The last year has been a period of great changes in online marketing, which will undoubtedly influence the trends when applying online marketing strategies this 2023. Changes in the algorithm and in the Google SERP, the metaverse or the perspective of a world without cookies have been the main headaches for marketers. Therefore, if you want to know what are the next steps to take in your online marketing strategy, do not miss this post on trends about online marketing in 2023.
1# Metaverse, NFTs, virtual reality and augmented reality
The metaverse is a digital reality that we will access through special devices, such as virtual or augmented reality glasses, in which we will be able to interact with other users. Each of these users will have an avatar (their character in the virtual world) and will interact through objects in immersive worlds.
We are talking about a second digital reality in which we can interact with our friends, work with our colleagues, enjoy our partners and even have a job in the digital space.
And just like the metaverse is a parallel digital universe where we can also find everything, you have to anticipate and think about how you can use it to make your brand known and sell your products. Everything remains to be done, but there are already brands doing things.
We all know that Meta is a company that lives by selling ads. For this reason, during 2023 we must remain attentive to see how digital marketing evolves with respect to the metaverse.
2# Welcome to a world without cookies
The changes experienced in legislative matters to guarantee and protect the privacy of users, together with the measures taken by Apple and Google in their Chrome browser to increase the privacy of their users, have brought us upside down in recent months.
Some advertising platforms like Facebook have been seriously affected and we have seen the sizes of remarketing audiences and audiences decrease, conversions drop and their automated sales and conversion-oriented bidding algorithms compromised.
In this sense, in 2023 we will bet on first-hand data. The so-called first party data. In addition, we will have to invest in the management and unification of the data that we collect from each user and begin to establish the future of a world without cookies.
On the other hand, we will also see how Google and Facebook, which are already working on it, offer us alternatives. However, it remains to be seen if they will be as effective as before.
3# Quality content VS amount of content
The core updates carried out by Google have made it clear that Google wants to provide reliable and quality answers to users. For this reason, it will take into account the authority of the domain for a certain topic and the authority of the content writer.
It has also made it clear that it increasingly understands the intention of the user’s search better. Therefore, it will search for the best answer to each search intent.
The changes in the SERPs will also make us think about what new opportunities exist, considering that Google is giving more and more results so that users do not leave Google by introducing new snippets.
4# Featured snippets in Google searches
As we have commented, Google will continue to be essential in digital marketing. With the growth of mobile and voice search, users are changing the way they use search engines like Google. Being number one on the SERP results pages is no longer necessarily the goal we should be aiming for.
You’ve probably noticed that your own search and browsing behavior has changed in recent years due to changes in Google and the fact that we search for information faster when we’re on the go.
Featured snippets and other information in the SERPs mean you no longer need to click through a website to get the information you’re looking for. It’s right there on the Google search results page.
This information can appear in many places, but the most searched position is right at the top of the page, before the organic page listing. More than 60% of the search results returned by Google are now featured snippets.
5# Conversational marketing
As Gartner predicted, users increasingly want more non-intrusive self-service experiences. For this reason, the conversational marketing application such as chatbots in eCommerce and live chats that accompany and provide security to users in the last mile of the purchase will have a critical role.
Chatbots in full funnel strategies or Typeform-type questionnaires, with surveys or conversational questionnaires, also demonstrate their great ability to attract leads. We must bear in mind that these leads may be very different from the rest of the qualified leads, but they can help us generate audiences and obtain data that, with a good inbound marketing strategy, promote many sales.
6# Video marketing prevails
According to a CISCO study, video will account for 82% of all online traffic. Videos are 53 times more likely to rank high in the SERPs than other SEO techniques. In fact, 93% of marketers say that video is currently a fundamental part of their content strategy.
Brands will need to integrate video content such as product demos, webinars, and live video events to keep their content fresh and aligned with what consumers are looking for.
Furthermore, the live video industry is expected to continue to grow. It’s already incredibly popular with consumers, with users spending three times as much time watching live video as they do pre-recorded video.
7# Automation does not code in marketing
The tools for programming automated processes for the marketing professional are increasingly intuitive and give marketing teams complete independence from programming teams. In 2023, the degree of automation and sophistication of automations will increase thanks to these tools.
In addition, not only sequential automations will be used, but an automation will be applied per user based on events and the journey itself that follows. All this with the aim of creating unique and personalized experiences.
