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The world of digital marketing is constantly evolving as new technologies and innovations are brought to the table. If you want to stay on top of your business’ growth in this evolving space, then you’ll want to be ready for the next wave of marketing trends in 2023.
In this article, based on our observations, research and client learnings in 2022, we’re going to dive into what we’re seeing as some of the biggest digital marketing trends emerging in 2023.
In particular, we’re going to be looking at:
Snackable Content Goes Mainstream
Life is just busy – and it seems to be getting busier and busier. Because of this, it’s hard to find time to consume longer form content, such as YouTube videos and long form blogs.
It is no doubt that these forms of content are important, and will continue to remain important in the future, however the nature of our busy lives have demanded another form of content. And that, is snackable content.
Snackable content is a short-form, micro piece of content which focuses on building connections through interest as opposed to through relationships. Examples of snackable content include Tik Toks, YouTube Shorts and LinkedIn microblogging.
Here are some examples of Snackable content that we’ve produced at RedPandas:
Snackable LinkedIn Example:
Check it out here.
One of our YouTube Shorts:
And check out one of our trending TikTok’s:
TikTok is snackable content on steroids. The short-form nature of the videos, the quick scroll to move through content, and the ability to engage quickly and move on makes TikTok the biggest platform for snackable content so far. Other platforms are now following this trend, with YouTube Shorts, for example, and this will continue to be the case moving forward.
Social Media has moved from the ‘Social Graph’ to the ‘Interest Graph’
TikTok is also a representation of social media moving away from the social graph and towards the interest graph. Traditionally, social media focused on building connections through forming and facilitating relationships. For example, Facebook helped friends and family in different countries stay in touch with each other. In this way Facebook is a great example of a social media platform focused on building connections through relationships, which were founded on personal connections.
However, snackable content focuses on building connections through interests, regardless of personal connections. For example, on TikTok, even if you don’t necessarily have a personal connection with a particular account, you’ll still follow and engage in their content. When it comes to creators, the focus will be more on which creator produces interesting content as opposed to which creator can you form a personal connection with. In this way, TikTok is a great example of a social media platform that builds connections through interests.
Over time we’re seeing that as the move to snackable content becomes mainstream, so too does the move towards consuming content based on interest rather than personal connection.
What can I do about it?
In 2023, you’re going to want to jump on the snackable trend. How can you do this? Product snackable content.
Whether TikTok is the first cab off the rank for you depends on your audience. If LinkedIn is more your flavour, the channel still has incredible opportunity for snackable content formats just as microblogging style posts, carousels and videos (like Moby’s example above).
Paid Media
Paid media has been probably one of the most volatile channels in digital marketing in 2021 and 2022, and moving forward in 2023, you’re going to need to move with these changes, or suffer.
The Era of Privacy
If you haven’t already heard, iOS (and now other brands as well) are moving towards a focus on user privacy. This shift had an enormous impact on paid media over the last two years.
When iOS14 came out, it impacted how paid media channels, such as Facebook & Instagram Ads, could track user behaviour using the pixel. As a result, it became more difficult for advertisers to:
- Attribute success to an ad, meaning that if an ad was successful, the advertiser would not know.
- Help the platform learn – since attribution became more difficult, it was therefore harder to tell Facebook & Instagram which ads were successful. This meant that it was harder to teach the algorithm what was working and what was not.
- Track multiple actions across a website
- Capture users using the pixel
The thing is, this isn’t going to stop here. In 2023 and beyond, privacy will continue to be a big theme and the biggest social media and search platform brands will pave the way forward for how digital advertising looks in a world where privacy is prioritised.
As new updates continue to roll out, the paid media platforms we’ve grown accustomed to will continue to be affected, and we need to be ready for this.
What can I do about it?
Gone are the days of relying on the pixel. Moving forward, you’ll want to focus on:
- Creative
- Copywriting
- Videos
- Testing LOTS of creatives
Developing a strong creative with a powerful offer, writing engaging copy that hooks users, and producing powerful videos that get your message across and inspire users to take action – these are the things that you need to focus on to find success DESPITE the changing paid media landscape.
Create a lot more creatives than you used to
On top of this, you’ll want to test as many creatives as possible. In the past, you were able to have one ad set, a few creatives, and that was enough. But now, and especially moving into the future, you’ll want to test at least 5-7 new creatives per adset. The more creatives you can test the better results you will get.
Want to learn about how to develop a strong creative, engaging copywriting, and powerful videos? You can check out our 5 Point Paid Media Ad Audit here.
