Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting, it’s crucial to incorporate the latest marketing trends into your strategy to stay competitive and relevant in today’s marketplace. A well-informed marketing strategy is a driving force behind building a successful business.
What consumers want, need, and expect from brands today looks nowhere near what it did five years ago. Digital marketing trends constantly change, forcing businesses to adapt their strategies accordingly. Check out the five trends I see as a driving force to stay ahead of the curve in 2023.
Video marketing – Short-term videos are key for any business. No one has an attention span anymore, so play into that, and create a robust series of short videos that are engaging and easy to remember. Whether it’s a pre-roll ad on YouTube or an Instagram reel, short videos are low cost, easy to make (do you have a smartphone?), and give your business an easy-to-access medium to connect with your audience. HubSpot Blog Research reported that 90% of marketers using short-form video will increase or maintain their investment in 2023, and 1 in 5 marketers plan to leverage short-form video for the first time in 2023. Hop on the bus, as this trend is hot!
The QR code – This handy little tool was the black sheep for quite some time, then COVID hit, and wham! The QR code has emerged as the preferred method to reach those who don’t want to type in a URL. This trend will keep on giving in 2023 for TV, direct mail, press releases, social posts, and beyond. Don’t forget to set up your analytics to track it, as I bet you’ll be surprised at the rate of return.
Personalized communications – Gone are the “one size fits all” messaging tactics where you repeat your messaging in the same exact way on every platform. Yes, I’m looking at you – if you’re doing this, please stop! Not only are people more likely to pay attention to content that’s customized to their needs (can you say artificial intelligence), but they are also more likely to engage and react favorably to it. Market segmentation is more crucial now than ever, so clean up those lists and dig deep into your analytics to see what makes your customer base tick.
Email marketing lives on – Matter of fact, email marketing is essential, and given the number of tools we have at our fingertips, you can slice and dice your audience, so your email marketing message remains a valuable piece of content rolling into 2023. This is where your marketing segmentation will really soar high, so make sure you have a robust email marketing platform, remain in compliance with existing federal regulations, and get to work on an email calendar of content to keep your audience engaged.
Sales and marketing alignment for the win – I know, I know. Sales and marketing should always play nice in the sandbox, but I have seen some serious wars between the two. “Smarketing” is a thing, and it’s critical to ensure these departments are working in tandem to target the right customer base and drive more sales. There are some good tricks to help with this alignment.
Creating buyer personas to educate sales on who they’re selling to, what they care about, and how your business can help them. When marketing can create sales-enabled content, and set up email templates in your CRM, both teams will begin to see the results of the partnership.
Look at the big and small picture. While marketing often looks at the small picture, like a specific marketing campaign, sales look at loyal customers or the big picture, and these teams need to meet in the middle to achieve that growth goal.
Defining key metrics such as milestones and conversions that help measure the sales and marketing impact is a great benchmark. From sales leads on the tradeshow floor to email open rates, and newsletter sign-ups, anything that indicates a rise or decrease in interest should be tracked. Use these metrics as the starting point for continued conversations between sales and marketing, so refinement can be a collaborative effort.
When these two crucial teams can work in alignment, the result will be far better for the entire organization. Remember, this isn’t about power – this is about growth, where everyone wins (think end-of-year bonus).
