From leaflet drops to social media ads and now influencers, marketing has witnessed a huge amount of change over the years. It’s not hard to see why either. New and emerging technologies, maturing consumer demands, and a number of saturated markets have meant that businesses need to think outside of the box if they want to be the go-to name in their field.
It’s not as hard as you might think though, you just need to keep on top of the key marketing trends in order to give yourself a competitive edge. We’ve done some of the hard work for you too and have put together a list of our 2023 marketing predictions.
Importance of Marketing Your Business
The word ‘marketing’ spans a huge number of activities and tactics and can be used business to business, business to consumer, consumer to business or consumer to consumer. While there are lots of different strategies out there, the aim is typically the same: to make someone aware of your business and services or products, and to encourage them to connect, engage and buy.
Of course, the end result for most businesses is to sell and effective marketing can help with this. However, marketing is also an important tool to:
- Engage with new and existing customers
- Highlight your expertise
- Create content around your business and its products
- Build and maintain reputation
- Stay relevant
The right marketing strategy can actually do all of the hard work for businesses, allowing internal teams to focus on the product and service they’re known for, while new and existing customers come to them.
Some of Our 2023 Marketing Predictions
Interactive Content
How many of us scroll past huge chunks of content but then are grabbed by emoji-packed posts that boast videos, infographics, games, and even calculators? That’s interactive content for you.
In today’s ever-busy society, your website and content need to demand attention. Plus, more businesses are providing a two-way experience. By engaging with your target audience via interactive content, you’re also encouraging them to engage back.
What’s more, content creation of this type can actually be cost-efficient according to more than 80% of marketers. It’s not just great for engagement either but can also enhance customer learning.
Social Media
Social media has been central in marketing for many years but one thing that has shaken the industry up is Instagram stories and reels. Remember, people do business with people so if you can combine this by staying relevant on one of the world’s most used social media platforms, you’ll soon reap the benefits. Consumers respond well to short-form video marketing and it’s a great way to tap into a younger network too.
Stories and reels give you the chance to show off the personality and people behind your brand with some lighthearted videos. Offer behind-the-scenes footage and jump onto viral trends, while driving engagement to your website. Not only does this give potential customers a personal insight into your brand, but your business and its message will become more relatable.
Video content
One of the reasons why reels and stories do so well is because video content demands attention more often – compared to static word posts. It’s not just pre-recorded videos that do a good job though. Live streaming is proving popular too and that’s only expected to grow. For example, live streams on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn allow your audience the opportunity to engage with your business, discuss certain products, ask questions and visit your website – all while watching the stream.
It allows people to experience your business from the comfort of their own homes with a personal and direct connection. What’s more, some businesses are taking it one step further with virtual tours. Estate agents are uploading virtual tours to their websites to allow potential customers to view properties without leaving their four walls.
Even those businesses that sell physical products can use virtual tours to show off the product in full and provide a face-to-face shopping experience at home. Virtual tours are relatively new in the market and can be a great tactic to get your business name out there, ahead of the competition.
SEO
Think about how you search for new businesses. Most of the time, you probably search online and then look at the top few companies that appear. Typically, it’s a result of SEO best practices as to why these companies do appear so high up on search engines. This includes everything from internal and external links, keywords, and user-friendly pages.
What’s more, regularly updating your pages is a great way to stay current in terms of SEO. On your website, you might want to create different landing pages for various services or products. Or, you could start up a monthly blog that gives customers the information they’re looking for and is packed with SEO-rich content and will therefore boost organic traffic.
Influencer Marketing
One of the best marketing strategies has always been word of mouth. After all, people are more likely to use a service or product if they know someone who has also used it and had a positive experience. Influencer marketing is when a brand uses a particular person, either with a high following or who is prominent in a target market, to do exactly this.
Not only is it a great way to increase brand awareness but it can build trust and authority while reaching a new market and driving those all-important conversions and sales. Influencer marketing might not be anything new for 2023 but what we are seeing is brands building relationships with influencers to create long-term partnerships.
AI and Analytics
By integrating AI into your website, you can not only save time and resources but it frees your internal team up to focus on more pressing tasks. For example, if you run an online shop, AI could be used to create a chat function to support new and existing customers.
What’s more, AI and analytics are now being used by businesses of all sizes to help them to better understand their audience and create content that will resonate. Data models, machine learning and algorithms can all be used to customise content, optimise spending and personalise the overall experience.
If you want to know how you can stay ahead of the competition with effective and proven marketing strategies in 2023, the team at Maxweb Solutions would love to help. Get in touch with us today on 0151 652 4777 or at info@maxwebsolutions.co.uk.
Posted on Friday, September 16th, 2022 in Digital Marketing.
