Seven Marketing Trends To Reinvigorate Your Business In 2023

The new year is a perfect opportunity to refine and enhance your marketing strategy. Online marketing is a constantly evolving landscape, and failing to adopt new trends can leave your business in the dust. Making adjustments to ongoing efforts and campaigns is always a good idea, but adding a new layer can help your business stay current, generate new leads, and build brand awareness. 

By analyzing market trends in 2022 within the context of updates expected in 2023, we can get a better picture of what both users and search engines want to see in the new year. Learn more about these seven marketing trends and how adopting them in 2023 can help your business grow!  

2023 Market Trends For Social Media, Website Content, Paid Advertising, & More 

These popular digital marketing trends climbed in popularity in 2022 and are only expected to grow in 2023. Many of these campaigns tie together and can be used in tandem to achieve the same goal and can be leveraged across multiple platforms from websites to social media to paid advertising.

1) Interactive Content 2) User-Generated Content (UGC) 3) Influencer Marketing 4) Social Media As A Customer Service Tool 5) Short Form Audio Marketing & Video Marketing 6) Enhanced Focus On User-Experience 7) The Death Of Universal Analytics Honorable Mentions

1) Interactive Content

Catching a user’s eye is only the first step in a successful content strategy. Once you have a user's attention, you want to keep it and encourage engagement and active consumption of your content. From social media to web page content, there are so many ways to leverage interactive content, no matter your industry. Try incorporating one of these types of interactive content on your social media and/or website:

• Quizzes 
  • Health quiz assessments for healthcare, style/product match quizzes for e-commerce, etc.
• Calculators 
  • Financial calculators for banks and law firms, savings calculators for financial planning, mortgage calculators for realtors, etc.
• Interactive Videos 
• Polls 
  • Great for social media stories to promote fast & easy engagement while also getting consumer feedback/market data 
• Interactive Infographics 

2) User-Generated Content (UGC)

User-generated content is the digital version of word of mouth, and it’s effective! 

User-generated content can often be more affordable than influencer content and easier to obtain. Common types of user-generated content include:

• Reviews & Testimonials 
  • Google My Business profile reviews, social media reviews & recommendations, website testimonials/review submissions, etc. 
• Surveys
  • After a sale or service, collected survey results can be compiled to showcase brand trust, brand loyalty, brand attitudes, etc. 
• Social Content 
  • Hashtag campaigns, social media challenges/promotions to encourage UGC, etc. 
  • Capture both the user’s follower base while also being able to re-share the content for your followers 
• Employee UGC 
  • Behind-the-scenes content, employee social media takeovers, blogs, videos, etc., made by employees helps showcase company culture, show transparency, and build brand trust and loyalty

3) Influencer Marketing

While user-generated content and influencer content are similar, they are certainly not the same. UGC is typically unpaid and focuses more on the average user, whereas influencer-generated experts, celebrities, or other online personalities boast a high following. The benefits of influencer marketing over user-generated marketing include a wider reach, generating more buzz, and more professional/higher-quality content. Common influencer marketing campaigns include:

• Social Media
  • Sponsored Posts & Giveaways, Re-Sharing Your Post, Social Media Takeovers, Influencer Codes For Discounts, Etc. 
• Promotional YouTube Videos 
  • Unboxing Videos, Product Testing Videos, Video Reviews, Etc.
• Referral Blogs 
  • Sponsored Review Blogs, Feature In A Listicle Style Blog (“My Top 10 Favorite _”, “8 New Products To Try This Fall”, Etc.), Guest Blogs On Your Website 

4) Social Media As A Customer Service Tool

In 2021, over 4.5 billion people (more than half the global population!) were using social media worldwide (Statista). With a majority of internet users active on social media, the ways businesses and consumers interact have evolved. More and more online users are using social media platforms for customer service support. Direct messages (DMs) can be a faster and easier way to offer customer support, and this trend continues to grow in popularity. In addition to DMs, social media platforms provide a great opportunity to provide customer support resources in an easily accessible, centralized location. Frequently asked questions and answers, additional contact information, services and service areas, helpful links, and more can all help make it easier for customers to get their questions answered quickly. 

5) Short Form Audio Marketing & Video Marketing

With TikTok passing Google in search traffic in 2021, it’s no surprise that short-form video content is a hot trend that has only continued to explode. With TikTok videos, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and more, there are more ways than ever to share short-form video marketing content. Though long-form video marketing content is certainly not going anywhere, short, eye-catching videos have proven to produce better results. With the average person losing concentration after eight seconds (Microsoft Corp), video marketers need to not only capture attention quickly, but also convey value/a message in the same timeframe. Short video snippets are great for Google Ads, eye-catching webpage content, email marketing, and more. Well-chosen snippets of longer videos can also be a great way to entice users to watch more.

