What are the Top Digital Marketing Trends for 2023?

As consumers increasingly demand more from the products and services they buy, and as the global cost of living crisis looms in 2023, brands must be prepared.

It means it will be increasingly crucial for brands to be transparent, to reflect on their messaging, and to review and adapt their strategy in the coming year. It also means that marketers need to be aware of future trends and be able to plan and respond to new developments.

In our podcast, we spoke with industry experts to identify critical trends as we approach 2023. You can also watch our trends webinar to learn more about the key things to expect in 2023.

Read on to learn more about the trends coming in 2023.

In social media and influencer marketing, we look at TikTok and businesses, the rise of creativity and super apps.

In B2B marketing, we discover the value of video content, how to sell through social media and how to organize content.

In content marketing, there is a constant need for more connections, partnerships between creators and brands, and the production of valuable content.

Digital Marketing technology will also continue to evolve, and CROs will become more prevalent. Metadata will not go away, either.

1. Trends in media and influencer marketing

An exciting downward trend is emerging in social media in 2023. It is a marketing space undergoing significant changes, and brands need to be up-to-date to appear and use these platforms effectively.

TikTok continues to grow and become dominant.

TikTok is one of the most prominent players in social media marketing. And that will stay the same in 2023: according to The Business of Apps, TikTok's revenue in 2021 was $4.6 billion, a 142 per cent year-over-year increase.

TikTok is not limiting its users or creators. The platform aims to be bigger and better for brands by 2023, focusing on ease of use and advanced advertising capabilities for businesses.

 We've seen improvements in the ease of use of billboards for businesses and new ad targeting options, which is excellent." - Alison Batisby, the social media consultant at Avocado Social, said.

The new head of targeted advertising at TikTok

Decentralization of social media and the emergence of "super apps".

Twitter's changes have exposed the weaknesses of the social media platform. Users no longer want to interact with platforms run by billionaires and want to control their content and data.

According to Batisby, "we are moving towards a social network that needs to be decentralized." An engaging new platform is Mastodon, which has seen massive downloads in recent weeks. It is an exciting tool because ordinary citizens created it.

Other applications are also in development, such as BlueSky, developed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Although it is more of an infrastructure than a platform, the company describes it as "a new framework for the social web, freeing platform creators, giving them creative freedom and allowing users to choose their own experiences."

As brand awareness (rather than a lead generation) becomes an increasingly important goal in social media, marketers need to find writers (big and small) who have a voice and a following.

In a world of limited time, it can be difficult for brands to create content that engages customers. That's where content creators come in, and they don't have to be celebrity influencers. They can be employees, customers or even experts in a particular field.

Since COVID, a new social media culture has emerged, focusing on the content rather than the number of followers. I think this is driving brands to work more with influencers and content creators," says Neil Schafer, social media manager and author.

The increased funding for creators on TikTok, YouTube and Twitch has allowed them to spend more time creating content that brands can use.

HubSpot's State of Consumer Trends 2022 report.

2 B2B marketing trends

B2B marketing can be seen as boring or at least less exciting than B2C marketing. But that doesn't have to be the case: as a B2B company, you must get creative with your marketing and use the channels and tools available to make it memorable.

Video, video and more video

As marketers, we know the power of a good video campaign as an informational and relationship-building tool. After all, 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, and 92% use it as an integral part of their strategy (according to a Wy owl study).

According to the same study, companies use video for various reasons, with explainer videos leading the way, followed by social media videos and presentations.

Purpose of videos

The purpose of the video

It is especially true on LinkedIn, as video is gaining popularity on this platform and offers the opportunity to connect with and influence customers.

LinkedIn has quickly become a place where people can create user-generated content... They can do it differently, depending on their style and budget. But video adds a lot of personality to the platform and makes it easier to share content. It's a great way to act as a manager and a connector," says

1. Content marketing trends

According to a study by the Content Marketing Institute, 78% of marketers have a strategic approach to content management, but only slightly more than half have a documented strategy. In today's content-rich environment, this needs to be corrected.

Using content to generate leads

In 2023, content should be used to build relationships and communities. Customers are increasingly sensitive to brand values and ethics, and companies that cultivate and nurture relationships will succeed.

"Social media and email marketing still play an important role, but for me, the most valuable thing is the community," says Kate Tooned, founder of Stay Tooned. People need community and want to connect with others and receive support.

And community leaders must know each other. People want to feel like they are buying from a company that shares their values.

Clarify and define the partnership between designers and brands.

There is a lot of online advertising, which means a lot of content. Some of that content is great but often features the wrong influencers or speaks to the wrong audience. This is where a good collaboration between designers and brands can make all the difference.

Many designers want to grow and expand in 2023. That means they want to collaborate with brands (and sponsors) to make their contribution more natural and work with companies that can guide and support them rather than going alone.

The Deloitte survey shows it's more than just the money for many creatives.

What are creatives looking for when working with brands?

What do creatives who work with brands care about?

Brands need to look for more user-generated content and influencers to stand out. According to Neil Schafer, they need to amplify other people's voices rather than their own.

Content needs to be balanced to add value, not just sales.

. It won't be easy if you need help understanding your data, integrating it into tools and using it to automate customer communications. According to Ken Fitzpatrick, executive director of the Digital Marketing Institute, it is possible to automate things like "the next best thing" based on

 

Artificial Intelligence and the launch of GPT-4You may not have heard of GPT-4 (Generative Pre-Trainer 4), but it's a next-generation tool that helps marketers automate many tasks.

OpenAI developed the tool as a deep learning model that generates text using web content as training material. It is used for Q&A, text summarization, machine translation, classification, code generation and dialogue-based artificial intelligence.

According to Clark Boyd, a digital strategy consultant, this could create new opportunities for marketers: specific enterprise applications (using GPT-4) will start to emerge. For example, a lot of money is invested in start-ups trying to create content creation tools for social media. All you have to do is enter some information about your brand, and the device will develop 50 content ideas from which you can select and publish the ones that interest you the most."

To learn more about the impact of AI on content marketing, listen to The Art of Copywriting podcast.

1. Marketing technology trends in 2023.

Marketing technology: marketing technology is the software used to create, execute, manage and measure the effectiveness of content (online and offline), campaigns and experiences. It is an effective way to optimize the customer experience and manage multi-channel marketing campaigns.

Spending on marketing technology continues to grow

According to eMarketer, marketing technology spending in the U.S. will exceed $20 billion for the first time in 2022, a 15 % increase from last year. This spending will be driven by investments in technologies that enable companies to collect and store data, use it in decision-making and act on it.

Interestingly, B2B companies account for more than 30% of this spending, expected to increase slightly in the coming years, reaching $8.5 billion by 2024.