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As we speed into 2023, the whole world continues to accelerate into a hyper-digitalized world where your business is only as strong as your digital marketing capabilities.
As an industry, digital marketing is no different from any other – it has trends, flavours of the months, and changes that revolutionise the whole landscape. As we ramp up into 2023, FOME have put together the biggest digital marketing trends of 2023 and how you can incorporate them into your business’s marketing efforts.
If you are not scaling your business toward digital marketing and an online presence, you could be at risk of being left behind. A study by Emarketer found that last year, $4.9 trillion was the estimated value of the e-commerce market, while the retail share of purchases is currently 21% online and only going up.
We have put together the top ten digital marketing trends below, allowing you to get ahead this year:
TikTok Will Break The Market
Just as we have seen Facebook and Instagram dominate digital marketing through social media, TikTok will be the next big addition this coming year.
It was no surprise that since 2021, TikTok had generated $4.6 billion in revenue, an increase of almost 150 percent each year. There are a reported 1.8 billion users per month and that is only going to grow. Data this year is showing that almost 20% of all online users over the age of 18+ can be reached through TikTok ads.
As a digital marketing tool, we expect to see a wider approach taken when it comes to influencer marketing through TikTok – Instagram and others will still do well. Companies with aggressive marketing strategies will find influencers that align with their product or service and create marketing campaigns.
On top of this, both SMEs and the multinational corporation will begin targeted ad campaigns on TikTok, which will hit new demographics that have traditionally been tough to break into.
The Year of User-Generated Content to Boost Sales
In the age of personalised marketing, it is safe to say consumers are more attentive and suspicious than ever. Getting around this leaves businesses clamouring to find ways of being authentic and engaging while keeping the audience focused on the “main thing”, the ultimate goal of selling a product or service.
In digital marketing, the aim is to persuade potential customers who are online to buy your offering. You can write all the amazing copy on your website and have graphics and creative assets with bells and whistles, but this will only get you so far in 2023.
Nielsen found that 92% of customers are actively seeking reviews, case studies, or recommendations before they make a purchase, showing that businesses will need to look in this direction.
This year will see businesses that utilise user-generated content flourish. User-generated content is content made by the people using the product or service and can be found in various mediums, like:
- A live stream, like Twitch, where the streamer opens or uses your product and shows how good it is.
- Review and advocacy platforms, like Google or YELP.
- Video content made by customers raves about the product and service, which is used as a testimonial on the website.
- Social media posts and videos of people enjoying your product. (Here’s a smart tip! If you have a customer that is a social media influencer, work a deal where they post your product on their channel.)
Getting user-generated content relies on a business being proactive about getting reviews. Whether this is prompts for reviews, promotions, and competitions around posting positive videos on social media or just simple hashtags, you can get people generating around your product in no time.
Video Content Through Social Media
This is something we have covered before when we talked about the impact of short video content in social media marketing.
This digital marketing strategy has gone under the radar over the past couple of years but has quite literally given businesses a global platform, taking regional SMEs and giving them international customers.
It can be anything from creating engaging and trending content that is related to an industry or field you specialise in or creating short educational videos that provide value to the social media audience. The human attention span is growing shorter and shorter, fitting perfectly with social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
There are going to be 48 billion digital video views by the end of 2023, providing an amazing increase of 700 million people for businesses to market to.
Smart businesses have leapt on this, putting in time for their video content strategy and keeping them short and snappy. It’s something that can not only scale your brand and follower count but even level up the quantity of business you do.
AI Will Boost Content Marketing
You, like the rest of the marketing world, may have heard of a quirky little AI tool called ChatGPT. This has amazed people with the seemingly limitless marketing capabilities it can do.
Whether it is conducting SEO research, giving you blog ideas, or even building out a content calendar for you, it can be a content manager’s dream assistant.
People outside of marketing, mainly business owners, can be guilty of falling under the trap of thinking it can replace content writers and editors – do not make this fatal mistake. Studies have been conducted and found that Google can spot AI-generated content, and is punishing sites that are using this on their blogs.
So instead of trying to use a tool like ChatGPT to write your content, instead you can use it for research, planning, brainstorming, and speeding up the content creation process to enhance velocity and SEO functions.
