Every January, marketers haul out their trends, predictions, and the flashy new “in” things for the new year. Some are great. Others, not so much.
Here’s our take on what’s new in marketing for 2023.
New targeting solutions
Over the past few years online privacy has been a growing concern for consumers. In response, tech companies began making private user data more secure. With Google set to phase out 3rd party cookies by the end of next year, this creates a unique challenge for marketers. Look for new targeting tools to appear this year such as Google’s Privacy Sandbox as a way to deploy highly personalized content and ads.
Our take: for many marketers, digital ad ROI has suffered because of targeting limits due to privacy concerns. ROI will continue to fall (and ad revenue for the giants will take a hit) unless new privacy-friendly and effective targeting solutions are developed. This is a good thing for marketers and consumers. Thumbs up.
Journey maps
Now more than ever we see that users no longer interact with brands exclusively through a single method or channel. Enter the Customer Journey Map. A Customer Journey Map is a visual representation of how a customer acts, thinks, and feels throughout the buying process. It can be a valuable tool for fine-tuning your user experience. Learn more.
Our take: we’re fans of everything that promotes user behavior literacy. Even if you don’t sell products or have traditional customers, the more you know about how people interact with your organization through various steps (donation, participation, advocacy, etc.) the better you’ll serve those constituents and fulfill your mission. Big thumbs up.
Conversational marketing
Lead capture forms are a great tool for marketers but involve some waiting time for users. A new trend being employed is conversational marketing. Conversational marketing uses targeted messaging and intelligent chatbots to engage with people while they are on your website, eliminating the delayed response from a lead form.
Our take: hard pass. While we have seen a number of instances where dynamic AI content has been used successfully in ad copy and calls to action, it’s still too early. R2D2, as cute as he is, will kill your user experience. Nobody likes chatbots. Nobody. Thumbs down.
Don’t count out email!
Email will remain a key focus in 2023. Coming in only second to the phone in the list of preferred channels to interact with brands. Email is still a reigning champion! Research shows that email marketing volume increased 15% in 2022 and accounted for 80% of all outbound brand messaging. Be sure to include email as part of a successful marketing plan in the coming year.
Our take: it depends on your target demographic. If you’re only looking to reach young people, then no. But if enough of your audience uses email, absolutely. Thumbs up.
If you want to learn more about the latest trends for 2023 or simply tighten up your existing marketing strategy for the new year, we’d love to talk.