2023 Top Marketing Trends

The world of marketing travels as quickly as light.

It’s not always simple for marketers of any skill level to keep up with these changes. But it’s important to stay ahead of them if you want to succeed in the fast-paced world of marketing and keep your audience interested in you.

The HubSpot Blog interviewed a few industry leaders and more than 1,000 global marketing professionals to compile this bookmarkable list of marketing trends to watch in 2023. The goal was to assist organizations in developing innovative and competitive marketing strategies.

Influencer marketing will become a widespread marketing strategy.

In 2022, influencer marketing truly took off, and we forecast that this trend would continue into 2023. Why? 89% of marketers who use influencer marketing will grow or keep their investment in it in the upcoming year.

Additionally, 17% of marketers want to make their first investment in it the following year.

When marketers work together with thought leaders and influencers in their sector, they can raise brand awareness and win supporters from the influencer’s own audience.

Having trouble paying a celebrity influencer with millions of fans? That’s alright. In fact, micro-influencers are used by more than 56% of companies who use influencer marketing.

Promoters on social media with a smaller audience are known as micro-influencers (typically, thousands to tens of thousands of followers). Despite having fewer followers, they frequently share more powerful content since there is greater participation.

These influencers have also discovered a niche in their business, which is why they have begun to contribute more to the conversion of leads, audience engagement, and brand exposure.

Contrary to difficult-to-reach celebrities, audiences of micro-influencers are actually more likely to trust their advice because they are still regarded as “ordinary” people.

A well-known travel and lifestyle influencer with more than 330k devoted followers that connect and engage with her articles is Rosie, also known as The Londoner. According to the image below of a post on Rosie’s profile, she receives approximately 36,000 likes and 11% interaction.

Although it can be tempting to just consider an influencer’s follower count when deciding whether they are the ideal fit for your brand, keep in mind that actual impact can be found in engagement rates (clicks, subscribes, and purchases).

Content from video advertisers will be brief.

Short-form video has revolutionized the marketing industry, and we believe it will continue to do so in 2023. A startling 90% of marketers that already use short-form video anticipate expanding or maintain their investment in it in the upcoming year, while 1 in 5 marketers expect to use it for the first time in 2023.

While long-form films can give consumers a lot of detail and information about a product, company, or service, B2C and B2B marketers have discovered that short-form videos are actually much more effective at getting to the point.

Still not persuaded that using short-form videos in your marketing plan will be successful. Check out this awesome TikTok video from Canva that shows viewers how simple it is to create images with the platform that look professional.

Social media will be used as a tool for customer support.

Although using social media as a tool for customer care is still relatively new, this trend is picking up speed swiftly. So much so that 15% of marketers aim to use it for the first time in 2023, and more than a quarter of marketers already use direct messages (DMs) to provide customer support.

This trend’s emergence coincides with the expansion of e-commerce features on several social media sites, including Facebook and Instagram. Customer service on these platforms will therefore become even more important.

It’s also important to note that customers, especially Millennials and Gen Z, prefer to communicate with brands via direct messages. In the past three months, 20% of Gen Zers and almost 25% of Millennials, according to HubSpot’s 2022 Consumer Trends Survey, have contacted a business on social media for customer support.

SEO will be used by more companies to increase search traffic.

As marketers, it is our responsibility to make sure that both our websites and content can be found, particularly on Google, which can generate both long-term and short-term traffic returns. Even though SEO is not a new concept, contemporary marketing techniques are increasingly incorporating its tactics.

SEO comes in third place, behind influencer marketing and short-form video, when it comes to the trend that marketers will spend the most money on in 2023. Additionally, a modest increase from the previous year (84%), 88% of marketers who have an SEO strategy will boost or maintain their spending in 2023.

All prospects for search optimization increase in importance and demand as a result of SEO tactics. As Google’s algorithms have developed, SEO has grown to be much more than just producing straightforward posts that respond to straightforward search requests. Brands are now spending money on SEO specialists who can assist them with everything from search insight reports to multimedia optimization.

The importance of mobile optimization will increase.

Customers are using mobile devices for an increasing amount of time. In reality, mobile devices, including tablets, account for more than half of all yearly website traffic.

Mobile-optimized digital experiences will be even more important to take into account as a business owner that markets to these fast-paced, highly connected generations as millennials and Gen Z consumers continue to increase their purchasing power.

Here are just a few of the causes:

64% of SEO marketers and 33% of global marketers believe that investing in mobile optimization is a good idea.

