Digital Marketing Trends To Watch Out For in 2023

The internet is constantly evolving and changing.

Due to this, unlike other forms of advertising, digital marketing demands brands to always be on their toes to keep up with the changes & trends.

For your business to be successful, it's crucial to not only keep up with the ever-changing digital marketing trends but to stay ahead of them and figure out how to use them to your advantage.

So, where is digital marketing headed in 2022? Here are some trends to watch out for this year.

Influencers Control The Market

If you're in the space of digital marketing, you really can't ignore the power of influencers. In 2020 and 2021 especially, there was a significant rise in the relevance of influencer marketing. Many brands preferred to collaborate with influencers instead of celebrities to endorse their products. In 2021 alone, the influencer market was valued at 13.8 billion dollars, double of what it was in 2019.

Influencer marketing is a success because audiences see them as peers instead of celebrities and trust their opinions when purchasing from brands.

Therefore, 2022 is an excellent opportunity to tap into influencer marketing to promote your brand if you haven't already.

Meta is the Future

Recently, Facebook changed its name to Meta. It was a part of their bigger plan to transition into a metaverse, a virtual and augmented reality world.

While Facebook is one of the strongest believers in the metaverse, they're not alone. Many people are already investing in real estate in the metaverse and art, in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Likewise, virtual reality can be a great asset for brands as well. For example, the Thomas Cook virtual marketing campaign lets you 'Try Before You Fly' so you could get an experience of the place before you visit it.

So marketers should take note and try to find ways to use these platforms for their business. You could also get the help of a virtual marketing assistant to help you out with this niche.

Subscriptions Are The New Loyalty Programs

Every brand wants loyal customers, which is how loyalty reward programs were born. However, as time moved on, so did consumer preferences, and while customers do want to remain loyal to a brand, they do not want to wait to reap benefits.

According to a study by Accenture, in 2017, customers had an almost non-existent response to loyalty programs. And according to a study by Colloquy, only 42% of customers were engaged in loyalty programs.

Brands like Amazon quickly grasped this concept and introduced their infamous Amazon Prime program, which offered benefits from the get-go. That was a successful initiative, and data shows that Prime members spend 4.6 times more money than non-members.

If you are still offering loyalty programs, try shifting to memberships and subscriptions to see positive results.

Video Campaigns

Consumers have always leaned towards visual marketing over any other form of marketing. Earlier, it was television, and now, internet ads.

Videos dominate the internet, expecting to account for 82% of internet traffic in 2022. Additionally, videos generate the highest engagement, which is probably the most crucial aspect for digital marketers. For example, on Meta, videos generate 135% more engagement than pictures, and on Instagram, the engagement on videos is twice that of picture posts. In addition, video content is shared 12 times more than images.

Even on Twitter, which focuses more on words than visuals, videos are retweeted around six times more than pictures.

Another factor that makes videos so successful is that they are more personal and help build an emotional connection with audiences. In addition, consumers like the chatty, informal approach of marketing that videos provide.

Algorithm Drives Social Media

You've probably heard the term algorithm at least once in a conversation about social media. So what does it mean?

Social media algorithms sort out content on a user's feed based on relevancy and not posted time. That means users are shown content they're most interested in seeing first, rather than the most recently published content.

While there is a lot of negative talk about the algorithm, businesses can use the algorithm to their advantage to reach a larger audience and generate organic engagement on social media. The trick is to stay updated on the current internet trends and create relevant content that audiences are more likely to be interested in.

For example, the Instagram algorithm heavily relies on appropriate hashtags and music. Once you figure out the trending audio and hashtags, it's easy to implement them in your posts and reach more people.

Mobile-Optimized Websites

Many marketers are under the misconception that consumers are not interested in visiting websites anymore. However, the actual reason is that most consumers use their mobile devices to access the company website and face difficulties navigating through the site because they are not optimized for mobile phone users.

The goal of any brand is customer satisfaction in every area of their user experience because happy clients are more likely to buy your product. Additionally, a well-designed website also adds to the credibility and reputation of your brand and makes your business look more professional.

So, if there is one area of your business you should invest in in 2022, it's website optimization.

Focus on One Channel

Another common mistake made by digital marketers is that they try to concentrate on many different social media channels at one time and spread themselves too thin, not really making progress in any of them. Instead, try focusing your attention on the platforms that would bring you the maximum audience and clients.

To do this, you must first choose the best platform for your business by evaluating which platform most of your customer base frequents. Then, check if the social media platform fits your brand personality and values. Finally, if both those things are in check, try to focus your attention on building a steady audience on that platform.

Invest In Permanent Content

One of the latest social media trends has been using ephemeral content, such as Meta and Instagram stories that disappear after 24 hours.

While this form of content has been successful, studies have shown that permanent posts that can be saved and viewed later are more effective in marketing. For example, a brand that posts its product pictures has more chances of people keeping them and coming back to buy them later than with ephemeral content.

Over 44% of global marketers want to increase their investment in permanent new posts, and 37% plan to reduce their investment in ephemeral content.

Personalization is Key

Say you give two identical products to a consumer. How do they then make their decision on which product to purchase? It depends on the brand. One way to make your brand stand out from competitors is to use personalized content and messages for your customers.

While this may have been a dystopian concept a couple of years ago, with the amount of data and technology at our disposal, marketing professionals have the power to get to the root of what their consumers want and deliver it to them.

Consumers' phones and inboxes are flooded with broadcasted messages and deals daily. A simple and effective way to stand out in the sea of notifications is by using their names. For example, "Hey, ______ we saw you checking out these deals, would you like to complete this purchase?"

Over 80% of consumers have said they are more likely to do business with brands that provide them with a personalized experience.

E-Commerce Will Play A Major Role

Though the pandemic forced brands to shift to e-commerce immediately, many brands were already making their way to online shopping before COVID-19.

While the concept of online shopping is not relatively new, new tools within social media platforms facilitate e-commerce. For example, tools such as Instagram Checkout and TikTok Creator Marketplace allow users to shop directly from these apps without having to renavigate to a new website.

E-commerce sales in 2020 in the US were 26.97 billion dollars and are predicted to hit 79.64 billion dollars by 2025. So this is an avenue worth exploring if you are looking for new platforms to sell your product.

Bonus: Tried and Tested Tactics That Still Work

While it's easy to get caught up in all these new marketing trends, it might help to know that there are some fail-proof marketing tactics from the past that are still super effective in 2022.

For example, email marketing is still one of the most successful ways to promote your brand. Around 91% of respondents of a survey conducted by Litmus, an email marketing platform, claimed that email marketing was critical to the success of their business.

Another tried and tested form of digital marketing is SEO or search engine optimization. However, it's important to note that while SEO is not a new term in digital marketing, there are different new strategies where you can use SEO with modern-day marketing tactics to get the best possible results.

"Don't be afraid to get creative and experiment with your marketing" - Mike Volpe.

While it's easy to stick to what you know best, it's also important to step out of your comfort zone and experiment with different types of digital marketing for your business to grow. We hope you enjoyed this list of marketing trends and use them to take your business to new heights.

A remote assistant is a great way to help you build your brand online without putting a dent in your budget. If you would like to hire a marketing assistant for your business, click to book your free consultation with Wishup or drop us an email at [email protected].