New year, new industry predictions. What’s going down in 2023 when it comes to the creator economy and influencer marketing?

Well, dear reader, with inflation, burnout, social platform regime changes, and so much more, we’re expecting the most dramatic season yet.

Here’s what we’re predicting in the coming year. 

 

TikTok Is the One To Watch … Again

Growth is (yet again) in the air for TikTok as it battles a surprising foe. How will Google respond to this social network’s very real competitive edge as a search engine and beyond? 

Plus, podcasting isn’t dead — in fact, we’re expecting TikTok to parlay its live functionality into the era of social audio. 

Finally, ecommerce is making waves as one of the fastest-growing markets, with billions in revenue predicted to be earned from it over the next year. And TikTok isn’t letting social commerce pass it by — and we believe that it will overtake Instagram in this area. How? You’ll have to wait and see. 

 

Meta Leans on Nostalgia

Will Meta’s strategy take Instagram back to the day of sepia filters and photo-focused content?

We believe it will — and not just because recent criticism has sent former stans packing and looking for another platform to call home. There’s a growing need to return to social roots and promote authenticity, and who better to do the job than good old, reliable Instagram? 

 

Former Tweeters Are Headed For LinkedIn

We don’t have high hopes for Twitter’s future. Perhaps Musk’s free speech contradictions will surprise us, but there are a lot of indicators — including major advertising firms advising clients to pull their ad spending — telling us that Twitter’s glory days are behind it. 

So where do the creators who have lived within the Twitterverse find a new home? We’re predicting that LinkedIn is going to become the hub for fleeing Twitter users, as its text-based model and commitment to improving its infrastructure have already won positive feedback from its existing user base. 

 

Social Media and Its Creators

We’re also expecting to see creator workflows and the way influencers interact with social channels change in a major way.

Not only are pay-to-play subscriptions — such as Instagram Subscriptions and Patreon — growing in popularity, but they’re one of several viable ways for creators to gain better control over their content, their workload, and their compensation. 

Not only could this pose an opportunity for creators to diversify their revenue streams, but it could also have a positive impact on career burnout. 

We’re interested in seeing how many creators step away from social media or only use brand partnerships as a small supplement to their income on a seasonal basis. It may be more than you expect — and you heard it here first!

 

Creator Pay Is Getting A Shake-Up

In addition to creators changing how they partner with brands on social media, we’re expecting to see more brands adjust their strategy to work with a more vocal and courageous influencer cohort. 

If you can’t beat ‘em, ask ’em to join you! That’s what we’re predicting in 2023: that brands and agencies will hire influencers to work on their marketing teams as salaried employees and experts.

We’ve been advocating for creators to be given more integrated roles while partnering with brands, which will benefit both parties overall. We believe 2023 is the year that all the work creators have been putting into exacting change industry-wide is going to flourish in visible ways. 

 

Hear Our Experts’ 2023 Predictions

If you’re eager to get ahead of next year’s trends, there’s no better opportunity to hear from the industry’s top experts than by tuning in for our 2023 predictions webinar, where we’ll discuss the top 10 expectations for the industry.

The best part? You can listen on-demand. That’s right — no need to block your calendar. Simply tune in and listen at your leisure. Plus, we’ll send you a comprehensive guide after listening so that you can follow along all year long.

 

Learn More About Influencer Marketing