Here’s a preview of what our 5 point ad audit looks like:
Content Marketing
We’re moving towards focusing on content now more than ever before. But businesses already know this and so they’re producing content, as they should.
However, what we see happening with many of our clients is it’s more of a tactical, tick of the box. The problem is your content is not strategic enough.
“In my experience, content often isn’t managed as the strategic asset it is, which requires a dedicated content marketing strategy and resource”.
Dave Chaffey, Smart Insights Study (Oct 2022)
Provided the content is created strategically enough, outsourcing your content is a good start if that’s what your budget currently allows but the aim should be to eventually have a trained dedicated resource in-house. The difference between an in-house resource and outsourcing for content production is that when we in-source our content production, we have the opportunity to align our marketing and sales teams a lot more seamlessly.
When our teams are aligned we can use our content in the sales process to increase our sales close rates and shorten the sales cycle. This is where content marketing becomes powerful.
To sum up timely research from Smart Insights on successful content marketing, the four traits that leading businesses do to create content to the best of their abilities are:
- Documented content marketing strategy
- Measurement framework, allowing them to measure the impact of their content on revenue
- Dedicated resource for content marketing.
- Generate sales and revenue with content
As an agency that deploys and trains businesses on They Ask, You Answer (TAYA), at RedPandas we couldn’t agree more.
TAYA is strategic in executing a powerful content marketing strategy because one of its main focuses is to align the marketing and sales team to produce marketing content that directly answers buyer’s questions.
When marketing and sales are aligned, meaning that they’re working together and collaborating to create marketing content, revenue is impacted positively. This is because marketing begins creating content that answers buyers questions and the sales team can strategically use this content in the sales process to improve their close rates. In this way content marketing becomes strategic as it actually helps the business close more deals.
What is TAYA and why is it relevant in 2023?
They Ask You Answer (aka TAYA) is a practical framework and sales and marketing philosophy that assumes one simple truth: if your prospect or customer asks a question, you answer, and in doing so, you will become the most trusted voice in your space and will gain more business than you ever have before.
In order to implement TAYA, you need to at least do the following:
- Form a Revenue Team
- Ensure the sales team is using Assignment Selling and video
- Publish three blog articles every week
To learn more about TAYA, check out the below guides:
- Everything You Need To Know About ‘They Ask You Answer’
- What can you expect in a They Ask You Answer Training Program?
- What is Assignment Selling? The Comprehensive Guide
- How to Take Your Digital Marketing In-House?
SEO
In Episode 114 of the InboundBuzz Podcast, we mentioned that SEO as a standalone industry is dead. You don’t pay for SEO – it’s a by-product of the helpful content that you produce for buyers.
In 2023, Google’s moving away from typical SEO and focusing on ranking websites based on how helpful their content is. TAYA is the most efficient way to do just this.
So many agencies are focused on technical SEO, and while this is (minimally) important, what’s MORE important is producing content that answers buyer questions. This will have a more profound impact on ranking your website higher than any other SEO efforts could.
As a result, in 2023, one of the biggest trends we’ll see is an allocation of funds from typical SEO services to investments in content and digital experiences. As brands realise that content is the way to win in the future, they’re going to re-allocate funds from SEO to content production.
The Bill Ragan roofing example is powerful enough as a demonstration of the SEO impact of writing three strategic, sales-aligned articles per week. What’s even more interesting is you know those technical items ‘SEO experts’ talk about that are so important like Google Core Web Vital scores? Well Bill Ragan failed that test and their organic traffic is STILL improving. This reflects the trending move away from traditional SEO and towards producing helpful content for buyers.
In other words, in 2023, if you want to rank well on Google, you need to focus more on producing helpful content for buyers more than anything else.
What can I do about it?
As we already mentioned, TAYA is the most efficient way of dealing with the content marketing trend in 2023. Implementing TAYA will be your best bet.
Digital Experience Trends
Generally, there is a trend to richer, more interactive experiences. How these experiences take shape for you depend on your industry and your specific business, however being aware of the digital experiences that are going to be trending in 2023 is a good start to being prepared.
As a business in 2023, you’ll want to identify where you are on the graph here and allocate resources to move up the graph to produce more interactive content.
A large majority of businesses will generally sit at the 1st, 2nd and maybe the 3rd point on the graph. As such, it won’t make sense for them to try and move all the way up the graph to utilising AR. Instead, it’s better to focus on just getting to the next point on the graph.
Despite this, it’s still important to familiarise ourselves with points higher on the graph for any opportunities that might make sense for our business.
