2023 is here! Businesses are already busy chalking out their marketing plan for the year. It’s a fast-paced world moving at lightning speed, keeping marketers on their ‘toes’ to keep up with the rapidly shifting market dynamics. One of the most crucial factors is to develop a killer marketing strategy and stay ahead of the competitors. This article explores some of the significant marketing trends for this year that will help companies to strategise for maximum impact and outcome.
Search Engine Optimisation
Inbound marketing or search engine optimisation [SEO] will continue to be one of the top priorities for marketers worldwide. In fact, 61% of marketers confirm that their top priority is to grow their organic presence with efficient SEO. Thus, keyword optimisation is going nowhere soon. Instead, brands will be more attentive towards video and image optimization to increase page speed. Among 53% of marketers who leverage and optimize their media files, 49% confirm that it is their most effective SEO tactic.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing evolved as a huge trend in 2022 and will continue to grow steadily in 2023. So, 89% of marketers leveraging this form of marketing will continue or increase their investment this year. Collaborating with influencers helps marketers improve brand awareness and gain possible conversions. However, influencers don’t always mean a celebrity. In fact, many companies find it expensive to engage with celebrity influencers. They instead work with micro-influencers who might have a smaller audience or followers but have a higher level of engagement.
AI Marketing
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has a significant influence on industries and sectors, and marketing is not far behind. AI-driven marketing help in smarter decision-making. Gartner predicts that by 2025 companies using AI for their marketing activities will shift 75% of their operations to strategic initiatives. After all, marketers need to establish a stronger connection between their brands and customers.
Metaverse, the ‘rising’ star
The Metaverse is the most discussed concept among all the latest technological advancements in digital marketing. It is a virtual world facilitated by leveraging virtual and augmented reality, a collective virtual shared space that is not device independent. However, though marketers of enterprise companies are showing interest in leveraging this in their marketing effort, hardly many companies have strongly evident use cases.
Virtual reality/augmented reality loses significance
Most of us had high hopes of virtual reality [VR] or augmented reality [AR] ruling the marketing landscape, seeing that in 2021, almost 2021 marketers were using it in their marketing strategy. However, it might go ‘south’ in 2023 as fewer marketers refrain from investing in it. More than 27% of marketers plan to stop leveraging VR/AR in their marketing efforts.
Short Videos
The virtual world, mainly social media feeds, are clamoring for user attention with short videos, of which the most popular are TikTok and Instagram reels. These platforms empower users to generate and share content with friends and followers. So, as expected, businesses are currently frequenting these platforms with their content, and this trend will grow. Even social media management tools and schedulers are coming to the aid of companies to help them post and schedule video content.
Mobile optimisation
With consumers spending more time on their mobiles, mobile optimisation is even more critical than before. In fact, Google’s mobile algorithm, updated in 2022, made it imperative for businesses to switch to mobile-first indexing. Moreover, with 58.16% of global web traffic originating from mobile devices, companies need to ensure that their website design is mobile-optimised. After all, 33% of global marketers invest in mobile web design, and 64% of SEO marketers call mobile optimisation an effective investment.
Privacy marketing trends
Privacy of their data is equally critical for the consumers, as it is essential for you as a company. After all, person-based marketing or advertising is based on consumer data. However, if the data gets misused or exploited, then the customers develop a strong distrust towards businesses. It is precisely why the General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR] came into effect in 2018, and now India is also coming up with its data protection bill. So, brands would have to give consumers more control over their data.
Omnichannel marketing
Marketers must reach their audience across all devices, channels and platforms with unified messages to stay ahead of the competition. So, leveraging omnichannel marketing today is not an option but a requirement to reach your potential customers on whichever platform they frequent.
Push Notification
Push notifications are picking up speed in becoming an effective marketing strategy, mainly because email marketing is slowly becoming saturated and more people are using mobile devices for extended periods of the day. So, companies started leveraging this strategy for customer attention. Today, more than 50% of customers allow push notifications on their mobile for brands to connect with them.
Employee advocacy
It’s about your employees talking about the business in different channels. More companies have started realising the power of employee advocacy. As they know the company from the inside, your audience is more prone to listening when employees talk about the company. It has the potential to become a powerful tool in B2B marketing, in which your employees can also contribute to your marketing efforts. Train your employees on the marketing process and encourage them to speak on behalf of the business.
Case studies to prevail
Case studies are strong marketing tools to generate leads, specifically for the B2B sector. Though it is not yet used to its full extent by marketers, yet the numbers are growing. In fact, 37% of marketers plan to leverage it for the first time in 2023.
Visual data insights with infographics
Visual representation of data and insights has become a popular tool among marketing leaders, irrespective of sectors. It is visually appealing to share information with consumers and engage them. 56% of the marketers who use it regularly find this as the most effective content type.
Sustainable consumerism
Consumers today, mostly millennials and Gen Zs are more aware of how their purchase behaviour might impact the environment and society. They are attentive of not only the products they are purchasing but even the brands they are advocating. Most consumers favour brands that follow sustainable practices to reduce environmental impact. So, companies must follow ethical and sustainable practices if they want to retain their customers.
To Summarise
Marketing strategies have evolved rapidly in the last few years, especially in the post-pandemic period of accelerated digitisation. Now, empowered by all the emerging trends, marketing leaders can strategise the most effective way to reach their audience in 2023.
We at Bunjy are here to equip you to understand consumer expectations to tailor your messages. 2023 will be an exciting year for marketing leaders. Connect with us to strategise your marketing moves this year.