Updated: Marketing Trend Predictions for 2023
Do you prefer to listen rather than read? Check out our podcast episode breaking down these trends and predications: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3HpbN6P Spotify Podcasts: https://spoti.fi/3GY2nxX It’s that special time of year again. New beginnings. Resolutions. Renewing that gym membership for the 6th time. Predictions. We look back on the previous year, take what we’ve learned and look forward to the year ahead of us. Some of us are optimistic. Others will say doomsday is upon us. It’s all subjective.
In this article we will take an objective look at collected data and balance those numbers with the Nostradamus-like foresight of marketing thought leaders to provide you with the top trend predictions for 2023. What’s working, what’s losing, and what’s coming down the pipeline. Let’s start with the big picture. “Focusing on the bigger picture is important when you’re analyzing any kind of trend,” Ed Wood, CMO at CareerFoundry said in a recent video where he detailed CareerFoundry’s digital marketing trend predictions for 2023. Here were the top three macro trends coming into the new year. Macro Trend #1: State of The Economy Recession and financial uncertainty for both companies and consumers. Macro Trend #2: New Ways of Working Remote workforces, automation, artificial intelligence, etc. Macro Trend #3: Data Management and Privacy iOS 14, GDPR, first-part data, zero-party data, etc. In November 2022, Matter Communications released their 2023 Marketing Outlook Survey results which detailed how CMOs and marketing executives were planning for the year ahead. Surprisingly to many people, the survey found that nearly all (89%) of marketing leaders plan to increase their budget in 2023, despite the whispers of a looming economic recession on the way. “While it’s unsurprising the economic climate is now a top concern for business leaders, over these past few years, they’ve learned to navigate the unpredictable, realigning their workforces, untangling supply chain disruptions, and adapting to geopolitical and economic impacts. As the possibility of recession looms, many are already prepared with a deep focus on planning and agility. And some see opportunities through this fog of uncertainty brought on by the promise of technology, talent and ESG,” said Bill Thomas, CEO of and Global Chairman of KPMG, which also released their own survey of 1,325 CEOs that found 85% predict positive growth in 2023. That’s some good news. The question then becomes where are marketers going to be allocating these 2023 budgets? Here were the top categories they selected:
Public relations + social media (66%)
Marketing operations / analytics / mar tech (59%)
Content marketing (50%)
Video marketing (38%)
Brand Building (25%)
SEO + SEM (24%)
Media Buying (15%)
Internal communications (13%)
Demand gen (11%)
Vibhor Kapoor, CMO at Adroll, had this to say:
“Facing a potential recession and rising advertising costs, optimizing ROI across marketing channels is a top priority for marketing leaders. Marketing channels can no longer work in silos. They need to work collaboratively to deliver an integrated customer experience and business results.”
Digitalmarketer.com also recently released their own findings from an industry-wide survey collecting feedback from the digital marketing community to provide an overall sense of what trends will be a big deal over the next 12-18 months.
What’s Hot (Top 3)
Short-form Video (91%)
Email (57%)
YouTube Ads (56%)
Some other honorable mentions included artificial intelligence (for design and written copy), paid communities, influencers, and SMS marketing.
What’s Not (Top 3)
Facebook/IG Ads (66%)
One-Touch Conversions (43%)
Organic Social (34%)
Also mentioned were Facebook groups, chatbots, and…influencers?
That’s right, influencer marketing made it to the list of What’s Hot and What’s Not according to the survey results.
It’s no surprise that our community is divided when it comes to certain channels, strategies, and tactics. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Your unique target audience will determine the success, no matter what approach you choose.
Everyone’s favorite hustle-influencer, Gary Vaynerchuk, recently made a prediction about the death of the press release.
“I don’t love thinking about things as ‘dead’-- but I do like to think about things in ‘is the value there against the time, resources, energy, and monies we spend.’ It’s inconceivable to me that anybody thinks a press release is extraordinarily effective in 2023,” Gary said during a virtual meeting with the Marriott brand communications team.
