1. Influencer marketing will evolve into a common marketing tactic.
In 2022, influencer marketing gained significant momentum and we anticipate that this trend will continue to gain traction in 2023. This is primarily due to the fact that a whopping 89% of marketers who presently utilise influencer marketing plan to either increase or maintain their investment in this area for the upcoming year. Furthermore, an additional 17% of marketers intend to venture into influencer marketing for the first time in the upcoming year. By partnering with influencers and thought leaders in their respective industries, marketers can effectively enhance brand visibility and attract new fans from the influencer's existing audience.
2. Video marketers will keep content short.
The marketing landscape has been revolutionised by short-form video, and we foresee this trend to continue in 2023. Remarkably, 90% of marketers who are currently utilising short-form video plan to either increase or maintain their in
vestment in this domain in the coming year. Additionally, one out of every five marketers intends to use short-form videos for the first time in 2023. This indicates that short-form video has emerged as a favoured tool for marketers to effectively engage with their target audience and convey their message in a concise and engaging manner.
3. Social media will become a customer service tool.
Although leveraging social media as a customer service tool is a relatively new concept, it has rapidly gained momentum. In fact, over 25% of marketers currently utilise direct messages (DMs) to offer customer support, and 15% of marketers are planning to experiment with this strategy for the first time in 2023. This trend is emerging
in tandem with the expansion of e-commerce capabilities on popular social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, making it even more critical to provide prompt customer service on these channels.
4. More businesses will leverage SEO to concur search traffic.
In order to maximise both short-term and long-term traffic returns, it is crucial for marketers to ensure that their websites and content are easily discoverable on Google. Although SEO is not a novel concept, its significance has become even more deeply ingrained in modern marketing strategies. Despite ranking third in terms of the trend that marketers plan to invest the most money in for 2023, SEO is still a critical aspect of digital marketing. In fact, 88% of marketers with an existing SEO strategy intend to either increase or maintain their investment in this area in 2023, representing a slight increase from the previous year's 84%.
5. Mobile optimisation will be even more important.
The amount of time consumers spend on mobile devices has continued to increase steadily. Presently, more than 50% of annual website traffic comes from mobile devices, including tablets. As the buying power of millennials and Gen Z audiences grow, it is increasingly essential for businesses to consider mobile-optimised digital experiences that cater to these tech-savvy and fast-paced generations. There are numerous reasons why this is critical, including the fact that 33% of global marketers invest in mobile web design, while 64% of SEO marketers consider mobile optimisation as an effective inv
estment. Additionally, mobile experiences are crucial in other key marketing strategies, such as email marketing, with 56% of marketers focusing on providing mobile email experiences to their subscribers.
6. More companies will prioritise social responsibility.
The importance of social responsibility, ethics, and transparency to modern consumers is a clear trend. This is evident from the fact that 89% of marketers who create social responsibility content plan to either increase or maintain their investment in 2023, which is almost double the figure from the previous year. A notable example of this trend is the fact that 50% of Gen Z-ers and 40% of Millennials expect companies to take a stand on social issues, including racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, gender inequality, and climate change. When companies advocate for these issues, it strongly influences consumers' purchase decisions.
7. Aligned marketing and sales teams will win.
As we approach 2023, it is becoming increasingly critical for sales and marketing teams to collaborate. When these teams work in harmony, marketers gain a more comprehensive understanding of their customers, including their interests, hobbies, and demographics. However, when collaboration is absent, it creates numerous problems for everyone involved. A significant issue is a difficulty of sharing and accessing data across teams, which is currently a challenge for 1 in 5 marketers. Alarmingly, only 31% of marketers claim that their sales and marketing teams are strongly aligned. Therefore, it is unsurprising that almost half of the marketers are prioritising sales and marketing alignment as a goal for 2023.
8. Experiential marketing could make a comeback.
Experiential marketing campaigns offer audiences an immersive experience, often in a physical space or through AR/VR technology. These experiences were highly effective and shareable on social media but faced challenges in 2020 and 2021 due to widespread shutdowns caused by the pandemic. Producing branded AR/VR experiences can be expensive and may require audiences to have specific technology, which has limited smaller brands from investing in digital experiential marketing. However, with digitally immersive platforms becoming more accessible to wider audiences, the potential for experiential marketing is back on the table for 2023.
9. Inbound marketing will remain a best practice for growing brands.
The current digital landscape has made it wise to adopt inbound marketing strategies. With the recent changes and challenges that the world has experienced, outbound marketing tactics have become increasingly ineffective in reaching prospects and leads. The shift towards hybrid work from home practices has placed inbound marketing at the forefront of effective tactics. For instance, virtual events have seen a significant rise due to COVID-19, forcing marketers to get creative and find new ways to captu
re the attention of customers.
10. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)
will experience slow adoption in the marketing sphere.
Initially, the marketing industry had high expectations for the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in campaigns. In 2021, 35% of marketers were incorporating AR or VR in their strategies, and nearly half of them intended to increase
their investment in 2022. However, in 2023, it may not remain a top priority as fewer marketers plan to invest in it. As a matter of fact, more than a quarter (27%) of marketers are planning to discontinue using VR and AR next year.
11. More brands will test out native ads.
The use of native ads by marketers is on the rise, with 23% of them planning to use this strategy for the first time this year. This trend is expected to continue into 2023. The reason for this growing interest is the effectiveness of native ads, with over 36% of marketers who use this strategy reporting its effectiveness and nearly 50% stating that it is their top ROI-generating tactic.