In 2006, only 22% of the adult population in the U.S. was aware of podcasting, but in 2021, this figure had risen to 78% with an estimated 120 million podcast listeners in the country. It’s estimated that the number of podcast listeners will only continue to grow with 160 million listeners expected in 2023 (Statista). Creating a podcast is easier than ever and with so many listeners, there’s an audience for every industry. However, starting your own podcast can be time-consuming and take a while to get off the ground. Podcast advertising is a growing form of paid advertisement and can be flexible to meet your audience and budget. With so many podcasts out there, you’re bound to find a podcast relevant to your industry with a media package within your budget. 

6) Enhanced Focus On User-Experience

User experience (UX) has always been a core topic in digital marketing and website design and has proven to be more complex and vital as the years go by. User experience entails many factors including how your website makes a user feel, how they are able to interact with it, how accessible it is, etc. 

• Spend Time On Visually Appealing, Coehsively Branded, Consistent Web Design 
• Ensure Your Website Is Mobile Responsive 
• Make Your Website More User Friendly 
  • Learn more about 5 easy easy ways to make your website more user friendly 
• Make Sure You Have A “Healthy Website” 
  • Find out if your website is “healthy” 
• Pay More Attention to Customer Satisfaction & Customer Retention
  • What worked in 2022 and what didn’t? What customer retention campaigns have you not tried yet?
  • Learn more about the value of customer retention/satisfaction and how to improve these metrics 

The five previously discussed trends also factor into creating a positive user experience. It’s crucial to give your users the type of online experience that they want and have come to expect in our current digital landscape. 

7) The Death Of Universal Analytics

With Universal Analytics going away in July 2023, Google Analytics 4 will be taking over as the go-to digital marketing reporting tool. If you haven't set up and started exploring your GA4 account yet, you’re already behind. When it comes to Universal Analytics vs. Google Analytics 4, there are some major differences between the two platforms. Setting up your GA4 property now gives you a head start on figuring out these differences and getting yourself ready for the switch in July 2023. Not only does this give you the chance to explore GA4, but it also allows data to begin collecting which will strengthen the machine learning tools of your GA4 property. Check out our Google Analytics 4 tutorials on YouTube so that you’re ready for the big switch!

Honorable Mentions

These top seven online trends for 2023 are just scratching the surface of new ways you can capitalize on popular marketing concepts to improve your content marketing strategy in 2023. Other notable trends include:

Text Message Marketing

Think of text message marketing as the short-form version of email marketing. Just as short-form video marketing has grown in popularity, so has text message marketing. Text messages with promotions and important updates are hard for consumers to miss and can be a great lead-generation tool. A great way to build your marketing contact list is by offering a special deal/discount when users sign up to receive text messages!

Website Accessibility (WCAG)

With WCAG 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) scheduled to be completed and published in early 2023, there will be a fresh spotlight on website accessibility for all users. WCAG covers not only visual and hearing impairments but also cognitive, learning, language, and other disabilities. Following WCAG guidelines helps ensure that your website is user-friendly for anyone and everyone. Learn more about the new WCAG 2.2 update. 

Marketing With A Purpose

Sustainability, social responsibility, and inclusivity are topics that have continued to grow in popularity and importance. Both 2021 and 2022 Year in Search by Google highlighted the interest in these topics. There is a wide variety of ways that you can incorporate purpose drive marketing and missions into your business strategy.

• Be More Green
  • Reduce packaging, switch to paperless invoices, utilize digital file storage, etc. 
• Find A Cause 
  • Donate a portion of sales to a charity, host fundraisers, spread awareness, etc. 
• Include Diversity 
  • Include diversity in imagery on social media platforms, websites, and other marketing materials, implement diversity initiatives in hiring, bring attention to social causes, etc.

Staying Competitive With Professional Digital Marketing Services

With so many constant changes and intricacies in today’s digital landscape, it’s easy to become overwhelmed, fall behind, and/or miss valuable opportunities. A professional digital marketing agency can help your business stay competitive and provide guidance and resources for the internet marketing services your business needs most.

Stay Ahead Of The Trends & Maximize Success In 2023

Global Reach offers award-winning web design, web development, digital marketing services, and more in Iowa and across the globe. We are proud to offer innovative solutions and strategies that are at the cutting edge of digital trends to help expand your business in new and exciting ways. Try something new this year and see what Global Reach Internet Productions can do for your business!

Get a FREE Personalized Digital Marketing Consultation Today!