“If it’s B2C – All of B2C consumption is moving by the nanosecond to social media or connective TV or podcasting. Everything is still the same truth. It’s audio, written word, and video. It’s the distribution that’s changed on all of us.”
What about B2B then? The trend continues to be that B2B companies are following the lead of B2C brands.
In the FutureScapeTM report, marketing leaders should expect the world to go from digital to experiential.
Their biggest B2B trends to watch out for in 2023:
Customers Are In Control
Customer-centricity has always been important, but many believe the trend is in the evolution process. Understanding and anticipating what current and future customers want is vital because every interaction affects their outlook.
A.I. in B2B Marketing
Marketers are faced with maintaining a balance between efficiency gains and overdoing it. There is also a risk of losing a personal touch if AI creates long forms of content and AI-generated digital images.
Account-Based Marketing
Expect a rise in ABM investment – 47% of brands saw increased marketing and sales alignment after implementing an ABM program. Furthermore, 53% percent saw ABM programs generate more revenue than other efforts, according to a Marketing Charts survey.
No matter what segment of the market you’re in, the biggest question on most marketers’ minds going into 2023 is how do you stay ahead of the pack? Let’s combine everything we learned here and form some conclusions.
#1 - Optimize For Budget Efficiency
While many CEOs and CMOs are very confident in the economy that same sentiment might not be shared across the entire spectrum. Reducing more expensive and/or less-effective marketing activities will likely be the trend of 2023.
This doesn’t mean to get less creative. Quite the opposite. You’ll need to be more creative than ever to make the most of those marketing budgets.
The integration of AI could be leveraged as a cost-saving alternative for human resources and social media community managers may see a reduction in spending as companies prioritize paid channels over long-term organic strategies that are more difficult to measure.
#2 - Capitalize on Video
Every study, survey, and indicator we have is pointing toward the continuing upward momentum of video-first messaging strategies. Nearly all digital platforms are prioritizing video content, from TikTok to Google-search. Consumers respond best to video across all market segments and not just on social media. Consider integrating a video option into all of your marketing channels. Embed video into emails. Embed video into blog content. Use customized video in ABM tactics. Leverage live video to create immersive events online. Video is a versatile tool that can be aimed to accomplish any business objective and continues to be the most effective method of reaching those goals.
#3 - Go Big on Brand Community
Brand has always been essential in B2C and DTC. Now it’s a major investment for B2B companies. In addition, data and privacy laws continue to clamp down on third-party platforms. Take control of your communications strategy by integrating a community approach to keep your target audience in the front row of your messaging. This is going to contribute to the resurgence of email-based strategies and growth of SMS marketing.
UPDATED: #4 - Influencers
We mentioned above that influencer marketing is in a weird place in terms of how marketers are approaching the strategy. If you want to be ahead of the pack in terms of your marketing mix, figure out how to capitalize on influencers. Most importantly, internal influencers within your brand. Consumers have been responding much more to personal brands than company brands and many companies have been building personal brands for their executives to take advantage of this trend. Consider incentivizing your employees to become brand advocates on social media. Experiment with micro-influencers within your niche. When done correctly, influencer marketing can be extremely cost-effective and incorporates every trend on this list, offering big opportunities for those brands that can make this work for them.
What are your thoughts on marketing for 2023? Are you a business owner? Marketing professional? Creative freelancer? We’d love to know your thoughts and plans for the coming year from your unique perspective. Reach out to us at freshql@6fimedia.com
Sources:
KPMG 2022 CEO Outlook
Matter 2023 Marketing Outlook Survey
Research Shows Marketing Through Recessions Pays Off
Global Digital Marketing Outlook For 2023 and Beyond
Digitalmarketer.com Journal
Gary Vee - How To Do Marketing The Right Way in 2023
CareerFoundry - 6 Marketing Trends you NEED to stay ahead of in 2023
Adroll State of Digital Marketing Report