] The other, ‘invisible’ part of staying on-brand is about having a consistent brand story and values.”
• What’s the biggest change on social media over the past few years? “Organic content has become mass media, heavily focused on entertainment. […] The world’s biggest football clubs can benefit from this change because they have fans worldwide. But this trend makes it harder for the majority of clubs to meet their goals.”

Read the full interview for all of Jordy’s insights and recommendations.

5. YouTube news: Supporting creators, developing new features, and protecting users are the platform’s top priorities

Where is YouTube heading next? The platform’s new CEO, Neal Mohan, outlined his 2023 priorities and vision for the social media platform. These include 3 key areas of focus:

1. Supporting the success of creators. YouTube plans on offering more ways to make money, listening to more creators, and growing creator communities.
2. Building for the YouTube of the future with more features for viewers and creators. The focus will be on streaming, connected TV (YouTube has just become the most-watched streaming platform for TV in the US, ahead of Netflix), Shorts, podcasts and AI.
3. Protecting the YouTube community, including safeguards for under 18s, and family-friendly experiences.

6. TikTok case study: How a local auto shop reached and engaged millions

You’ve probably recently come across one of these viral videos on your TikTok, or even Instagram feed from Clancy’s Auto Body, a local auto body repair shop based in Florida. In just 7 days, the account gained 187,400 followers and more than 50 million views.

Tommy Clark on Twitter deconstructs the strategies that helped the account go viral on TikTok:

1. Platform-specific humor: Leaning into meme templates and the “unhinged” humor that TikTok loves.
2. Brand characters and storylines: The account introduces specific characters, giving its content a “reality-show” feel.
3. Capitalizing on a viral hit: Continuing to post videos of a similar style and angle, to continue to rack up views.

Consider how such an approach can also work for your brand, and how you can then tie any viral success into business goals and revenue. For example, you can feature your product or service into your content, in a natural way, to drive brand awareness and sales.

7. Social media ideas: Inspiration for your product launch

Are you planning a product launch? And looking for some ideas for your social media posts? We rounded up 33 examples and ideas to inspire your social media campaign. These include post ideas to build up anticipation ahead of your launch, as well as post-launch examples:

• Share behind-the-scenes photos and videos of your new product in production.
• Ask current customers to talk about their excitement for your upcoming launch.
• Post countdowns to launch day to build up anticipation.
• Get your social media audience guessing with product teasers and quizzes.
• Create a unique hashtag for your product launch.
• Ask your audience for input or feedback about what features or improvements they’d like to see.
• Launch your product with bold, eye-catching visuals.
• Highlight the benefits of your new product through videos and carousels.
• Show your new product in use.
• Share initial user feedback to get more people interested.

Read our blog post to view all 33 examples and ideas.

8. Snapchat tips: Post 20 to 50 Snaps per day to engage users for longer

In a leaked pitch deck which it sends to its “Snap Stars” users, Snap revealed its best practices for posting. Aside from the first tip, which seems a little extreme, the rest of the recommendations are pretty generic and most are applicable to multiple social media platforms.

Here were their recommendations:

• Focus on “day in the life experiences” by posting 20 to 50 Snap stories a day, so that subscribers are engaged for longer.
• Post directly to the Snap Map, so that users who aren’t subscribed can easily discover your content.
• Make a strong “tile” on your feed, which is the most recent Snapchat photo or video taken.
• Captivate viewers in the first 1 to 3 snaps so they watch the whole story.
• Encourage non-subscribers to subscribe a few times a week, and subscribers to turn on story notifications.
• Use captions, since a lot of people watch stories with sound off.
• Balance commercial content with authentic personal content.

9. Social media trends: Meta reveals its trend predictions for 2023

Meta outlined its top 20 trend predictions for 2023, based on 4 million global conversations on Facebook and Instagram, as well as a global survey. They then grouped these 20 trends into the following 4 topics:

1. Exploratory identities: from body positivity and self-expression, to reinvented middle age, cultural heritage, and local foods.
2. Refined relationships: including relationship goals and milestones, science and spirituality, and adopting new pets.
3. Assertive aspirations: with a focus on mental health, how we sleep and why we work, and financial knowledge.
4. Lived values: from finding joy to nostalgia-inspired comfort, supporting a cause, and environmental concerns.