The digital landscape is constantly evolving with new social media platforms, favourable content types and ever-changing algorithms. We’ve put together a few of the top digital marketing trends that we think are going to be the most important for digital marketers and brands in 2023.
TikTok
TikTok became the most popular website, surpassing the long-term-title holder, Google at the end of 2021 and it’s not showing signs of slowing down anytime soon. For many brands, it’s a must-have platform for their strategy in 2023, however, there are some challenges to consider before jumping in.
Firstly, user attention span has decreased significantly over the last couple of years, meaning videos over 10-20 seconds long just aren’t performing as well anymore. Social content also needs to be honest, raw and funny. It’s an app that makes users feel happy and included which means that perfectly edited and ad-driven content won’t engage your audiences. Duolingo is a great example of a brand that does this well.
Content
The rise of video content has become a challenge for many platforms over the last couple of years. Most notably Instagram, which decided to adapt its algorithm to compete with the likes of TikTok. However, after facing backlash from users, Instagram’s CEO took to his stories in early March to confess their mistake and that the app will return to favouring photo content along with other updates. Reels will still be an important medium to include in social strategies, but high-quality static posts will be just as important once again.
AI
Arguably the most important digital trend is the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). For many brands, this automated use of data collection will become essential for observing consumer behaviour and economic trends to adapt content and copywriting. Using AI correctly can enhance social media content creation, blog writing, data analysis and reporting. Not sure if you should incorporate AI? Take a look at the success of TikTok, whose success stems from its AI-driven algorithm built to enhance user personalisation and recommendations.
Customer Experience
Since the global pandemic, consumers have cared more about their experiences with brands and products. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean they are willing to neglect affordability or quality, as it may have been in the past. From a digital perspective, this means usability on e-commerce websites needs to be more than just simple and easy to navigate. E-commerce brands need to keep customers engaged with customer care throughout their purchase process as well as post-sale support becomes a crucial factor to include in strategies.
Community
The need for better customer experience, the rise of short videos and increased time spent on social platforms, have meant that consumers are looking to feel more part of a community online. TikTok is probably the best platform to use as an example for this – think #GymTok #CleanTok and #BookTok. Communities are bonding through their common interests which then encourages them to create their own content to take part and feel included. Gymshark is a great example of a brand that knows this, with them recently launching #Gymshark66 for their community and influencers to take part in a 66-day health and fitness challenge sharing their daily updates to social media.
Multi-channel Strategies
Although many claim that the idea of omnichannel marketing is old-fashioned, we think it is still an essential strategy – it’s just adapted over time. Having a strategy across multiple channels to reach a target audience and create consistent messaging is essential for growth and brand awareness. However, directly repurposing content across all platforms isn’t the best strategy in 2023. One way of using multiple channels for maximum results is running paid ads across multiple platforms to expand brand reach and allow for greater possibilities for conversions and sales. Don’t forget to tailor them to each platform though!
If you enjoyed this article read this.
Looking to partner with an agency who will help keep your brand in the loop and digital marketing up to date? Contact us to find out what we can offer you to maximise your potential.
