The most important social media marketing trends for 2023 – according to marketers from the Benelux and Scandinavia

Research from HubSpot and Meltwater shows that by 2023 marketers will increase their social media marketing budgets and focus on online communities, social selling and micro-influencers

Amsterdam, 16 May 2023 – Building active online communities is crucial for your brand success in 2023. That is what social media marketers say in the ‘2023 Global Social Media Trends Report’ of HubSpot and partner Meltwater. The report is based on research among 1,269 social media marketers in the EMEA region, including 100 marketers in the Benelux (Belgium + The Netherlands + Luxemburg) and Scandinavia.

More European companies than ever are investing in social media advertising. Almost half (46%) of marketers say they plan to increase their social media marketing budget in 2023. Their main goal is to increase brand awareness and engagement. The biggest challenge is to find enough time and resources. For example, more than half (53%) indicate that they work with a team of up to five people and 30% do it independently or with only one colleague.

Social media trends in EMEA

The report identifies 10 trends. For example, according to social media marketers, the focus in 2023 will be on:

  • Increase involvement. Nearly 90% of respondents say building active online communities is critical to success in 2023. They see Instagram and Facebook as the most effective platforms for this purpose.
  • More social selling. Nearly 80% expect people to buy products more often through social media apps than through third-party sites like Amazon. Three-quarters of marketers have a key goal to increase sales through social media apps this year.
  • Customer service shift. More than 70% of marketers surveyed say their company provides customer service through social media, and 81% believe it will become (or remain) the channel of choice for customers by 2023.
  • Collaboration with micro-influencers. More than 85% of respondents trade celebrities for micro and nano influencers. These influencers have fewer than 10,000 followers, are less expensive, and have close-knit communities. Marketers indicate that in their influencer choice, the quality of the content is becoming more important than the number of followers.
  • More unique and personalized content. 62% say authentic and relatable content is more important than professional and polished content. More than 40%, therefore, plan to invest more in authentic content in 2023 that followers can identify with. In addition, more than half of marketers adapt their content for the various channels, with 29% creating unique content for each platform.

Other priorities in the Benelux and Scandinavia

Interestingly, the priorities of social media marketers in Northern Europe (Benelux and Scandinavia) differ from their peers in the rest of EMEA in a number of ways.

  • Customer service is still under development. When asked what the biggest change is in social media marketing between 2021 and 2022, ‘customer service’ was mentioned by only 15% of marketers in the Benelux and Scandinavia. In comparison, 27% of marketers across EMEA say providing customer service through social media has become more important. Only 16% of Northern European marketers invest in this, compared to 23% across EMEA. The reason? They don’t see ROI yet.
  • Campaigns contain short and long videos. Less than half (44%) of marketers in the Benelux and Scandinavia use Instagram Reels and TikTok, compared to 60% of marketers across EMEA. Long-form video is the second most used format, followed closely by live videos and user-generated content.
  • Facebook plays a bigger role. Another notable difference is that marketers in Northern Europe use Facebook slightly more than Instagram. Of all social media apps, 25% say Facebook has the most potential to grow in 2023, compared to 13% for Instagram. Still, 30% of respondents say they see the highest engagement on Instagram, compared to 23% on Facebook.

For a full overview of all trends and research results, please visit https://offers.hubspot.com/social-media-trends-report

About the report

HubSpot and Meltwater jointly conducted research among 1,269 social media marketers in the EMEA region, including 100 marketers in the Benelux and Scandinavia. The report shows the current status of social media marketing and the trends among marketers in different roles, industries and countries.

About HubSpot

HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS) is a leading customer relationship management (CRM) platform that provides software and support to help businesses grow. The platform offers marketing, sales, service, operations, and website management products that can scale with customer needs at any stage of growth. Today, more than 167,000 businesses in more than 120 countries use HubSpot’s powerful, easy-to-use tools and integrations to attract, engage, and delight customers.

HubSpot has been named #2 Best Place to Work in 2022 by Glassdoor and has been recognized by Great Place to Work, Comparably, Fortune, Entrepreneur, Inc. and more recognized for its award-winning culture. HubSpot was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company’s thousands of employees work in HubSpot offices and remotely around the world.

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