Marketing continues to evolve rapidly and keeping up with changes and new trends isn’t always easy, especially for small businesses. To succeed and take advantage of marketing opportunities while staying relevant to your customers, it’s vital to stay on top of the latest trends and predictions – or work with a marketing partner who’s well versed in the constantly changing marketing landscape.
So, what are the most important digital marketing trends for 2023? It’s clear that marketing has moved beyond traditional branding and advertising. A focus on building great customer experiences and engaging in long-term customer relationships is key. The future of marketing and business will be more diverse, inclusive and linked to the real needs of customers.
Technology
Technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, so of course, some of these trends are technology focused. While technologies such as AI and data-driven marketing continue to grow, there’s a desire to make marketing more human again and we predict in 2023 the overarching focus will be on people, not technology.
Personalisation
Businesses have been using loyalty programs for years to gather customer data to track purchases and reward them with relevant offers, encouraging repeat interactions.
It feels much more personal for the customer and means that marketing efforts for the brands are more likely to hit their target rather than ‘screaming into the void’. More and more brands are picking up on the personalisation-via-data trend and using it to both their and their customers’ advantages.
In 2023, as well as building on loyalty schemes, it’s likely we’ll see more personality from brands. Expect even less corporate language, as people see the value in interacting with other humans rather than faceless brands. While it may not be possible for all small businesses to create loyalty schemes or personalised offers for their customers, social media allows business owners to give an insight into their company, how it’s run and the people making everything happen behind the scenes. You can encourage customers to interact with you and share what they love about your products, allowing you to get to know them as well.
Employee Advocacy and Engagement
More businesses are realising the worth of harnessing the power of their employees. The personal profiles of employees are often more effective at reaching people authentically than the business brand. This is an untapped opportunity that we will see more businesses taking advantage of in 2023. Evaluate the opportunity for employees to contribute to your marketing efforts and build a plan to engage them.
An engagement plan usually includes training, tools and resources to motivate and excite employees to speak on behalf of the business it can include:
- Training that not only makes them more informed about your products, but also allows them to climb up the corporate ladder – imagine – you gotta love a company that trains you to qualify for a better job
- Permission to post content on social media and elsewhere about your company’s culture, products, and services
- Involvement in creating blog posts, videos, white papers, and other “official” marketing content, creating a platform on which they can showcase their expertise
Leads that your employees generate through social media marketing posts are 7x more likely to convert than leads you generate through other channels. In addition, content that they share will enjoy 8x more engagement than content that you share on your official brand channels.
Short Video Content
Short-form video has taken the marketing world by storm. While long-form videos offer large amounts of information, getting to the point with short-form videos is more effective. Not only does it take less bandwidth to create a short-form video, but this type of format aligns well with the fast-paced attention spans of online audiences. Over 90% of marketers use short-form video and we can expect this to increase into 2023.
Customer Service via Social Media
Leveraging social media as a customer service tool is relatively new but is a trend that is quickly gaining momentum when many social media platforms are expanding their e-commerce capabilities. Because of this, providing customer service on these platforms will become even more crucial.
More businesses will leverage SEO
SEO strategies are becoming more ingrained within modern marketing strategies. As Google algorithms have evolved, SEO has become about much more than churning out basic posts that answer simple search queries. Now, brands are investing in SEO experts who can help them with everything from search insights reports to multimedia optimization.
Recession proof marketing strategies
In 2023, it will be important to continue marketing and growing through a potential recession. Adopting recession-proof marketing ideas to cut costs and creating a comprehensive marketing plan can help you weather the economic uncertainties this year.
Carefully manage your cashflow and cut costs where necessary.
- Look for ways to diversify your marketing investment to identify the right mix to help your business row – instead of cutting your marketing budget
- Create personalized marketing campaigns to increase engagement and maximise your marketing budget.
Cross-channel marketing will become even more crucial
Consumers expect to have a consistent experience with your business no matter where they find information about you. This means enacting a cross-channel marketing strategy is a must in 2023. This strategy focuses on the customer experience across channels and can increase engagement with and awareness of your business.
Gain a deeper understanding of your target audience
Where they spend time online, and what their buying journey looks like. This can help you develop the ideal cross-channel marketing strategy.
Invest in sourcing first-party data
This will give you direct access to customers and potential customers and give you the best chance to reach your ideal audience.
Set up clear reporting
This will help you understand which marketing channels and strategies are driving the most new customers for your business.
Focus on building loyalty with your current customer base
Loyalty programs are a cheap way to retain loyal customers, much cheaper than sourcing new ones! through loyalty programs.
Help your customers and potential customers find you online
Invest in your web presence through SEO, paid search ads, and social media marketing.
Make it easy for customers to contact you
Update your directory listings, add live chat to your website, and follow up quickly with leads and customers to increase conversions.
Looking to expand your marketing efforts in 2023? We offer a comprehensive range of digital marketing services that can help your business grow. Contact our team of digital marketing experts today.
Jayde Nguyen