The Marketing Playground: 4 Marketing Trends to Key Your Eye on in 2023

Welcome to the first edition of

The Marketing Playground

My mission here is simple. I want to share key marketing trends from the regular research and reading I do, plus what I learn as the Founder of an award-winning communications agency. Like everything else in life, knowledge grows through sharing and playing with what you learn. Let’s play.

Here are my top 4 trends in 2023 marketing:

1. TikTok & business.

According to the Digital Marketing Institute, this social platform will continue to grow in influence and scope for companies trying to stay relevant and top of mind for customers. I’ve been persuading clients to ditch the “wait and see” approach when it comes to TikTok marketing and start “experimenting.” Marketers do not have to double down in a new area. Instead, they should experiment and test with their agencies to learn, gather data, and stay up to date.

 A key challenge to overcome with this trend: Marketers are so obsessed with data-driven results that experimenting feels too risky. But, if we only do what we believe will work, we will never learn what else we can do. And, as your competition experiments and learns, you will be late to catch up. I suggest developing a simple test you can run with your agency to learn how to leverage TikTok for your brand before the rest of the world catches on.

2. Video. And then, more videos.

This trend will continue in its exponential growth path for B2C and B2B marketers. 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, and 92% value it as a vital part of their strategy (according to Wyzowl research). What kind of video tops the top, and what platforms? Explainer videos, social media videos, presentation videos, testimonials, and ads round out the top five (sales videos come right after that). The leading platforms for sharing are YouTube, LinkedIn (yes!), and Instagram.

3. Social Selling. 

At the company I founded, we are HUGE proponents of social selling, and we are thrilled to see that the research supports a surge in this area in 2023. Why are we hot for it? It’s easy: The way people make purchasing decisions is changing. As I see it, social selling helps in three main ways to stay ahead of these changes: first, it allows brands to tell a story (which is the cornerstone of any great marketing plan); second, it allows for the sharing of multiple content types (video, graphics, stories, reels, etc.) to increase engagement, and maybe most importantly, it exponentially multiplies your “salesforce messaging.” Some platforms make it so you have to go “paid” to see the best results, but good results can come from organic posting, too.

4. Content marketing.

Content marketing is familiar, but here’s the difference maker, in 2023, the name of the game is to link your content (and the marketing and sales funnel) to build connections. Today, customers are more interested in the values of a company than they ever have been. This year, it’s not about the quantity of the content you put out but the quality: the story, the authenticity, and the mix of different ways to engage.

The challenge: marketers tend to do what they “know” and shy away from what they don’t. They also tend to partner with agencies that tell them what they want to hear versus what would benefit the brand and organizational goals. My advice: pilot a new “brand purpose story” campaign (in addition to whatever else you have planned, or better yet, replace a stale idea with this one). See what happens when you toy with this idea.

Changing the value vs. sell mix of the marketing content created. This leads to the last of my top 5 marketing trends for 2023. This one ranks higher on the strategy than the execution, but since a sound system should be the foundation of a good plan, it pays to play with this idea for your brand. Now, more than ever, consumers and businesses want to be aligned with companies with a well-articulated and original purpose. And they want to be sold less. Some marketing professionals now recommend that your marketing message mix contain only 5-8% of selling messages in 2023. Now, that’s a change I can get behind. The way I see it, to stand apart, brands should get you to believe in who they are first. Then, you’ll believe what they can do for you. 

Thanks for coming to my playground to play. If you’re wondering why I picked Marketing Playground as the newsletter’s title, I’ll leave you with this. To play loosely means to do something for fun. I see the marketing industry losing the enjoyment that used to permeate campaigns and the work. I want to bring a little of that back. We can get results and have fun while we’re at it.

Join me next month, when my topic will be How Brands Can Use Marketing to Drive Corporate Culture.

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed it, please share.

About Copy & Art

Copy & Art is a boutique communications agency specializing in digital creative solutions. We are a certified MBE, woman-owned and managed creative agency. We offer a variety of creative services including website design and development, social media strategy and creative, video production and marketing, podcast production and promotion and branding strategy and assessment.

CONTACT
Sherri Heller, VP Marketing and PR
(914) 607-7888
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https://cadigitalny.com