8 consumer and social media trends for 2023

1. Consumers are looking for online inspiration
2. Shopping is local 
3. Shopping is becoming increasingly omnichannel
4. Consumers are looking for added value
5. Social commerce is here to stay
6. Short videos are popular
7. Micro-influencers, a marketing strategy worth investing in
8. Position zero, the holy grail of local SEO

The digital world is constantly évolution, but some trends are là to stay. Découvrez the 8 trends of 2022 à not to miss to properly prépare your stratégy of local marketing 2023. Our angle? Consumer trends and réseaux social.
Améliorez the visibility online of your points of sale and générez more traffic, online and offline! 

4 consumer trends 2022

1. Consumers are looking for inspiration online :
   According to a recent study Google, more than 48 % of consumers worldwide say they look for inspiration online for their purchases. This trend is confirmed during the concretization of their purchase decision: 91% of consumers conduct an online search before moving to a store (Ifop, 2020).
   
   Our advice: Develop the online visibility of your establishments by creating local pages on key media (Google, Facebook/Instagram, Store locator,...). Develop a local content strategy, tailored to the news of your different points of sale, in order to attract customers on site.
   

2. Shopping is local :
   The queries of type "open now nearby" have jumped by more than +400% over a year worldwide.
   
   These figures indicate a trend increasingly marked towards researching online before moving, and indicate that when searching for stores, consumers are increasingly in search of immediate solutions. For example, early in the evening, a person will be more likely to search on Google (Maps) for restaurants open nearby.
   
   Our advice: Invest in the natural referencing of your points of sale on the various GPS tools (Google Maps, Apple Maps, Bing Maps, Waze, …)
   
   
3. Shopping is becoming increasingly omnichannel :
   Who today uses only one information channel? Today, beyond traditional channels (TV, radio, press,...), brands are in contact with consumers through multiple digital channels:
   
   • Website
   • Social networks (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest,...)
   • Search engines (Google, Bing, …)
   • E-commerce platforms (Amazon, Bol, …)
   • Apps
   • Newsletters and emailing
   • …

The marketing strategies (online and offline) are to be designed as a fluid experience across these different channels, and especially to be adapted : to each platform and media its codes, we do not communicate in the same way depending on the audience's age and supported formats.

Our advice: take the time to design omnichannel communication strategies, while ensuring the respect of your brand image from a local point of view.

4. Consumers are seeking added value:
   In a climate of uncertainty ’economic with the ’post–covid inflation, consumers are awaiting added value, at the level of the company's values (positioning, inclusivity, ecological commitment, ...) but also and especially at the level of direct added value for them: the offers and the promotions.
   
   According to a study on consumption trends of the French, 52% of them see their non-food budget stagnating and 22% plan to reduce their non-food expenses. (source : Into the Minds, 2022)
   
   Our advice: amplify the actions and promotions of your points of sale through various channels (Facebook, Google, newsletter,...)

Social media and Google

5. Social commerce is here to stay
   
   First, what is social commerce ?
   
   Social commerce, it promotes and sells products and services via social networks like Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.
   
   According to a study by eMarketer on the number of consumers who have purchased online through social networks, a +10% annual increase is noted.
   
   Why?
   
   Social commerce enables a “frictionless” purchase experience: on a social network a consumer sees a product that interests them, clicks, is redirected to a merchant site and if they wish, proceeds to purchase and is delivered (if all goes well, and there are no bugs!).
   
   Example of social commerce: 
   
   Instagram Shopping : allows placing product tags on post images, videos/reels and in stories.
   
   Facebook Shops : it’s a new interface that lets users discover brands and buy their products within the Facebook app.
   
   

6. Short videos are popular
   
   Do you know the average attention span of a person?
   
   According to recent studies, it gradually decreases and recently reaches 8 seconds on average. This, among other things, explains the success of platforms offering short video formats, such as TikTok or Instagram.
   
   Instagram has around 1.4 billion users worldwide, TikTok follows with 1.02 billion. This makes them extremely popular platforms focused on short videos (or Reels on Instagram).
   
   TikTok offers formats from 3 à 60 sec (from the app) otherwise also recently offers “long” formats from 3 à 10 mins. Instagram offers a Reels format up to 90 seconds maximum, but also videos ranging from 3 seconds à 10 minutes.
   
   Why use these formats?
   
   These formats (both on TikTok and Instagram) allow to have a organic reach which can be exponential, depending on user interactions (view count, clicks, likes, comments, shares,...).
   
   Moreover, these platforms automatically present in the feed (feed) of similar content to what the user likes. This means that the videos are shown to an already qualified audience because of its interest in similar topics, and will be more likely to react.

The videos of less than 15 seconds represent already 45% of videos posted in the image feed.

Guillaume Thévenin, head of partnerships with content creators at Instagram for Southern Europe, via France Inter

7. Micro-influencers, a stratégy marketing to invest in
   
   Micro-influencers (this includes influencers with an audience between 1,000 and 100,000 people, depending on the sectors) have on average an engagement rate (much) higher than influencers with larger audiences. Here we talk about ’an audience engagement rate that can go up to ’à 20% (c’est a lot!).
   
   Why do micro-influencers have such high engagement rates? C’est very simple: Their audience is smaller, and therefore more ciblée around d’un centre d’intérêt, a niche. They have more facilité à maintain the link (messages, comments, ...) with their abonnés.
   They appear more authentic, and therefore encourage more à trust
   
   Moreover, a campaign, or a product placement will cost less with a micro-influencer. This allows à companies with a tighter budget to diversify their stratégies d’acquisition digital.
   
   

8. Zero position, the holy grail of local SEO
   Zero position, what is it?
   
   

The Zero Position corresponds, in Google search results, to any information located above the first position in organic results (SEO) or « blue links », except the AdWords links.

Definitions SEO, 2018

In sum, it’s the immediate answer provided by Google to the used search terms. The goal is to directly offer à the’user a response, via knowledge graph, featured snippets (optimized extracts from web pages), and structured data.

In the case of physical points of sale, one of the best ways to achieve this is to have complete Google business listings (description, services, hours, products,...), up to date and to respond to reviews, in order to encourage the user to click (and potentially visit).

Why carry out these actions?

Because Google takes into account during indirect searches (search for products or services, without mention of brand) and Google highlights product descriptions as well as customer reviews (and responses).

Conclusion

Consumer trends and social networks of 2022 (and 2023 predictions) are centered on consumer habits: a majority of internet users look for inspiration online before making a purchase, use their smartphone to search for businesses/products, are looking for added value (actions and ecology) and use many channels (social networks, search engines, GPS, TV, radio,...).

Preparing your 2023 local marketing strategy involves an omnichannel approach, coordinated between national and local levels, to highlight these updates and generate online and offline traffic.