Key Digital Marketing Trends for 2023

The old adage ‘spend money to make money’ might appear paradoxical, but the recent trends show that’s exactly what high-growth enterprises are executing. Given the growing digital adoption by CMOs across the globe, it's important to keep an eye on where they are headed in the long term.

The field of digital marketing is evolving with platforms adding new features and making algorithm changes quite frequently. But some things are certain in the digital age.

The future will be more diverse, tech-led, and connected to real human needs. There is a lot of resistance against the increased automation of interactions between brands and buyers. Let’s look at the key trends that will move the digital marketing landscape forward:

#1 The rise of Web 3.0 

Web 3.0 is a new development in the digital landscape that promises to democratize the internet. It involves technologies like blockchain, NFTs, metaverse, and more, giving users the tools required to create online spaces that they truly own and leverage to create content and drive engagement with other users.

The trend will pick up pace as an increasing number of corporations invest their money in projects like Metaverse and NFTs to create new customer touchpoints and drive interactive engagements.

#2 Peaking influencer marketing

With ever-growing competition across social channels, brands are finding new ways to influence the buying decisions of the customers and need to rethink the influencer engagement to drive direct connections with their target audiences. Partnering with influencers opens avenues across multiple channels to a wide range of potential customers.

Businesses will need to follow an omnichannel approach to strike the right chords with the audience. Influencer marketing has experienced a whopping growth, with brands tapping into the potential to strike conversations, inform, and entertain the customers.

Besides this, ROI-driven influencer marketing will be the norm in the years ahead with campaign performances being carefully measured and controlled.

#3 Going mobile and progressive web apps (PWA)

The widespread adoption of mobile devices has enabled connectivity on the move. This is something that search engines have accounted for and underscored the usability of apps over static or even dynamic websites. Going forward there will be a rage for progressive web apps. These are app-like, browser-driven web pages that function like an app.

These PWAs offer reliability, faster load time, and engaging experiences that feel like a natural app across mobile devices. The app-like websites can also be added to a user’s home screen for quick launch.

#4 Leveraging virtual events

Customer engagement and content marketing have moved on from blogs, infographics, and whitepapers to virtual events like webinars, podcasts, online workshops, etc. With the rise in digital-first self-learning avenues for customers, these events also serve as a customer outreach tool to drive lead generation.

Brands will create multiple content formats across channels to engage customers, nurture leads, and warm prospects for better conversion rates. Webinar services, podcasts, etc., will build the brand’s thought-leadership and win customers’ trust over time. Additionally, formats such as live streaming will also gain a serious foothold come 2023.

#5 Native advertising to cut the clutter

With people getting bombarded with advertisements across all channels, they have come to hate ads. They find the ads intrusive and can be a waste of time and resources for the marketers. Consequently, more than 47% of all internet users across the globe have ad blockers on their devices.

This is where native advertising will help marketers break the clutter of traditional ad formats. Native ads are seamlessly embedded into the content that the user is scrolling through and feels like a part of it. While it is not a new concept, it circumnavigates the issue with ad blockers and when executed creatively, it is not intrusive.

Conclusion 

Now is the time to start planning digital marketing approaches for 2023 and align strategies with a clear roadmap of business goals. By keeping a close watch on emerging trends, businesses can optimize their digital marketing operations and get a competitive edge over others. While the trends may evolve, one thing remains the same, i.e., customer-centricity and superior experiences across channels to dominate the digital marketing landscape in the long term.