Additionally, mobile experiences are crucial for other significant marketing techniques in addition to brand websites. For instance, 56% of email-using marketers are concerned about providing users with mobile email experiences.

Social responsibility will be given more importance by businesses.

Nearly twice as many marketers who produce social responsibility content—89%—plan to raise or maintain their spending in 2023.

It is obvious that today’s consumers value social responsibility, ethics, and openness.

For instance, 40% of Millennials and 50% of Gen Z’ers want businesses to take a position on social issues including climate change, gender inequality, and racial justice. Companies’ purchasing choices are significantly impacted when they speak out about these issues.

In light of all of this, businesses have started to change their social media strategy to concentrate more on inclusive activities, promotions, and products, while also emphasizing causes or missions they support. Even while it might not result in immediate sales, being socially conscious is still considerate and productive.

Hal Gregersen, a senior lecturer in leadership and innovation, offers the following insight:

If there could ever be a perfect storm of opportunity for enhancing diversity and inclusion in enterprises, Gregersen asserts that it is occurring right now. Traditional business and working practices were altered by the pandemic, and as a result, barriers to change are now breaking down.

Teams with integrated marketing and sales will triumph.

The need for collaboration between the sales and marketing departments grows as 2023 approaches. When these teams are working together, marketers are better able to understand their customers’ interests, pastimes, and demographics.

However, when it doesn’t, it causes a flurry of issues for all parties concerned. Most significantly, it’s more difficult to exchange and access data across teams, which affects 1 in 5 marketers today.

Uncomfortably, only 31% of marketers claim that their sales and marketing teams work well together. It should come as no surprise that over half of marketers will change their 2023 goals to emphasize sales and marketing alignment.

It’s possible that experiential marketing may return.

Audiences can enter an immersive experience through experiential marketing initiatives, which are frequently offered in-person or on AR/VR platforms.

The M&M’s Flavor Room pop-up is one instance of an immersive marketing campaign you may have seen in the past.

Orb-shaped “rooms” with furnishings and scents exclusive to each candy flavor were incorporated in the experience. The pop-up, which had its headquarters in New York City in 2018, also had food and drink lounges with M&M-themed beverages, which I’m willing to bet were fantastic opportunities for M&M to appear on various participants’ social media accounts.

Immersive experiences like this were entertaining, effective, and very shareable on social media, but they encountered difficulties in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the global pandemic forcing businesses, public places, and entire nations to close their doors to the public.

However, as more people acquire access to technologically immersive platforms, the idea of experiential marketing is once more on the table for 2023.

A best technique for expanding brands will continue to be inbound marketing.

It is tremendously wise to embrace inbound marketing in this era of digital change.

Due to the enormous change that has occurred in the previous two years, outbound marketing strategies are now even less successful at attracting prospects and leads.

Inbound marketing has emerged as one of the most effective strategies as work-from-home (WFH) company practices transition from in-person to hybrid models. For instance, the COVID-19 mandate has led to a sharp increase in virtual events as marketers scramble to pique consumers’ interest.

Despite its normal formulaic production, John Hazard, the CEO and content strategist of digital marketing agency Lighthouse Creative Group, sees this as an area of opportunity to stimulate interest. “Screen drowsiness is a major problem for brands.”

In addition, Hazard states that “every organization has sought to implement events, webinars, and virtual conferences as virtual events have proliferated as a replacement for in-person participation. However, the majority are either PowerPoint presentations or a business CEO speaking while their kitchen is in the background. That’s not intriguing at all. The race is on for polish and production value in 2021, therefore there won’t be any kitchen backdrops and there will be graphics, directors, professional hosts, or equipment.

Through a targeted strategy that encourages users to seek out your material, inbound marketing can be a powerful asset to raise brand awareness and establish trust online.

You must create high-quality, valuable content that is suited to your target market, buyer personas, and their needs in order to effectively use inbound marketing.

The marketing industry will adopt virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) slowly.

In the beginning, we had high expectations for VR and AR in the marketing sector. 35% of marketers included AR or VR in their strategies back in 2021, and of those marketers, almost half intended to raise their spending the following year.

It might, however, drop down the list in 2023 as fewer advertisers are expected to spend money on it. Over a quarter (27%) of marketers said they won’t be employing VR and AR in the upcoming year.

Due to expensive equipment and large headsets, marketers have generally been slower to adopt this trend. However, this might change as more people have access to VR headsets and AR applications.

Native ads will be tested by more companies.

