Top Marketing Trends for 2023

In 2023, people are going to expect transparent, authentic and effortless interactions with businesses. Consumers will value privacy, social responsibility, inclusivity and representation more than ever before. With the increase of new technology, Gen Z influencing media trends and consumers shifting the way they behave, brands need to adapt.

Here are some marketing trends that will be important for brands to adopt in 2023:

Social Media is not going anywhere

If the last two years taught us anything, it’s that Social Media is an imperative part of our lives. We go to it for entertainment, to connect with friends and family, to receive news and important updates, to learn new hobbies, for education and to discover new things. It’s how new music is released and how celebrities are discovered. It influences how we think, what we buy and even what we value. The pandemic saw us rely on Social Media more than ever before. With the number of active Social Media users worldwide increasing by 10% in January 2022, there are now 4.62 billion people using it around the world.

With more than 1 in 4 internet users aged 16 to 64 discovering new brands, products and services via social media ads, it’s a no-brainer that Social Media needs to remain a critical part of your business’s marketing strategy. This means investing in Social specialists, content creation and staying up to date with the different platforms, content types, features and trends. Social Media continues to evolve every year and we predict that there are going to be some huge changes and growth in this area in the next 12 months that could really flip the existing marketing model on its head. 

eCommerce adaptation will continue to grow

We all witnessed the impact lockdowns had on the adaptation of eCommerce, and this growth continued in 2022 with an average of 5.4 million households purchasing something online each month. In 2023, eCommerce adaptation will continue to grow and these new shopping habits will be here to stay. As a result, we’ll see businesses investing more in online marketing media spends, allocating more resources to content creation and spending more money on improving their websites. 

Not only will we as consumers continue to shop online, but we’ll expect to be able to shop with ease, whilst seeking instant gratification. With our bank cards now integrated into our mobile phones, we are used to making a purchase with one tap. This means businesses need to ensure their website UX offers the same ease of purchase. Good UX is key to successful websites. If your customers have a poor experience on your website, it’s likely to reflect badly on your brand and impact your sales. 

Gen Z will influence content trends across all platforms 

With Gen Z making up 20% of the Australian population and being the first generation to grow up with Social Media, they’re strongly influencing trends across all digital platforms and shaping the future of media. 

For Gen Z, Social Media is more than a place to connect with friends, it’s where they learn about their interests and connect with brands. They want to feel part of a community and they value seeing behind the scenes of a business. They want to meet the employees, see how the product is made, learn about where it comes from and be able to ask questions directly. They crave transparency and want to see real, authentic content. 

From a marketing perspective, Gen Z doesn’t respond to advertising in the traditional way we’re used to, and this is why community building and storytelling will be more important than ever in 2023. We’ll see this influence content trends across all digital channels, with bite-sized videos being the best way to increase brand awareness and drive engagement.  The most common Social Media format will be a 9×16 ratio as it fills the screen of a mobile, with Instagram already rolling this out like its competitor TikTok. 

In 2023, people will expect to see more authentic, real content from brands and expect to have personal and direct contact with businesses to build trust.

1st Party Data will become more important 

We all know that third-party cookies will soon be no longer due to rising privacy concerns and that Google Analytics 4 will be rolled out to replace the current GA, making 1st Party Data extremely important for brands in 2023. On top of this, the increase in online and mobile scams means people are becoming more concerned about their privacy and to who they give their data. 

This means it’s imperative that businesses make privacy a priority and maintain trust with their consumers. In 2023, we’re going to see new targeting solutions used to continue developing highly personalised content and ads. The key here will be how brands use 1st Party Data to understand their customers and ensure that any data they do ask for will be used to provide value and that customers can see the link and the benefits of sharing their information. 

Customers are craving personalisation, but their privacy is just as important so brands will need to strike a balance between the two. 

Influencer Marketing will continue to evolve 

Influencer Marketing will still have a place, but the brands who do it right will have developed long-term meaningful and authentic relationships with their partners. Gifting will be seen as wasteful and brands that use unnecessary packaging and plastic in PR packaging will receive negative exposure. In 2022, we saw a lot of influencers calling out for brands to stop sending them products and calling out PR agencies who share postal addresses with brands, without asking the influencer if they are even interested in the product. 

In 2023, we’ll see more long-term influencer-brand relationships that help to build brand trust and authority. We’ll see fewer unboxings and quick call-outs about new products in IG stories. We’ll also see more original, bite-sized reels and TikTok videos showing how a product or service is used and what the benefits are. We’ll see micro-influencers who are good at content creation become more popular, with brands using them to reach niche audiences and develop original content that can be re-purposed across multiple platforms and in ads. 

Content Creators will become a key part of marketing strategies

We’ve said it a few times now: content that is original and authentic will be key in 2023. It’s the new word-of-mouth advertising and will be used to build trust with consumers. We anticipate there will be new business models introduced, with content agencies offering solutions to create authentic and on-brand video creatives quickly and more efficiently. 

We’ll also start to see more employees and founders sharing their work experiences, showcasing the atmosphere of a workplace and filming behind-the-scenes content to communicate their business’s values via Social Media channels.

Businesses will need to think outside the box in terms of content creation and apply new processes and resources to capture and edit content quickly, stay up to date with trends, and build out content strategies to meet the consumer’s expectations. 

Inclusivity and representation will be a must-have for advertisers 

We’ll get straight to the point with this one: 71% of people expect brands to promote diversity and inclusion in their online advertising. And according to Meta research, Gen Z expects brands to work with influencers with diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. 

If you’re not showcasing inclusivity and representation as a brand in 2023, it will have a negative impact on your success. 

Brands will need to invest in Community Managers

Nowadays, customers expect to be able to communicate with a business in a matter of hours. 

The full customer experience has never been more important, and with the growing adaptation of online shopping, online customer experience will need to grow at the same rate.  

Brands will need to invest in Community Management teams, or look at outsourcing to Freelancers or Agencies to keep up with the volume of work. Gone are the days when you could check your customer service emails once a week. By that time, you will have lost potential customers and even created a negative experience for the consumer. 

Consumers expect to be able to talk to a human and receive help or have their questions answered online, just like if they were to walk into a store. This means they’re expecting transparent, personalised and empathetic conversions even when it’s via an online channel like Instagram DMs or Live Chat. It needs to be easy to return a product, a fast process when receiving a refund and the process to share feedback (positive or negative) needs to be effortless.

Brands that are killing it in this space in Australia are Bared Footwear, Mecca, The Iconic and Boost Juice, who all have attentive, empathetic humans online to chat to during most working hours. 

Consumers will prioritise Socially Responsible Brands

Consumers will continue to be influenced by brands that demonstrate their values of social and environmental responsibility and economic impact. Brands that ignore social responsibility may be called out. In 2023, it’s important that companies ramp up their focus on giving back and being socially responsible. 

It’s no longer viable for businesses to focus solely on making a profit, they need to also focus on how they’re giving back to their society at large. Recyclable packaging, giving back to the community or to charity, minimising waste, focusing on sustainability, and playing a part in increasing awareness of important issues are all ways that brands can demonstrate their values.

It just makes sense that consumers will trust and remain loyal to businesses who want to leave the world better than they found it.

With new technology being introduced and improved regularly, consumer behaviour continues to evolve, and brands need to adapt quickly to the new era of communication. 2023 is set to be another interesting year in marketing. Want to stay ahead of your competitors and act on some of these marketing trends? Visit our website at www.rumblr.com.au, or drop us a line: hello@rumblr.com.au