Time to get ahead of the game and get your brand noticed online in the new year
As 2023 begins, many businesses are already planning for an exciting but challenging year ahead.
If you’re a small business looking to stand out against the competition over the next 12 months (and beyond), it’s important to always be looking forward when it comes to content and customer interactions. Getting familiar with 2023’s digital marketing movements now will put you in a good place to hit the ground running.
With that in mind, we’re going to take a look at some of the biggest digital marketing trends for 2023, exploring how investing in these exciting avenues could help grow your success over the next twelve months.
Short video content
TikTok and Instagram Reels aren’t going anywhere – despite backlash to the latter earlier this year from celebrities and Instagram users alike. Short video content is a great way to get noticed on social media in 2023 – whether it’s in the form of informative videos or even funny skits. Thankfully, short video content is also making its way onto social media management and scheduling tools, so it will be easier for businesses to plan and post their videos next year.
If you haven’t already, start experimenting with video content for your business. The sooner you learn the ropes, the sooner you’ll be growing your business audience with captivating videos. BUT, don’t simply produce something generic that has no relevance to your organisation. Instead, look to create content that will directly appeal to your target audience.
Influencers getting real
Social media influencers can push a brand to the next level by introducing its products and services to a fresh audience, but in recent years influencers have developed something of a bad reputation for their seemingly insincere and inauthentic content – posting all too perfect photos and videos which have been carefully manufactured to showcase a certain mood or make a certain point.
As such, we’re seeing more influencers ‘getting real’ in their social content, and with brand support behind them, this new found honesty can help convince more customers to try your products in the new year. In particular, look to find local micro-influencers – those with a strong but small (under 20,000) follower base that can genuinely add value to what it is you have to say.
AI
Over the past few years, artificial intelligence has been slowly integrated into almost every digital marketing channel. Algorithms are used to determine the social media posts you engage with, the search engine results you see and the ads you’re exposed to. This is all with the goal in mind to make marketing smarter and connect customers with the businesses and products they want.
Businesses should start trying to optimise their content strategy to take advantage of how algorithms are impacting their results. Having a clear idea of your target audience and how they behave will help with this.
Optimised customer journeys
2023 will be about making it as easy as possible to get potential customers from seeing your brand online to buying your products on your website. In other words, you need to optimise your customer journey.
Many social media platforms now come with a shopping tab that makes it easy for brands to showcase their products and offer an easy route to buy. Start including store links in your social posts to give customers a direct line to your business goods.
The Metaverse
As one of the most talked about trends in the business world right now, the metaverse reflects the possibilities of modern tech. Broadly speaking, the metaverse describes a variety of immersive virtual reality experiences taking place online between individuals and groups. Big brands like Starbucks and Nike have announced metaverse experiences, but most smaller brands don’t have practical investment opportunities yet. However, experimenting with the metaverse in your own time can open you up to potential opportunities, keeping a close eye on competitors in your industry.
