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Stay Ahead of These Five Emerging Marketing Trends Throughout 2023

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In the exciting and fast-paced world of marketing, change is constant. Marketing trends are constantly evolving, and it’s up to brand leaders to stay up to date on the latest developments and adapt their marketing strategies to stand out from the competition. Keeping up with these changes isn’t always easy, but it’s essential in order to remain relevant with your audience and build enduring customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Trends happen for a reason. In many instances, they provide valuable insight into how your brand can best reach and connect with your target audiences. Staying on top and ahead of the trends is the first step. Determining how to best utilize the trends to your benefit can be an important differentiator.

As the second quarter of 2023 begins, these are the five biggest trends you should be tracking and maximizing:

1. Personalization: Customers are increasingly expecting personalized experiences from brands, and this trend is likely to continue throughout 2023. Customer expectations around personalization are also on the rise with 73% of shoppers expecting brands to understand their unique needs and expectations.  (Source: Insider Intelligence). While personalization was once a nice-to-have bonus, it is now essential for standing out within an increasingly competitive digital landscape.

To meet customers’ needs and preferences, brands will need to use data and technology to better understand their customers and tailor their marketing messages and offers accordingly. If you’re able to get this right, you can win a loyal customer who feels deeply connected to your brand.

2. Video marketing:  If video marketing is the future, the future is here! It’s not a major surprise that video is becoming an increasingly popular form of content, and this trend and demand is expected to continue for the remainder of 2023. A recent study shows that as many as 91% of consumers want to see more online video content from brands (Source: Wyzowl). And since 2017, the amount of online video consumed monthly has more than quadrupled.

    Brands will need to create high-quality video content that engages their target audience across a range of platforms, including social media, websites, and more. In my opinion, short and sweet is the way to “win” with video content. In fact, according to Sprout Social’s recent survey, short-form videos are found to be the most engaging. As many as two-thirds of consumers (66%) say they pay the most attention to short-form videos—2.5 times more than long-form videos. This is in line with the increasing number of videos on channels such as TikTok, YouTube and Instagram and video becoming an expected part of the online and social media experience.

    3. Influencer marketing: Influencer marketing has become a popular way for brands to reach new audiences and build brand awareness. Throughout the rest of 2023, I expect to see more brands partnering with influencers to promote their products and services, particularly on social media platforms including shorter form video platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Creator marketing can help drive brand growth and overall visibility across the entire purchasing funnel and many companies have begun to leverage online as well as offline influencer strategies over the past few years.  

    I believe the rise of micro-influencers will be where brands can stand out and successful leverage influencers as well as social media overall. As consumers are looking for more relevant and relatable content, marketers are turning to nano- or micro-influencer collaborations. These often-unpaid content creators with 1,000 to 100,000 followers have very active and engaged audiences. The benefit in my mind of these “smaller influencers” is that they often have a greater ability to truly connect with their community, which can give them significant influencing power. Consumers in general are likely to trust them for their expertise, product reviews and service recommendations. When brands activate them at scale, nano- and micro-influencers can be a great way to target niche audiences, drive awareness and boost sales.

    4. Sustainability: Customers are increasingly concerned about environmental and social issues, and they expect brands to act on these issues. Sustainable marketing is the promotion of environmentally and socially responsible products, practices, and brand values. If you’ve ever spent a little bit more on something because you knew it was locally sourced or 100% recyclable, you’ve taken part in supporting sustainable marketing.

    Within 2023, we can expect to see more brands promoting their sustainability efforts and highlighting their commitment to social responsibility. There are several ways brands can begin to approach becoming more sustainable including donating profits to sustainable causes, sourcing sustainably materials or packaging, and creating products that aides in sustainable living or more. One of my favorite brands and category sustainable commerce leaders, Patagonia, pledged 15% of sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment since 1985. In 2022, that amounted to a total of over $140 million. They have also set a target to become completely carbon neutral by 2025.

    The big picture of embracing sustainable marketing is that you’re able to position your brand as an active figure in an environmental or societal issue. It can humanize your brand messages and create another reason why customers should choose you over your competition.

    5. Voice search optimization: Consumers are beginning to search for more things using their voices. In fact, the number of voice assistants is expected to reach 8 billion units in 2023, up from 3.25 billion in 2019. (Source: Statista)

    I maintain that 2023 is the year of voice search optimization. As more people use voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, brands will need to optimize their content for voice search. This means creating content that is easily discoverable and readable by voice assistants and making sure that the brand website is optimized for voice search. Voice search is not just a component of today’s digital marketing landscape, it’s the future. Search engines are becoming more advanced and voice assistants are getting better at understanding the incoming questions and will provide more accurate results. In turn, that accuracy can encourage more people to take advantage of voice search instead of the more traditional time-consuming search process. 

    By focusing on personalization, video marketing, influencer marketing, sustainability, and voice search optimization, brands can stay ahead of the curve in 2023. What else are you working on this year? Leave a comment below.