Nearly a quarter (23%) of marketers intended to use native ads for the first time this year, and we anticipate that number to rise in 2023.

Why is this tactic becoming more popularity? Yes, it does. Nearly 50% of marketers who use native advertisements say it’s their top strategy for creating ROI, and more than 36% say it’s effective.

You invest in native advertising when your company pays to have content featured on a website owned by a different party. Native advertising is intended to blend in and spread awareness of your business to a new audience, as opposed to traditional advertising, which is made to interrupt and stand out.

Consumers are more inclined to consume native ads since they don’t “feel” like traditional advertisements; in fact, native ads are viewed over 50% more frequently than banner ads.

Social media, search engine results, content recommendation platforms (those links to various other content you may click at the bottom of the page to read more on or connected to the issue), and campaigns are a few places you can find examples of native advertising.

For instance, the well-liked social media platform Instagram frequently works with businesses to promote native advertising. Brands can share posts that resemble the posting style of the average user’s followers by utilizing the Instagram Story or Shop functionalities, all while covertly promoting a product.

The best marketing content format will continue to be video.

In 2022, video dominated the marketing sector; we anticipate that trend will continue in 2023. Why? because marketers intend to spend more money on short-form video than any other trend in 2019. Additionally, a staggering 90% of marketers who use short-form video now plan to raise or maintain their expenditure in 2023.

According to Neil Patel, CMO and Co-Founder of NP Digital, “Video develops a stronger connection with your potential consumer base and it is easier for brands to convert video material into podcasts and text-based content.”

Due to expensive resources and production, video creation and marketing techniques in the past were constrained. It’s lot easier to access now. Video is now easier to use into your marketing strategies thanks to lower cost barriers.

“JotForm, our startup, has been stepping up its YouTube video operations. We now have over 16,000 subscribers and investing in video on this platform has greatly increased site traffic and signups “explains Aytekin Tank, the CEO and founder of JotForm.

A smartphone, such an iPhone, and reasonably priced editing software are all you need; you don’t even need to engage a production team or marketing firm. Don’t trust us? This post demonstrates how our own in-house video marketers produced videos at home at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blogging is here to stay.

Since businesses began creating their own websites, blogging has become a popular marketing tactic. However, the fact that a strategy is old shouldn’t mean that it is no longer effective. In fact, the reason blogging has been practiced for so long is because it is effective. In fact, one in three marketers use their own blog or website as a result.

Additionally, according to our study, the majority of customers read blogs on a weekly basis and have done so after visiting a brand’s blog.

Blogs help your website or online pages by increasing search discoverability in addition to increasing consumer engagement and possibly conversion.

 In the end, websites with active blogs have greater search potential and can more easily deploy SEO tactics than websites without active blogs.

Consider it in this manner. If a potential client is looking to hire a virtual accountant and your firm’s website has a blog post highlighting tax advice or techniques your accountants use, this person may find your post or website through a Google search, read your post, and then explore your website before deciding to get in touch with you for a consultation or accounting help.

If you haven’t thought about starting a blog yet but are intrigued by this information, look into these tools to assist you in developing your own plan:

Case studies will continue to increase brand trust and lead generation.

Prospects can get a very in-depth and unique insight at how people or businesses profit from a product, service, or strategy by reading longer case studies. While some display them openly on their websites in an effort to convince potential customers as soon as feasible. Others might offer them as free PDFs that must be downloaded with a lead conversion.

Although many marketers don’t use case studies, such as those in B2C businesses, those who do find them useful. Case studies are also increasingly being used in content marketing: This year, case studies were going to be used in marketing strategies for the first time by 37% of marketers.

using social media to sell.

Many social networking sites are competing to become the next popular spot for shopping. Facebook has Facebook Shops, Instagram has Instagram Shopping, and TikTok is developing new partnership and e-commerce options. 

Consumer shopping habits are already being impacted by this change. For instance, 71% of Gen Z users prefer to use social media to find new products. Similarly, 51% of Millennials feel this same.

You might want to think about concentrating your lead generation efforts on social media if this trend keeps expanding.

TikTok will keep attracting attention as a brand.

Since 56% of marketers that presently use TikTok expect to expand their investment in 2023, the greatest percentage of any social media app, TikTok will continue to rise in popularity.

Since TikTok started to become popular three years ago, brands have been attempting to leverage its true power. With far over 1 billion users now, TikTok has established itself as a marketing tool for a wide range of people. 

