Business Trends in 2023
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As we close 2022 and enter 2023, our team has been busy looking through insightful trends in customer business relationships for the new year. In this blog, we put together our take on some small business and social media trends we’ve found particularly interesting for 2023.
Gen Z Consumers & The 2023 Instagram Trend Report
Instagram published its 2023 Trends Report, a 22-page breakdown highlighting general trends among Gen Z consumers in the coming year. Considering Gen Z (birth year range of mid-to-late 1990s to early 2010s) make up 40% of the global consumer population and gross roughly $360 billion in spending power, their influence is powerful and one to pay attention to as businesses revise and revamp their strategies for the new year.
Of the nine trend topics from Instagram’s report, three stood out when we evaluated customer business relationships:
1) The Financial Renaissance
2) Community Over Everything
3) Sustainability
Gen Z Financial Literacy
According to the report, nearly two-thirds of Gen Z users plan to use social media to make money in 2023. And, since Gen Z is known for taking the initiative, financial literacy is a priority for the new year. Per the statistics, in 2023, 85% of Gen Z will aim to learn a new skill, and 1 out of 4 want to increase their skills in financial literacy.
And why would finance be critical to this younger generation? Well, because they are making money. In some cases, a lot of it. On Instagram, teens are turning passion projects into income generators. But, leaning into the business hustle (which is why our company exists) and also wanting to manage that money responsibly?
Take note all: This is the new generation of savvy small business owners.
Though we don’t see financial literacy as a trend but more an important life skill everyone, business owner or not, should be very versed in, we know that financial literacy is not innate but a skill to learn actively. So while we don’t have any financial literacy tools for entrepreneurs to share (yet 😉), we do have a few books on financial literacy we recommend as a starting point in your financial literacy journey:
Financial Literacy Books | The Basics
Financial Literacy Books | Stocks
Financial Literacy Books | Psychology
Financial Literacy Books | Life Lessons
Building Inclusive Community over Everything
While digital relationships between businesses and consumers are here to stay, the Gen Z community will focus more on in-person collaboration in 2023. According to the report, nearly a third of Gen Z consumers look forward to in-person experiences with brands, businesses, and creators to foster community building. Thus, a hybrid approach to customer business relationships should be a strategic initiative next year. Need some community-building ideas? Below, we’ve listed a few options:
Teaching Cooking
As a gateway to other culinary cultures, the trend report states that 68% of Gen Z social media users want to try food from different cultures after discovering it online. Teaching a cooking class may be a great way to build your brand in person if you’re a chef, a self-taught cook, or somewhere in between.
Benefits of Thrifting
Gen Z consumers aren’t immune to rising inflation costs, and in 2023 more Gen Z consumers plan to thrift their clothing. Per the trend report, when asked what they’d do when a clothing item is out of budget, over a quarter of Gen Z buyers say they’d turn thrifting. Hosting a clothing swap community event would be a great dual-purpose activity to snag some gently used finds and meet like-minded people.
Gen Z Financial Literacy
While we did say a lot about this in an earlier section, the topic fits perfectly here. With 25% of young users wanting to learn more about financial literacy, there is a huge opportunity to teach financial knowledge to individuals that want to know about retirement funds, how to invest in stocks, and what the acronym FIRE means.
Environmental Trends in Business
Sustainability trends in business are, and will continue to be, a focus in 2023. Moreover, sustainability is a crucial issue for Gen Z as climate concerns arise. Driven by consumer demand, companies should consider the impact of their supply chain in 2023.
Still trying to figure out where to start? A few sustainability questions to consider asking your business, large or small:
How can we make better shipping choices?
How can we avoid negligent suppliers?
How can we quantify our sustainability achievements?
While these questions are not comprehensive, they are a fair starting point to begin the conversation with your team on a critical issue for essential consumers.
Final Thoughts
While the economic outlook may look grim at times, we are hopeful that small businesses will thrive in 2023 as they have through turbulent times in the past. A key to this is listening carefully to your customers and making sustainable business choices for continued growth into the new year and beyond.