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    The Future of Content Generation

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    If someone offered you a crystal ball that could tell you the future of content generation, would you want it?  As a member of The Upside, an award-winning community and accelerator for thriving consultants, I participated in a recent Clubhouse event discussing the future of content generation.  This got me thinking about trends for the remainder of this year and beyond.

    Following an amazing discussion with Erin Halper, CEO of The Upside, and my colleagues Rebecca Orlov, Rachel Dorton, and Lisa Weiss, I asked my LinkedIn network to provide some tips and content marketing trends they were most excited about as we enter the second half of 2021.

    As you begin planning your content marketing strategy for the remainder of this year, I encourage you to keep the below trends and tips in mind.  Overall, developing high-quality content that doesn’t necessarily require more resources was a major focus among the panelists. This can go a long way toward crushing key marketing objectives in 2021.

    The Emergence of Audio Platforms

    Back in April I wrote an article for Search Engine Watch on whether Clubhouse was really worth the hype.  Within the post I explored how brands can use Clubhouse to build an online community to further add value and drive engagement.  My key takeaway was that although it came onto the market at the right time, I’m cautious about its role over the long term.  As Twitter, LinkedIn, and other audio apps emerge Clubhouse will have to quickly adapt and make some changes if it wants to become a mainstream platform for brand marketers.

    Although I remain interested and active on the platform, I’m cautious that it’s the “popular kids” hangout and the allure and interest is largely based around buzz.  Certainly, brands can and should listen into ongoing conversations and get ideas about the topics target audiences and tuning into and discussing.  The brands that listen openly to new ideas and have a pulse on the culture and content their market is exposed to will have a long-standing advantage and edge.

    Margaret Molloy, the Global Chief Marketing Officer at Siegel+Gale added, “I expect to see more audio content from an evolution of live audio platforms including Twitter Spaces or Clubhouse as well as the expansion of podcasts.  The mobility and portability are so attractive as people recommence commuting or continue to do more exercise or even simply walking their dogs!”

    Danielle Guzman, the Global Head of Social Media at Mercer added, “The rise of social audio will drive growth in a conversation-first approach to content.  Start with a conversation (aka social audio platforms) and use that conversation as fuel for your content plan, putting the experts (influencers, SMEs, employee advocates) at the center of your content strategy), and then when you activate on channels, those voices are amplified in content different formats.”

    I agree with Danielle and Margaret that audio platforms offer a much-needed relief for the Zoom fatigue many of us experienced this year.  Although they are mobile friendly, they’re merely a part of a set of tools we must have within our pocket.  When used properly and effectively audio can be used to help achieve success for your brand.  The future of audio platforms seems bright, and it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds over time.

    Explosion of Video Content

    With major events out of play the for bulk of 2021, video and webinar content became even more important—and guess what, it’s not going away.  Consumers want to get information and learn quickly and there’s no better way to do that without video marketing.  Video is a quick and effective medium to communicate your message and educate your audience. Video content is on a seemingly never-ending rise around the world.

    Cisco’s Annual Internet Report reported that video content is predicted to amount to a whopping 82% of all internet traffic.  Additionally, according to a HubSpot survey, over 54% of consumers would like to see more content from their brands.  It’s pretty clear that video is what we need to focus on in 2021!  

    This isn’t to say you should ignore all other forms of content, but it does mean that video must be at the forefront of your strategy.  Sarah-Jane Manco, a marketing and communications senior professional within the financial services industry, added, “I see short form video sticking around for a lot longer.  Our attention spans are shortening thanks to social media, so condensing your message into a 15-30 second video is the way forward!”  

    I couldn’t agree more and encourage brands and marketers to continue to develop short content to cut through the digital noise and amplify your story.  It’s important to use a variety of video formats to fit your brand, industry, and niche, and optimize them for every step of the customer’s journey.

    The More Personal, the BETTER!

    Personalization in 2021 goes beyond merely addressing your customer by their name in emails or when you’re talking to them via chat. In the years to come, technologies like artificial intelligence will make data analysis more efficient and effective, allowing you to achieve hyper-personalized communication.

    Providing a stellar customer experience is no longer a “nice to have;” it’s now a true necessity. Customers expect and demand seamless and personalized experiences throughout their journey with your brand.  User-generated content (UGC) is a highly effective way of creating more connected relationships with customers, especially when leveraged across social media channels.    UGC provides an additional stream of content that is typically engaging, authentic and reflective of the overall brand promise.

    Building Content Communities

    Creators are now in the driver’s seat and users are in for the ride alongside them.  With the rise of Clubhouse offering authenticity through voice or Slack communities across tech, building communities has been a push for marketing teams for the remainder of the year.

    However, building communities specifically around content sharing and creation will allow marketing teams to continue to expand their reach, even with fewer resources.

    Expanding your reach is great for brand awareness—and, of course, your metrics—but that kind of inclusion is also good for fostering a sense of community with your audience, too.

