What a ride 2022 has been. This was the first year that the world started to go back to normal. Events were at full capacity, businesses were allowed to host private customer appreciation days, and the majority of workers were back into the hustle and bustle of pre-pandemic-ish life.
Now, we don’t want to sit on “what could have been” with marketing trends if the pandemic wasn’t a thing, but everything that happened in the past year led to a variety of different changes in the world of business.
We don’t want to start on a negative note, but we know what you’re thinking… “Aren’t we going into a recession into the new year? Aren’t interest rates rising? Isn’t inflation causing my fruits and veggies to go up?” Despite the uncertainty, marketing isn’t going anywhere in 2023. It’s an area of your business that shouldn’t be seen as an add-on to boost sales but, an investment in your business’ growth to sustain and propel your business forward with the long haul in mind.
Now buckle up, because this is your official guide to the future of social media and e-commerce marketing trends for 2023. Pull out that notepad, and start planning now for the year ahead if you haven’t already gotten started.
Social Media Marketing Trends For 2023
If you’re not creating short-term video content on TikTok and Instagram Reels, you are very, very late! for?!
TikTok and Instagram Reels have truly shown the importance of showing a brand’s identity with this type of content. Nowadays, it seems like every brand has an “influencer” on board. However, we like to call it “the face of your brand” instead. And, that person does not have to be an influencer. It could be the owner, your head of marketing, a sales leader, etc. And, you don’t have to have a million followers to attract new customers to your platform. 70% or so of the video views your content will get will be from people who don’t follow you. So just because your follower count isn’t climbing that doesn’t mean you won’t see an uptick in sales.
Check out our TikTok account for a little inspiration! There are quite a few marketing tips in our videos that you might find helpful too.
Influencer market – to do or not to do
According to a Hootsuite survey, 72% of small businesses (those with less than 100 employees) don’t work with creators in any capacity, while nearly 42% of businesses with over 1,000 employees do work with creators.
What is the reason for this? It all comes down to cost. Now, we’re not saying to go hire the highest-paid TikTok star you can find. Working with a marketing agency (shameless plug right there) can help you create an online brand identity, brainstorm and assist in creating your content and videos plus, help you as a business owner become comfortable making creative short-term video content. You don’t even need to have your face on camera… you just need to know how to edit a good ol’ Instagram Reel and learn the formats that will work for you.
Costs might be up but so is the return on investment
According to the same Hootsuite survey, 96% of marketers reported some level of confidence in the return on investment (ROI) of social media.
With the uncertainty of the so-called “recession” coming up in 2023, many brands without a clear marketing plan may have cut their spending due to the unknown. This is your time to sit down and plan out your marketing strategy for 2023 to compete effectively in your market. We have helped many business owners just like you create and execute social media marketing strategies that truly have made a positive impact on their bottom line. You can’t wear all the hats at the same time. You need a trusted partner to make sure things happen with intentional strategy, measurement, optimization AND EXECUTION. Asking your staff to jump into making TikToks without direction will lead to them falling down a rabbit hole. We both know that. But, with a coach giving them the plays and holding them accountable you can achieve the results you want without wasting time and money.
E-Commerce Marketing Trends for 2023
A BIG QUESTION — Do your customers trust your brand?
The world is used to emails filled with spam, scam text messages, or telemarketing phone calls. If a customer gets any weird feeling or sees a red flag relating to your business, they will click away and go to the next one. Consumers say the biggest barrier to purchasing through social media is trust. Their biggest concern as a consumer is that their purchases won’t be protected or refunded. They’re also worried about the quality and authenticity of products and sellers on social media. And the third most common concern stems from trust in the social networks themselves; people say they don’t want to share their financial information with the networks given how much they already collect about their personal lives. However, we both know that people DO buy all the time on social media sites or META and Google wouldn’t be billion-dollar companies.
These are a few easy solutions to establish trust with your customer:
- Offer easy returns and refunds — clearly state your money-back guarantee or refund policy
- Display ratings and reviews from other buyers — there are plugins to do this automatically
- Keep buyers notified about the status of their purchases throughout the customer journey
- Have a fast-loading website, free of pop-ups and make sure you send confirmation emails
Make sure your customers can find you easily
40% of 18 to 24-year-olds are now using social media as their primary search engine, according to an internal study by Google. In September 2022, the New York Times even proclaimed that “For Gen Z, TikTok is the New Search Engine.” Younger customers will be using social media platforms as their brand research tools. It’s so important you know your CORE target audience, and cater your content around them. Saying ‘everyone’ is your customer doesn’t count. Break it down, find out the specific categories of your demographic, and personalize your strategies to them. They will be expecting it.
Don’t get too caught up in headlines from newsies though. For the vast majority of people, Google is still one of the main ways people will learn about your business. You just need to make sure you have a presence to be found when they search for you.
Automation will become more popular to solve customers’ most urgent customer service challenges
A large shift to digital communication since the pandemic has encouraged more people to engage with a brand over social media. Having an artificial intelligence chatbot will save time for business owners. Cost-effective chatbots are a quick win for those looking to better their online customer experience.
A HUGE MISTAKE IS HAVING A SOCIAL MEDIA PAGE AND NEVER CHECKING OR REPLYING TO MESSAGES OR COMMENTS.
Email lead generation is here to stay
Many businesses are choosing to branch away from boring email structures and are having more creative fun with their emails in the form of storytelling. Those doing it right, the emails are interactive so they increase open rates and grow subscriber lists to create an owned audience. It’s also a smart way to create a voice for your brand and help drive those call-to-action sales in a measurable way.
PLANNING IS KEY TO MAXIMIZING YOUR RETURN ON INVESTMENT. YOU NEED TO INTENTIONALLY PLAN WHAT WILL THE CLICK ON, WHERE DOES THAT GO, WHAT DO I WANT THEM TO DO WHEN THEY GET THERE.
Long story short, the digital marketing game is always evolving at lightning speed. In 2023, the businesses that keep their focus on digital customer service stand to win out against those that don’t. If your business has not adapted to an online digital marketing strategy at least in the past year, call us or someone as soon as possible before it’s too late. Not having an advertising plan to fuel your business’ growth is the first step in killing your business and we both know you have worked way too hard to venture down that path.
There are many resources available on our website for you and the 3SIXTY Marketing Solutions team is happy to help you with all of your marketing needs digital or not. We’re results-driven, we make it easy, and we are here to help! Don’t see what you’re looking for more info on? Call us, email us, let us know, and we will get it for you.
