The marketing world is changing fast, and it seems like every day there’s a new trend to learn about. The good news is that these trends are all coming from companies that want to better connect with their customers in ways that are authentic and meaningful. If you’re ready for an exciting year full of innovation and change, here are the ten trends we think will shape how you approach marketing in 2023:
Trend 1: Influencer marketing and PR
Influencer marketing is one of the best ways to reach customers, and if you’re not using it yet, you should be.
In the past two years alone, influencer marketing spend has skyrocketed by $10 billion. That’s why it’s important to keep up with this trend so that you don’t get left behind. Influencers are people who have built up a loyal following through their blogs or social media accounts; they can help drive word-of-mouth recommendations for your brand because people trust them as experts in their field. And since influencers don’t always have big budgets for advertising themselves (but often do have time), it might make sense for brands to work with them instead of buying ads from bigger companies like Google or Facebook.
Trend 2: Visualize success
Visual content is all the rage these days. You can’t swing a cat without hitting an infographic, video or animated GIF.
Why? Because visual content is more engaging and memorable than text-based content, which leads to higher engagement rates and better ROI for advertisers. Content marketers have long known this, but it’s finally trickling down to individual brands as well—a recent study found that over 80% of consumers prefer images over text when it comes to making buying decisions. Visual marketing has also been shown to be 12 times more likely than traditional marketing methods such as print ads or direct mail flyers at creating brand awareness among consumers (and 24 times more effective at generating social media shares).
It’s easy to understand why: We’re simply wired this way—for decades now our brains have been trained by TV commercials and billboards featuring images rather than words (and it’s only gotten worse with the rise of smartphones). As a result, many people are now conditioned to not just graze over ads but actively avoid them altogether. That is unless the ad can catch their attention in some way through design alone (which isn’t always easy since most companies use stock images from Shutterstock).
Trend 3: Create real connections
People want to feel connected to brands, and they’re willing to pay more for those that make them feel like part of the family (or community). The importance of building a community cannot be overstated. It’s not just about creating a platform where people can interact with each other as fans; it’s also about connecting emotionally with fans through authentic experiences and getting them personally invested in your brand.
In order to build trust, you have to be authentic—and by being authentic yourself, you will allow others to be authentic too. That means listening as well as speaking up when necessary. And last but certainly not least, use storytelling effectively—it’s all about staying human!
Trend 4: Sharing is caring
Share. Share. Share.
The world has always been about sharing, but now it’s more important than ever for marketers to share their content, and also to share other people’s content. That means you need to be sharing your own thoughts, experiences and opinions with your audience—and then you need to be sharing other people’s thoughts, experiences and opinions as well
Trend 5: Don’t ignore the haters
Haters are a fact of life and they’re not going away. But don’t get distracted by the naysayers—they’re only out there to try to change your focus, and that’s not good for business.
If you keep an eye on what people are saying about you, whether it’s positive or negative, you’ll be able to identify pain points in your product or service before anyone else does. For example: if customers love your product but hate its price tag, then maybe it’s time for a price hike. If customers hate the color scheme of one of your products but love everything else about it, then maybe changing up the color scheme would help boost sales without hurting customer satisfaction too much (and without requiring any major redesigns).
Trend 6: Use channels to create a cohesive strategy
The strategy for your business would be to use channels like social media, email, print and video to get the message across.
It’s a good idea to have a website with information about what you do and how it benefits customers.
Try not to bombard people with too much information; instead give them just enough so that they know who you are and what you offer before encouraging them to explore further.
Trend 7: Content marketing and PR are best friends
Content marketing and PR are best friends. There’s no getting around it: content is king in the digital age. We all know that video, images and text have become the primary ways we get our information online—and many brands have capitalized on this opportunity by creating their own original content for their audiences to consume. With so many options available to them, consumers are becoming increasingly selective about what they choose to view and share (or not). This means businesses need to create compelling content that resonates with their audience if they want to stand out from the crowd.
Content marketing is a great way to promote your brand. Creating original material can also help you establish yourself as an authority within your niche or industry—a reputation that will help build trust among potential customers and drive sales down the road when they’re ready for more information about your products/services or ready for action (e-commerce purchases).
Trend 8: Go niche or go home
If you’re not already, it’s time to go niche or go home—or, more accurately, niche or fail.
Marketing is going to be more competitive than ever in the next few years and marketers are going to have to find creative ways of standing out from the crowd. Niche marketing is a great way to do this because it allows you to create a brand that is unique and specific, which can really help your business stand out from competitors.
Trend 9: Just add data
Data is the new oil, and if you want to stay ahead of the curve, you need to be using it. If your company is still collecting data by hand or through surveys, well…you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you.
It’s not always easy to get access to good data—especially when other companies are vying for it too—but if your brand can get its hands on some quality information about its customer base and how they interact with content online, then there are literally countless ways that insight can be used within a marketing strategy.
For example: You might use this information as part of an A/B test around where certain types of ads should appear across different channels in order for them to reach their intended audience most effectively (and therefore earning more revenue). The color red might appeal more strongly than blue; thus, red ads would perform better on Facebook while blue ones do better on Google AdSense.
Trend 10: Leave room for storytelling
If you’re going to be writing content for the next three years, make sure it’s going to be memorable. This can be done by using a story structure and making sure that your story is engaging. Stories are one of the most powerful communication tools we have because they engage our emotions more than facts or numbers ever will. As such, they help us build trust with our audience — which leads to sharing and engagement.
In other words: if you want your content remembered, use stories!
Get ready to embrace change.
The future of marketing is a constantly changing landscape. To succeed, you need to be prepared for anything. The best way to do this is by keeping your eyes on the prize and not being afraid of change—or failure. Change is inevitable; if you’re not ready for it, it won’t matter how much effort you put into trying to stay ahead of the curve.
Overall, we recommend staying flexible and open-minded toward new ideas and methods. If something isn’t working or doesn’t feel right at first glance, don’t be afraid to try again with a different approach: maybe even one that seems counterintuitive or strange at first glance!
Conclusion
That’s it. We hope we’ve given you some things to think about as you make your marketing plan for the next few years. You may feel like there are too many trends to keep up with, but don’t worry! All of these trends can be incorporated into your existing strategy and used in combination with each other to create an even more powerful brand identity that will set you apart from the crowd. And if you have any questions, don’t be afraid to reach out!
© 2024 O’Keeffe. All Rights Reserved. | Sitemap
