The biggest marketing trends of 2023

Authored by Puneet Chadha, Chief Marketing Officer, Redington Limited.

The definition of what we consider marketing is constantly becoming broader – more is expected from marketers today than ever before.  Today, the key test of a marketer’s skill is how well they adapt to change. Not only must marketers react quickly to rapidly changing consumer preferences and habits, they must constantly improvise and upskill to adapt to the swiftly developing technological landscape.

2023 is yet to be another critical year for the industry, as marketers lap up two years of covid lockdowns and the resulting proliferation of e-commerce and digital transformation. From supply chain backlogs to record levels of inflation, 2023 will come with a unique set of challenges for both businesses and consumers. The game has changed, and marketers must adapt again.

The Tectonic Shift in social media

TikTok, and the Short Form Video (SFV) content it popularized has taken over the world by storm, but this secular shift from images to video is still in its first leg. This can be seen in both consumer platform and advertiser preferences. It’s clear that consumer engagement with short-form video is unmatched, and social media platforms have already pivoted to make SFV a core part of their product offerings. From Instagram Reels to YouTube Shorts, all major digital platforms today have their own Short Form Video Offerings.

According to the latest marketing report by Hubspot, 33% of marketers already leverage short-form video and its industry-leading ROIs, and 90% of them will increase or maintain their investments next year. Over 21% of marketers will also use short-form video content for the first time in 2023.

Another rising trend in digital marketing is that of influencer marketing, which offers the second highest ROI after short-form video, but is only used by 25% of marketers. Not using influencer marketing is a missed opportunity to attract a demographic which is rapidly increasing in population and spending power - Gen Z.

In fact, Consumer trend surveys show that 33% of Gen Z customers have purchased a product based on an influencer recommendation. This is not surprising, given that the majority of Gen Z users prefer to discover products on social media, and on average, spend over 4 hours a day on platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook!

At the intersection of short form video and influencer marketing is User-Generated Content (UGC). Unlike traditional marketing content, UGC such as unboxing videos, tutorials, hashtags, etc., is created and distributed by consumers, not brands. Today, UGC is one of the most important parts of a brand’s digital persona, and creates unmatched authenticity and connection with your customers.

Audio has also made a stunning comeback. Traditional advertising, such as radio, used to be all about sound and things have come full circle with new formats such as audiobooks and podcasts being used to generate in-bound traffic. For brands where engaging and teaching the customers about their products is part of the marketing funnel, podcasts can be a pivotal tool. The massive success of The Joe Rogan Experience lends credence to the fact that podcasts are here to stay. Spotify purchased the broadcasting rights for this podcast, which has over 14 Lakh Daily Views for over $200 million.

Another trend is the rise of Click-to-Message Advertising, or Direct Messages sent by brands to customers on platforms such as Facebook, Google, Instagram and WhatsApp. These are relatively nascent products with stellar ROIs. Facebook recently reported that Click to Message ads are already a multi-billion dollar business for them. Millennials and Gen-Z, especially prefer to Click to Message for Product discovery, queries and for availing customer service. Personalized messaging can also help customers throughout their buying journey, helping brands create a seamless omnichannel customer experience.

Artificial Intelligence Everything

Big Data, Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence applications will be front and center once again in 2023. Of all the companies’ functions, I strongly believe that Marketing has the most to gain from the proliferation of these technologies. This is because the core activities of a marketer - understanding customers, recommending appropriate products and services, etc., are capabilities that are dramatically enhanced by Artificial Intelligence.

The greatest value will be seen by marketers who adopt integrated and end-to-end machine learning and artificial intelligence applications which help with simple task automation. Extracting data from customer messages, layering in context and personalizing communication to increase customer experience is also possible with these solutions. Outside of Artificial Intelligence driven Marketing Automation, Natural Language Processing (NLP) - a subset of AI & Machine Learning is also being used for Search Engine Optimization, Conversational AI for Chatbots, Copywriting, etc.

JP Morgan Chase Bank, one of the largest banks in the world, used AI to humanize the copywriting for their digital advertising content. For one of their campaigns, an ad written by humans read: “Access cash from the equity in your home.” Using Artificial Intelligence, this version was then modified to say: “It’s true – You can unlock cash from the equity in your home”. You can probably already tell – the latter version performed significantly better with customers.

The last couple of years have seen a tectonic shift in marketing trends and consumer preferences. Today, more than ever before, consumers value privacy, transparency, and inclusivity. Marketers must minimize technology friction and embrace these new tools and strategies to tie these values into their messaging in increasingly innovative ways.