5 Powerful Marketing Trends 2023 You'll Want to Focus on

Look at that! It’s a new year and that means welcoming in new marketing opportunities. 

You might be thinking that it’s too early to talk about marketing trends 2023, but it’s better to stay on top of things! A lot can happen in the next 12 months.

Some trends will be around for the long haul and others will fall off quickly. So we want to shed some light on 5 promising marketing trends to follow this year.

But woah, hold on. Remember, these trends aren’t one size fits all. We all have different marketing goals for the new year and that’s perfectly fine. Let’s dive in!

Trend #1: Social Impact is Front and Center

Have you noticed that the way brands are judged has changed over the years? Products and services aren’t the only things that matter anymore. Audiences also care about their system of beliefs.

The latest Instagram trend report claims that younger generations will keep using their money to support causes and communities that are important to them.

That means size inclusive clothing brands, makeup companies with a wide range of shades, and products that protect against climate issues will all come out on top.

The best way to win over customers is to be transparent about your values and intent. But what exactly does that look like?

Well, say your brand is known for being sustainable. You’ll need to prove that you’re doing everything you can to ethically source products, use environmentally friendly packaging, and manufacture products in a way that minimizes impact. And you would want to avoid things like greenwashing. 

Build a relationship with your audience by taking proper action on issues that you claim to stand for. Your honesty will be appreciated. 

Trend #2: Long-term Influencer Relationships 

If we’re talking about marketing trends 2023, we can’t forget about influencer-brand relationships. You open TikTok or Instagram and notice that certain people are promoting a brand for the 3rd or 4th time. What’s that all about?

When you use social media you know there’s no getting away from the power of influencers. And while it isn’t a new concept, it’s becoming increasingly important for brands to rethink the bond they have with their audience. 

Building long-term influencer relationships and working with people that have common values sends a message to your audience. It tells them that you’re interested in authentic connections.

54% of customers will stop financially supporting brands after their trust is broken. Having influencers promote the same brands over a period of time is a sure-fire way to maintain that trust! Once you find the perfect influencers for your brand you’ll manage to stand out for all the right reasons.

Trend #3: User Generated Content (UGC)

Well, we’ve talked about branded content. Now we should look at another way that marketing trends 2023 will help level up your brand authenticity. 

Users are over 2x more likely to trust UGC compared to content made by brands. But what exactly is user generated content and how do you encourage it? Let’s talk about it.

This type of content is created by consumers- anyone can do it! And other consumers are attracted to it because the content is original and brand-specific. It’s easy to come across brand tags, reviews, unboxings, or links that will drive you to interact with brands in a more organic way. 

Now imagine being Frankensons Pizzeria in Las Vegas. A TikTok user with 9.1M followers posts a “completely honest” food review after visiting your place. Next thing you know the video receives 36.5M views and your restaurant suddenly gets a HUGE increase in orders.

Customers will be ready to share their experiences with your brand if you give them enough reason to. One of the best ways to do this is to ask for feedback. You also want to make sure you’re providing good customer service throughout the user journey. 

Trend #4: Conversational Marketing

In a fast-paced world like ours, marketing trends 2023 will define how brands speak to customers. Think about this. What do most of your conversations look like now? Dms. Texts. How much of your interactions are face to face? 

Every year the demand for immediacy grows by an average of 64%. We want real time conversations and we want them now! That’s where conversational marketing comes in.

AI automation and targeted messaging make it easy for customers to have a two way conversation with brands. If you’ve ever shopped online and opened up the chat feature then you’ve experienced conversational marketing. 

Here’s a few ways that this type of marketing is beneficial:

• You can create a more human experience.

 Visitors are able to have “conversations” with brands at the most convenient time for them.

• You learn a lot about consumers. 

Having people fill out forms is boring! And it can only tell you so much. By carrying out conversations, you’re able to learn more about why buyers are visiting, what their pain points are, and more.

• You can give users personalized recommendations.

Every consumer is different and having individual conversations can make it easier to deliver tailored information.

There’s a lot more to learn about conversational marketing and luckily there are great resources like Drift that break down the framework even more. 

Trend #5: The Importance of Audio in Brand Marketing

When it comes to marketing trends 2023, audio is something you might not want to overlook. According to TikTok, 9 out of 10 users view sound as being vital to the experience. Users are more likely to remember brands when they use specific sounds. Think about how many times you’ve seen brands using viral sounds. It works, right?

It turns out that using audio in marketing helps humanize brands. People enjoy listening to audio, especially younger audiences who are used to long hours of TV/streaming or games. 

Users are encouraged to follow up on videos or audio ads. They might do more research or tell others what they’ve heard. 

Let’s go back to human connections for a second. Those are hard to get right when you’re part of the digital world. Using audio in brand marketing shows that brands are accessible and want to be heard, which is a relatable trait.

So now that you know more about marketing trends 2023 you should consider what makes sense for you. Like we said, everyone is on a different marketing journey so maybe these 5 trends won’t all work for one person. But consider what is most important to you and go from there.

✍️ Written by Alicia Plaza