Marketing has always been about reaching your target audience at the right time and place. However, with 5.16 billion internet users worldwide as of January 2023, you need to connect with your audience online, where they’re already spending time. This is where digital marketing comes into play.
Like traditional marketing, digital marketing constantly evolves and creates new opportunities for businesses to grow and improve. For this reason, keeping up with the most recent digital marketing trends will help improve your campaigns and provide critical decision-making insights, dramatically reducing the risk of losing conversions and potential clients.
If your company wants to stay on top of its game this coming year, check out the following digital marketing trends in 2023.
Top Digital Marketing Trends in 2023
1. The Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools Will Skyrocket
The digital environment is evolving thanks to artificial intelligence. AI can better identify marketing trends due to practical data analysis and its capacity for dynamic input adaptation. Additionally, AI has made it easier for brands and marketers to improve their digital marketing efforts, increase sales, acquire new clients, and drive relevant traffic to relevant content.
One study found that 98% of companies plan on investing in AI tools this year to save money, reduce time spent on content creation, and employ fewer members in content teams. Another report predicted that 10% of Fortune 500 enterprises would invest in AI-supported digital content creation.
The question is no longer whether or not businesses should use AI but how they should do so. In a 2022 survey, half of the businesses worldwide have implemented AI in at least one business area. With the goal of optimizing service operations, models for creating text, images, audio, and videos will become more essential to daily workflows in 2023.
2. Influencer Marketing Will Continue to Rise
Influencer marketing combines traditional and modern marketing strategies. Social media influencers and celebrity endorsers are similar in that both help brands promote their products and services. The only difference is that influencers are more regarded as regular consumers, making them reliable sources for product recommendations and advice.
So much so that 37% of consumers trust them more than brands, with Gen Z and Millennials being two times more likely than Boomers to trust influencers. For this reason, more brands will likely invest in influencer marketing or strengthen their existing partnerships.
Global influencer marketing was valued at $16.4 billion in 2022. Spending on influencer marketing is anticipated to increase by 15.9% and 23.4%, respectively, in 2023 and 2024. By 2024, influencer marketing spending will likely generate $7.14 billion in total revenue (up from $4.99 billion in 2022).
Social media platforms Instagram and TikTok have largely invested in influencer marketing over the past few years since they’re where influencers make a living as well. In 2022, Instagram spent $2.23 billion on influencer marketing, while TikTok allocated $774.8 million.
According to Insider Intelligence, influencer marketing spending on TikTok will likely surpass YouTube in the next few years due to the platform’s more significant popularity.
3. Short Videos Will Gain More Traction Over Static Posts
Meta and Instagram have reels, YouTube prioritizes YouTube Shorts, and Google gives video content more weight in its search results. These new features are modeled after the short-form video platform TikTok, which has emerged as a significant player in the travel shopping market.
According to Wyzowl, 96% of marketers will continue seeing video as an important component of their marketing strategy. Meanwhile, 70% of ‘non-videomarketers’ plan to start online video marketing in 2023.
It’s no surprise that more and more marketers see video as a valuable marketing tool. In 2022, 96% of marketers said video marketing increased user understanding of their product or service, while 95% believe it increased brand awareness. Other marketers also saw video as a powerful tool for increasing traffic and sales, generating leads, reducing support queries, and getting a good return on investment.
Many companies today already use short videos in their digital marketing efforts. For instance, Canva uses YouTube shorts and TikTok to share design tool tutorials in less than 30 seconds. Canva has over 100 million monthly active users (MAUs) in over 190 countries and is now a hugely popular design solution.
4. Email Marketing Will Continue to Drive Lead Generation
Email marketing is one of the most successful digital marketing channels for promoting conversions and generating revenue. So much so that the global email marketing market was valued at $9.62 billion in 2022, expected to increase to $10.9 billion this year thanks to many new emerging trends.
For instance, brands will integrate or continue using AI and automation in their email marketing efforts to personalize emails, access and analyze customer data, and generate engaging content and subject lines. More businesses will also likely gamify their emails to stand out from their competitors and engage with subscribers more.
5. Employee Advocacy Will be Strengthened
Past studies have shown that half of workers voluntarily share content about their employer on social media, making businesses and recruiters realize the power of employee advocacy in boosting their employer branding. As more people quit their jobs in search of better pay, flexible work arrangements, and more fulfilling opportunities, employee advocacy will play a bigger role in employer branding in 2023.
Take Starbucks as an example. The company created a hashtag #tobeapartner, which employees can use on social media. This campaign provided Starbucks employees a space to connect and the company a platform to showcase its culture and innovation around the world. As of February 2023, more than 900,000 posts on Instagram include the hashtag.
Employee-advocated content that embodies your company’s core values humanizes your brand and helps it succeed.
6. LinkedIn as a B2B Powerhouse
LinkedIn significantly impacts B2B marketing strategies because it enables business owners in any sector to reach out to more than 690 million users and easily connect with their target market. According to Content Marketing Institute, organic usage of LinkedIn for B2B content marketing increased from 93% in 2021 to 96% in 2022.
Though only a small increase, we can expect the same growth in 2023 as 77% of content marketers believe LinkedIn yields the best organic results. LinkedIn also outperforms Facebook and Twitter in terms of lead generation among marketers by 277%.