    Repackaging Content

    One of the major threads within my LinkedIn post was the use of repurposing content. Repackaging content is nothing new, but the idea is to turn existing content into new formats.  Tom Pick, a B2B Tech Digital Marketing Consultant, added that he thinks “we’ll see more’ video first’ content creation.  Meaning, creators will start by recording an online video with an expert, maybe live, maybe not.  The audio will be repurposed as a podcast, and the transcript as a blog post (or more than one).  Then excerpts will be pulled from a string of these to create an expert roundup post.  It’s the next stage of repurposing.”

    This idea of the future state of repurposed and repackaged content will allow for us to turn existing how-to articles into visual flowcharts or revise an article into a podcast or even a mini audiobook.  The main aspect of content repackaging is that a new content piece creates value of its own.  It’s not just about re-marketing your old content simply for additional clicks or conversions.  Content repackaging is the marketing tactic that aims to give your audience a new way to consume information.  It also involves expanding your own content with new research and up-to-date information.

    April Rudin the Founder and CEO of the Rudin Group added, “Personalization and the opportunity to repurpose existing content is HUGE particularly for regulated industries like financial services and pharmaceutical, I’m a fan of infographics and data visuals to help tell stories in a snapshot. To me, video should be used sparingly and in short spurts, no one wants to watch lengthy videos or listen to long podcasts without visuals.

    Meredith Bodgas, the Editorial Strategy Lead at Toptal, added, “Consider repackaging of existing content to match the different platforms on which you might not be using that content.”  What I love about Meredith’s advice is that it allows us to create new and unique content for a variety of social media channels. It lets us experiment with many content formats and identify our best-working engagement tactics. 

    Like any other content marketing strategy, repackaging content is all about consistency.  I recommend brands create 2-3 additional content assets whenever they publish a new article.  Consider using some of the advice within this article, such as developing a piece of audio content, adding a voice over or turning a presentation into a video. 

    A good rule of thumb according to Singlegrain is that we should be spending 20% of our time on content creation and 80% on content promotion.  They offer some great tips within the article about the basics of promotion and the foundation of developing GOOD content.  Remember, content is king, and will continue to be for many years to come.

    What else would you add to what’s in store for the future of content generation?  Leave a comment below or send me a tweet @marissapick

    “Be Prepared to Be Spontaneous”

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    Last week I attended BtoB Magazine’s Digital Edge Live conference in NYC.  One of the quotes which really resonated with me was from the Executive Director of Global Brand Marketing, Linda Boff who urged attendees to “be prepared to be spontaneous,” and try real-time marketing.   We live in a society now where people can consume media as they want.   What does that mean in the world of content marketing? That in order to succeed your brand must cut through the noise to reach your audience.  You must be spontaneous, cutting edge, and doing something different to capture their attention. One of the creator’s of the now famous Oreo super-bowl campaign was on the B2B’s Edgy Side: Top Trends in Digital Marketing panel with Linda.  He discussed the importance of always being ready as a brand, and leveraging the unknown for spontaneity, and the success that his client Oreo had from doing so.

    From this Event I had four takeaways I’d like to share:

    1) Journey:  It’s important to figure out the meaning of any campaign, before embarking on it.  Before doing anything, it’s important to set clear expectations from what you want while understanding the true DNA of your company, or your clients.  Deciding what to do, is just as important as deciding what not to do.

    2) Online Video:  The discussion of online video and leveraging visual social media marketing was a hot topic throughout the day.  Panelists urged that the ideal time for a video is two minutes, and that whatever is produced should offer tips and trends or solve a problem.  Leveraging people and quotes are another quick way to make your video stand out.  Online video was picked as a 2014 top digital marketing trends by several of the speakers, so make sure your brand is ready!

    3) Three C’s of Content Marketing: (Content, Conversation, and Commerce).  These three simple C’s are so simple; it all starts with good content before embarking on any campaign.  Good content should start the conversation and be shareable.  Leveraging that content into commerce comes last.  Think about how you can utilize that content whether it be in a lead generation campaign to drive downloads, or around an email campaign spelling out a customer journey.  So basic, yet so very effective if you can get this right!

    4) Don’t Sell in Social: This to me was one of the strongest points of the day, and something I wish I could tell ALL of those vendors who send me LinkedIn messages! Don’t sell in social, ENGAGE in social media. Social media is a place to share content, and add and exchange value.

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    As an old BtoB employee this conference was somewhat bittersweet as Crain Communications announced that BtoB will merge into Advertising Age effective 1/1/14.   Rance Crain, president of Crain Communications and editor-in-chief of Advertising Age said: “B2B and consumer marketers are increasingly using similar tools and wrestling with the same challenges, so it just made sense to have a single marketing publication. We think we can do a better job if we coordinate coverage of all marketing under one brand, with one strategy.”  It was fun to get together with a group of old & current BtoB staffers at the event… I’m wishing all of my old co-worker’s and colleagues the best as they embark onto the next part of this journey…

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