Say Goodbye To The Cookie Jar
Something that slid under the radar in search news was that Google is withdrawing third-party cookies. This is going to be a meteor to the digital marketing world this year, causing tsunamis and impacts that will be reverberating throughout the year.
If you do not know, a third-party cookie is something that websites use to monitor what a visitor does. They are particularly useful in pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns because it allows a business to run an efficient online ad campaign for their target audience.
Marketing will now have to deviate towards more intimate and one-to-one marketing strategies to build their brand. GDPR and other regulations around data will be at the forefront, and a final big consequence is that Google is pivoting from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4.
This shift is happening on July 1 this year, a date you should circle on your calendar.
Influencer Marketing Will Continue To Grow
Something that is slowly being adopted by all scales of businesses is influencer marketing – to the point where 1 in 4 marketers now use it.
It can expect to grow in 2023 by almost one quarter as more marketing departments will dip their toes in influencer marketing. It can be anything from getting someone with a big following in your niche to use your product, to having a mammoth-sized influencer use your product to broaden your audience horizons.
Just in the United States alone, the influencer marketing industry was valued at a whopping $16.4 billion.
The reason we have this on our list for 2023 is that influencer marketing is going to go from something exclusive to ones with large followings to influencers who have micro-sized followings.
Even if an influencer has 2,000-10,000 followers, if they are specialised in a niche and have great engagement rates, they can open up more leads for a business and grow a brand.
Brands are Going to Slide in Your DMs
Big corporations opting for social media channels for customer support have been popular for the last couple of years but are going to see brands opt for marketing and sales through this method.
We are living in a world where the biggest consumers are Generation Z and Millenials, a group that wants hyper-personalised marketing while they go through their customer journey. As sites like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook boost their e-commerce platform, you can expect to soon engage in buying something through DMs instead of order forms and online consultations.
When it comes to using customer service on social media, studies have found that 1 in 5 Gen Zers have gone to a business’s social media page to contact them, instead of going in-store, calling up, or using emails.
Email Marketing for SMEs
Email marketing is a digital marketing method that often goes under the radar, boasting one of the best ROI figures as well as allowing higher customer retention and more lead generation.
People often associate email marketing with big corporations and multi-national businesses that are trying to sell you something, but it can be used for so much more.
By trying to provide value through your email marketing strategy, a small business can boost its email lists and find that through holistic content it will get more leads.
The most important aspect of this is not just boosted leads or increased brand leverage, it is also that the leads your business gets are even more qualified.
Once you have used email marketing to build credibility and give value back to old and new customers, you can use your email marketing for product launches and upsells, boosting more revenue for your business.
Utilisation of Digital Marketing Agencies and Freelancers Will Grow
Lots of SMEs, as well as big corporations, will feel the brunt of not having a strong digital presence. The world is rapidly shifting online, and the markets will get even more competitive in the impending economic downturn.
By simply being at the top of Google, you will allow your SME to battle against your competitors and win crucial business – therefore, we expect the use of digital marketing experts to boom this year.
Whether it is bringing on a top-tier digital marketing agency (hello!) to give a total package of web development, SEO, and content strategy, or bringing on a small freelancer to help out your SEO ranking, businesses are going to take this road in 2023.
Websites That Do Not Use Chatbots Will Fall Behind
If you pay attention, some of the best web experiences you have will be on websites that have a chatbot, especially when it comes to e-commerce. It is being reported that Chatbots will help account for $112 billion in retail sales by the end of the year alone!
Chatbots can help small businesses by being a 24/7 outlet on a website and helping customers in a way that a salesperson could! We think that 2023 will be the year when Chatbots will get integrated into social media, messaging, and other marketing channels that allow them to get involved in lead generation.
As well as being 24/7 and accurate with information, Chatbots will utilise data learning and translation to be more global and interactive in 2023.
Stay Ahead of the Digital Marketing Trends
Keeping ahead of digital marketing trends allows your business to remain steady in whichever competitive market you are in. Using data, analysing your campaigns, and tracking website conversions and customer engagement will give you the perfect insights to keep striving for better.
Doing all this will put you ahead of customer needs, allowing you to get more conversions and generate a larger amount of qualified leads. Stay ahead of the trends, win more business and grow your company through a strong digital marketing game!
Want to boost your digital marketing efforts today? Visit our contact page, reach out and we will look at how we can work together!
© FOME