7. Customer Loyalty Will be the Focus
Staying ahead of the competition includes providing valued customers with privileges, promotions, and benefits to pique their interest. As of 2022, 76% of consumers worldwide say they are loyal to one or more brands, up from 67% in 2021.
Customers have gained more control over their interactions with brands. They want to be heard and understood. Regular or returning customers will likely spend 67% more than new customers. With so many brands providing a wealth of value, those who don’t prioritize customer loyalty will eventually disappear.
Let’s look at Sephora’s Beauty Insider rewards program, which measures success based on its members’ level of engagement. The beauty retailer’s more than 25 million devoted members account for up to 80% of annual sales. Giving loyalty members the freedom to choose allows Sephora to provide customers with the deals and products they prefer.
8. Form-Building to Collect Zero-Party Data is the Future
Zero-party data is information that a customer voluntarily shares with a company. It includes information a customer wants a brand to know about them, like size preferences, fashion tastes, and purchase plans. While data privacy is still largely controversial, more and more people are becoming familiar with data and technology, slightly easing their worries about businesses misusing their information.
Besides, many consumers today believe that allowing access to their data leads to personalized product or service offerings. A 2022 study found that 47% of global consumers offer their data to access a clear benefit. Another study revealed that 49% of consumers dislike irrelevant content or offers, while another 41% feel annoyed with messages that don’t reflect their wants and needs.
One brand that effectively uses zero-party data is Yelp. The business review site takes advantage of customer information to highlight restaurant attributes that align with its users’ preferences, helping them make informed decisions. Personalization using zero-party data contributes to a stronger relationship with customers.
9. Product Launches and Small Businesses Will Use Email Marketing More
The fact that readers enjoy brand emails is fantastic news for small businesses. According to Campaign Monitor, 64.1% of small businesses already use email marketing, with another 71.8% particularly using email to engage with customers.
We can expect these numbers to increase as more small businesses realize the power of email marketing when it comes to:
- Promoting products and services;
- Strengthening customer loyalty;
- Showing industry expertise; and
- Highlighting advocacies and social responsibility efforts.
Email marketing also offers big returns. The average email conversion rate in 2022 was 8.17%. While lower than 2021’s average CTR of 8.87%, converting that many email subscribers still pose a big advantage for retailers who can effectively and repeatedly engage their customers.
10. The Internet of Things (IoT) Will Continue to Gain Popularity
In recent years, IoT has become a valuable tool in digital marketing because it provides marketers with real-time access to more customer data like product usage. We can expect this innovation to continue contributing to digital marketing in 2023 as the total number installed base of IoT-connected devices worldwide is projected to amount to 19.8 billion this year, up from 16.4 billion in 2022.
With IoT, marketers can access simplified sales data, analyze consumer information, and increase advertising effectiveness, among other things.
Many brands utilized IoT in 2022 to improve their digital marketing. For instance, beer company Heineken gave away Bluetooth-connected bottle openers called “The Closer” to promote work-life balance, which was greatly affected during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using IoT technology, the bottle opener will immediately shut down all work apps on the user’s phone when they open a bottle of Heineken.
11. Brand Customers Will Want More Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction will become more crucial than ever as more and more consumers realize their priorities and seek brands that align with their values. A 2022 study found 82% of shoppers said they want a brand’s values to align with their own. If their favorite brand upholds opposing principles, 39% said they’d permanently boycott the business, and 24% would temporarily break ties.
In today’s digital age, it’s easier for customers to find alternative brands. As such, businesses must work on customer satisfaction to increase customer retention, lifetime value, and brand reputation. Research from Qualitrics shows that customers who rate their interaction as a five-star experience are more than twice as likely to buy more from a company as customers who had a one- or two-star experience. They also predicted that brands could win consumer loyalty in 2023 through personal connections instead of operational efficiency.
12. Digital Marketing Agency Outsourcing Will Rise
A 2022 study found that 24% of small businesses outsourced digital marketing services in 2022. This number will likely increase as more businesses seek efficient and cost-effective ways to recover from their losses during the pandemic and keep their operations afloat this year.
Outsourcing to a digital marketing team can help you cast a wide net and connect with people on various channels for a profitable ROI. Digital marketers know the best ways to win over your target market. Therefore, why not entrust a specialized team with your online marketing?
Spiralytics provides digital marketing services to help you navigate the competitive digital marketing landscape. Our mix of engaging content and targeted advertising will help you reach your audience, capture their attention, and direct them to your conversion-optimized website.
Don’t Miss Out on Digital Marketing
2023 brings new opportunities for businesses to improve their digital marketing strategies or start unique efforts to bring in new customers, increase sales, and establish leadership in their respective fields. However, you can’t do it all without knowing the latest digital marketing trends that will shape the industry this year.
Take the trends above as benchmarks for your digital marketing initiatives this 2023. The earlier you can get ahead of the game, the faster you can reach your target audiences and beat your competitors.
Whether you run a small or large business, hiring a digital marketing agency like Spiralytics will help you create enough high-quality content while allowing you to take advantage of growth opportunities.
Contact us to learn how we can help you thrive in 2023 and beyond!