An example of one of the highest forms of interactive content is Augmented Reality. Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that overlays digital information and images on the real world. At the moment, it is used in gaming, education, and advertising. Let’s take a look at some AR Trends:
- Snapchat Lens for Amazon Shopping. Users can use the lens to try on eyewear in Augmented Reality, and then purchase these directly on Amazon. Other brands have started leveraging the Shopping Lens feature, including MAC Cosmetics, Ulta Beauty, American Eagle, Puma, Chanel, Walmart, and more.
- Increased use in retail: Many retailers are using AR to help customers visualize products in their own spaces, such as furniture and home decor.
- Enhanced education: AR is being used in classrooms to enhance the learning experience by providing interactive and engaging experiences.
- Greater accessibility: AR technology is becoming more widespread and accessible to a wider audience, with smartphones and tablets that have AR capabilities.
- Increased use in healthcare: AR is being used in healthcare to provide training simulations and visual aids for surgeons and other medical professionals.
- Growing use in advertising: AR is being used in advertising to create immersive and interactive experiences for consumers.
- Increased use in entertainment: AR is being used in the entertainment industry to create immersive experiences, such as live events and theme park attractions.
Overall, the use of AR is expected to continue to grow and expand into new areas as the technology becomes more sophisticated and accessible, and this is just one example of interactive content in 2023.
What can I do about it?
The first step is to identify what part of the graph shared above your business sits at. For example, if you’re producing videos and images, then you’d sit on the second point on the graph. If this is you, then you’ll want to focus on building personalisation across your content in 2023.
Once you know where you are on the graph, you need to think and plan about how you can get to the next step. This is where your focus should lie.
Memphis Design
Memphis Design is another big trend in 2023 and beyond. This refers to big, bold, in your face designs with vibrant and bright colours.
Memphis Design is actually is a callback to 1980s design aesthetic characterised by scattered, brightly colored shapes and lines. It typically combines circles and triangles with black-and-white graphic patterns such as polka dots and squiggly lines.
It appears what was old is new again.
We can see in the above image how bright, vibrant colours and being used to create contrast and shift attention to particular parts of the design. While this isn’t what we’d consider to be one of the most important trends of 2023, it’s still worth considering this when looking at your website and other digital assets in 2023.
What can I do about it?
Like we mentioned this isn’t the most important trend of 2023 and marketers need to be absolutely sure that brand/redesign projects are absolutely necessary and not distractions from actual sales generating projects. Notwithstanding that, if your website is feeling a little dated, looking to Memphis Design principles is a great place to start.
Sales and Marketing Alignment
87% of marketers of sales and marketing leaders believe that alignment between their teams is essential to business growth BUT 90% believe that they are misaligned across strategy, process, content, and culture.
Getting alignment between sales and marketing teams is going to be one of the biggest trends in 2023.
Traditionally, marketing and sales work in their own silos, however this is not a behaviour successful businesses can do any longer. We’ve identified that when marketing and sales teams align, great things happen.
In particular, when sales help marketing develop content by communicating to them the questions that buyers ask during the sales process, marketing can create content that directly answers buyers questions. This then gives the sales team the power to use this content as Assignment Selling content to increase sales close rates and shorten the sales cycle.
Assignment Selling is when we assign “homework” to our prospects in the form of educational blog articles or videos anytime during the sales cycle. It can be implemented at various stages of the sales cycle; before the first sales call, after the first sales call, before a deal is signed, and so on.
When we align marketing and sales, we’re able to effectively utilise Assignment Selling and achieve many positive benefits, including:
- Decreased time to close sales
- Less time and energy wasted on bad fit prospects
- Increased close rate
- Increased sales volume
- Increased leads
- Increased traffic
In 2023, getting your marketing and sales teams aligned is going to be very important.
What can I do about?
Getting your marketing and sales teams aligned involves implementing TAYA. To learn more about TAYA, check out the below guides:
- Everything You Need To Know About ‘They Ask You Answer’:
- What can you expect in a They Ask You Answer Training Program?:
- What is Assignment Selling? The Comprehensive Guide:
- How to Take Your Digital Marketing In-House?:
After you’ve done this, you’ll need to decide whether you’re going to implement TAYA yourself or hire a dedicated coach and training partner to help you get onboarded the right way.
If you decide to work with a dedicated training partner, then get in contact with one of our TAYA experts and we’ll guide you on what’s next.
What’s next?
Now that you’re aware of some of the biggest digital marketing trends in 2023, it’s time to do your own research and start taking action on some of these yourself.
Want to hear or watch a podcast conversation about these trends instead? Check out Episode 129 of the InboundBuzz podcast, where we delve into these trends and more.