8# Integration of the experience in social networks
In a world without cookies where Facebook does not have access to your website data or only part of it, this being insufficient to generate a minimum volume of data that allows the automation to work correctly, the only solution is to bring the interaction experience with our brand within the social network itself. For this reason, among the digital marketing trends of 2023 we will see how more and more stores are created within Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or WhatsApp. On the other hand, the formats of interaction with ads and lead generation will also increase.
In addition, video ads and valuable micro-content will be especially important to qualify audiences within each platform based on user engagement with our ad. This will allow us to create sequential audiences without the need to drive users to our website.
9# Artificial intelligence, the best friend of marketers
Another of the digital marketing trends for 2023 is artificial intelligence. We are going to see how artificial intelligence and automation become the true protagonists of digital advertising campaigns. Alejandro Martin, an expert in digital marketing, comments that “increasingly, managers will have to focus on strategy and how to increase the conversion of the funnel. And less and less in the segmentation or choice of keywords”. It will be more important to reduce the number of campaigns to have more aggregated data.
In communications with customers or potential buyers, marketing automation is already well known. With the advances in artificial intelligence, we are beginning to see new models and interesting solutions to segment the public.
Without a doubt, investing in AI in 2023 will allow many companies to save costs and accelerate growth, thus surpassing their main competitors.
10# Hyperfocus on the client
During 2023, technology will be used much more to generate better human experiences. In addition to personalizing marketing and sales actions, as well as working on empathy and trust of the brand towards its potential customers.
The keys to take into account in digital marketing trends for 2023 are:
- The customer demands more and more self-service and automation
- You want more immediacy and personalization
- We must know our buyer persona and their buyer journey. Data will help us create unique experiences
11# The moment of truth for SMEs
This year more than ever, small and medium-sized companies are beginning to be aware of how necessary it is to invest in online strategies. Now you can’t wait any longer. It is the definitive moment and the demand for specialists in corporate communication at all levels will grow even more: social networks, SEO, social selling, ads…
12# Programmatic advertising will continue to be a trend in 2023
Programmatic advertising refers to advertising in which the advertiser buys audiences and not spaces, as is the case with traditional advertising. The advertiser chooses the audience they want to target, taking into account multiple details of their profile: tastes, demographics, connections… During 2023, programmatic advertising will extend its use across most platforms.
Companies are increasingly using this technology to make real-time decisions about the ad they want to deliver to customers. It is the type of advertising that has grown the most in recent years and will continue to be one of the digital marketing trends by 2023.
13# CRM evolves in 2023
On the other hand, digital marketing trends in 2023 point to a change in the relationship between brand and user. The use of social media communication channels (Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, for example) as CRM tools will appear as a complement to email marketing campaigns to speed up the transition between customer interest and desire on the customer journey and contribute to the closing of the purchase.
If we want to bet on first party data, we need a complete and integrated vision of our users’ interactions with our brand. That is why customer Data platforms appear as an evolution of CRM that allows us to integrate a total vision of the user and our brand in all devices and media, providing a unique and integrated vision.
When managing a large number of inbound leads, it is not only very useful to establish lead scoring processes agreed with sales, but also to use sales enablement tools so that leads enter sales cadences automatically. In this way, the overload of the sales department can be minimized and, at the same time, the speed of processing leads can be improved.
In addition, email marketing will also adapt to the demands and preferences of users with greater interactivity.
14# Video Snack
TikTok is the new trendy social network. In fact, it does not stop growing, currently having more than 1 billion active users per month. Brands are increasingly understanding how to take advantage of this network, creating strategies based on the narrative model and betting on user generated content.
With the most diverse content, the brands try to connect with the public of the platform. If we have learned anything from social networks, it is that there is no single way or an infallible tandem. In fact, we talk about all the content that has to do with entertainment and learning.
From collaborations with influencers or creating videos that help us connect with our audience to hashtag challenges or promoting events. TikTok will continue to be a golden opportunity and one of the key digital marketing trends for 2023 to reach a young audience that is increasingly difficult to engage on other platforms such as Facebook or Twitter.
15# Omnichannel marketing: one of the strongest trends
This is one of the digital marketing trends in 2023 that has become more relevant. Partly because the various digital platforms we use are increasingly interconnected. But there is also a new technology on the horizon that could accentuate this change: 5G. Although it has already begun to be implemented, during 2023 it will gain all the strength that it has and will have, with many changes in online marketing channels.
5G will allow working with larger formats, both at the video and image level. That will drive the move to much more visual campaigns. At some point, email marketing will start to allow video integration as standard.