Of course, if you believe TikTok is only used by young people, think again. In the past three months, 38% of Gen Xers and 50% of Millennials both claim to have visited TikTok, according to HubSpot’s 2022 Consumers Trends Report. These figures are expected to increase more as TikTok gains more popularity.

The majority of marketers will concentrate just on three to five social media sites.

Marketers typically use four social media sites in their work. With 64% of marketers using it, Facebook is the most popular social media site, followed by Instagram (58%), YouTube (57%), Twitter (43%), and TikTok (42%).

Realistically, three to five platforms can be managed. This variety enables businesses of all sizes to reach out to various audiences while also providing social media marketers with a manageable list of platforms to understand without using up all of their bandwidth throughout the workweek.

You can use the following questions to decide how many platforms you should truly be using: 

• On your team, how many social media marketers are there?
• Which social media channels have the most users who fit your target demographic?
• How long will it take you to become an expert on each of the platforms you’re aiming for?
• Exist any platforms that, as of now, won’t help your total marketing plan?
• Do you have any platforms where you can effortlessly repurpose interesting content? (Such as YouTube Shorts and TikTok)

You may prioritize which platforms you should actually focus on by answering some of the questions above and determining how much time your social team and brand will need to develop an effective and engaging strategy on each one.

A top attention will be given to keyword optimization.

Our Search Insights Report is by far one of the most important strategies used on the MKYCOMM Blog. This report lists every keyword we want to use as well as every blog post we need to write or update in order to appear for that keyword on Google.

However, we are no longer the only blogs using an SIR. In fact, 47% of marketing experts who utilize SEO claim that their businesses include search insights reports into their strategy.

To find out where you can improve your content with keyword-optimized titles, subheads, body text, or descriptions, for instance, you may use tools like Ahrefs or SEMRush to conduct some quick SEO keyword research relating to your business, products, or upcoming material.

SEO for images and videos won’t be overlooked by web teams.

SEO involves more than just editing the text on a page. In order for a page to appear in Google images or search engine video carousels, it may also require selecting and optimizing the appropriate videos and images for the page.

Unlike video optimization efforts, which can involve integrating a movie with a related topic or keyword inside a blog post, picture optimization techniques might entail compressing files to speed up pages and adding keyword-optimized alt text to images. 

A strategy for optimizing videos and images is now used by 53% of marketers who use SEO. According to 49% of these firms, optimizing images and videos for search engines is their top SEO strategy.

Brands may increase their authority and search rankings by developing links.

When highly ranked websites start linking to yours, Google’s crawlers take note that your site may be reliable and hold significant domain authority. This may then deceive Google into increasing your ranking. Getting other websites to link to yours is the ultimate goal of link building.

Even while it can take time and effort to create highly shareable material, seek out to other websites to share it with, or make sure that your post receives links, research demonstrates that these efforts are worthwhile. Backlinking and link building are used by 48% of SEO marketers, but 63% of them claim that it is their brand’s most successful SEO strategy.

The use of historical SEO will increase visitors to outdated websites.

Marketers will adapt what has previously worked for the present rather than coming up with brand-new concepts.

Maintaining fresh content that is rich in information and interesting to readers will outperform older content that lacks keyword relevance and relies on dated data and links in SEO. Additionally, recycling previously published information for a new podcast, webinar, or blog post can be a successful strategy to keep it current with search engine algorithms.

Although one in four SEO marketers use historical optimization as part of their plan, 29% of those marketers claim that this is an SEO tactic that works.

The importance of voice search optimization is decreasing.

41% of marketers anticipated increasing their spending on voice search optimization in the ensuing year in 2021. It appears that marketers today are less focused on this tendency.

In 2023, more than a quarter of marketers (28%) predict they will no longer use voice search optimization.

Although it might seem hopeless, a small percentage of marketers (13%, to be exact) want to investigate this trend for the first time in 2023. How will they carry this out? by centering their discourse around inquiries.

Consider this: while responding to brief questions like “Who plays the actor in Mission: Impossible?” or “What’s the weather like in Boston today?” these digital assistants have also begun to process more in-depth, conversational, and personalized queries. These can include inquiries like “Do they sell iced coffee?” and “Where’s a nearby coffee shop I can work from today?”

Businesses should consider a topic and ask themselves, “What questions could users ask about this?” according to Aja Frost, Head of English SEO at HubSpot. They should then make appropriate plans for subtopics and look for chances to include questions as headers. This will make it simple for voice assistants to identify content as a solution to a question.