The business world is constantly changing with more competition than ever before. Technology is changing industry barriers, and entire business models are under threat. It doesn’t matter whether you have been in the industry for decades or are just a rookie starting on a shoestring budget; this guide has summarized hundreds of pages of marketing trends, ideas, and strategies that are relevant in 2023.
Marketing Ideas, Trends, and Strategies for Businesses in 2023
Develop an Actionable Marketing Plan for the Year
It is amazing how many companies need a concrete marketing strategy to go into every new year. While most may plan against achieving some milestones, such as target revenue, profits, or new locations, a strategy is what you need to achieve your goals. The basic framework for creating a plan is to have a specific achievable aim relevant to your business, such as revenue, profit, and time-bound. But with a strategy, your plans are in line and may be achieved. How exactly do you aim to achieve greater sales numbers? Your tactic could be paid ads targeting a specific demographic with appealing content.
Create and Tell Your Brand Story
Humans have evolved to love stories. There is nothing more captivating than a good story. And not surprisingly, the power of brands and the stories they carry are responsible for the success of some of the biggest companies in the world. KFC has a beautiful and inspiring story of a Colonel who never served in the army achieving his lifelong dream of opening a restaurant franchise in his 60s. Nike, Coca-Cola, Ferrari, Vans, and Tesla are all beaming with unique stories that amaze consumers and capture them to the products and services of the brand. Starting with trying to build an identity into your brand, a personality that people can relate to, is a good starting point. Then, you should create your documented brand story, which will help add style and personality to your marketing.
Use Chatbots to Improve Customer Experience
The number of customer interactions with various businesses will be powered by artificial intelligence (AI). ChatGPT has spurred interest in AI and chatbots and what they can do. Research indicates that AI will power 95% of such customer interactions by 2023. This means human involvement will be minimal. With the advancement of natural language processing (NLP) and other technology like machine learning, the future of customer interactions involves chatbots and AI. Platforms like WhatsApp are making it easy for businesses to build various chatbot applications to help create 24/7 interactive experiences for customers, which can boost brand affinity, customer satisfaction, and boost sales.
Get Into Video!
The rise of video was prominently highlighted by marketing experts as the next big wave as early as five years ago. But it took 2022 for brands to realize just how important video is to the present and future of marketing. Tiktok has certainly given older platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram a run for their money. It is now a race of who wins the video wars.
But avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Video is and has always been a crucial tool for communicating brand stories. When you see video content as a part of your brand story, your perspective on content creation changes. The younger generations, which are dominant on most social platforms, value authenticity and being trustworthy counts.
Having behind-the-scenes video content and live streams, sharing office tours, and finding ways to connect with your clients and customers is a great way to differentiate your brand from the sea of both old and new brands.
Hosting Q&As is a great way to create two-way communication between you and the key stakeholders in your brand.
Most marketing managers want to double down their efforts on platforms like TikTok and Instagram with shorts and reels. Short-form video is taking over. While pursuing short-form content, focus on the brand, its story and the objectives you want to achieve.
Leverage Trends to Grow In The Short Term
Post frequently and regularly. That is the cliché social media advice. But is that all that a brand has to do to be successful? Not really! Social media has evolved, and it is time brands evolved as well. Platforms are increasingly based on trends. Leveraging social media trends can help your brand stay relevant to conversations trending while putting your brand in front of your target.
User-generated content
The Gen Z population influences marketing trends and how brands should do business. To market to Gen Zs requires a new lens and a fresh perspective. One such new strategy is user-generated content. Gen Zs love to be part of brands that they love.
By building campaigns that incorporate your customers in marketing, such as customers sharing opinions about your brand, you can effectively market to this population. A carefully curated list of influencers who engage in various influencer marketing campaigns can boost sales.
It is often worth it to encourage everyday users to share their opinions about your brand through testimonials, videos, product reviews, and photos.
Leverage Data and Analytics
Today’s marketing is built around data, and you will likely be left behind if you don’t pay attention to what the data says. You don’t need to be a trained data scientist or have a quant department, but you need to be able to read analytics and understand the insights they project. Most brands complain of getting low traction with social media but never look at the data to know how the audience reacts to their efforts and perhaps how they can improve. Platforms have analytics dashboards for a reason; make good use of them.
Participate in Local Events
In-Person Events – 2020 was the year everything went digital; it is time to roll back a little of that. The return of in-person events began in 2022. While we cannot go back to doing everything in person due to the covid induced digital evolution, it helps to take advantage of every physical event where you can have consumer touchpoints, build brand associations and create brand affinity.
Whether exhibitions, award schemes, carnivals, parties, or some other event idea, leveraging the power of sharing your brand experience below the line with targeted audiences can have a healthy impact on your brand and your sales. There are several ways to participate in such events. Building partnerships and collaborating with complementary brands and sponsorships are some tactics to get involved.
But before you get into the event bandwagon, make sure you will be getting some value out of it. Implementing event intelligence will help you determine the event’s caliber, class, and specific demographics. Armed with such data, you can look stunning to the right people!
Focus on Content Marketing and SEO
The majority of Ghanaian businesses still need content marketing teams. However, content marketing spending has been growing globally over the past years. According to expert studies, the content marketing industry will become a $584.02 billion industry in 2027.
At the top of what is considered necessary for effective content marketing campaigns and strategies, “creativity and craft” ranked the highest, not budget. It only takes a little to make a Tiktok video. But it does take a lot of craft and creativity to make a viral TikTok. Content isn’t just about social media platforms. Blogging and Podcasting are content marketing tactics that have generated brands record-setting revenues.
While the platform (s) you decide to play on may depend on your business and target audience, you must do something other than SEO in content marketing. Search currently brings in the majority of traffic for the majority of brands. Most niches aren’t super competitive locally. That means a lot of opportunities in the content marketing space.
As Stephenie Staphl of Content Marketing Institute puts it, “content marketing is about the future – preparing audiences and customers to solve their problems, meet their challenges, and reach their goals.” There are lots of content forms, platforms, and strategies. Regardless of your budget, there is something for every brand in content marketing.
What makes content more effective than paid is that it gets discovered by people actively searching for it instead of ads that are pushed to people who are simply going about their daily lives. Users actively searching for information are likely to engage and patronize a brand. Also, content stays online while ads get faced out. The content you create today will still work for your brand for years to come. And thanks to algorithms, updates could resurface content created a while ago.
Podcasting
Audio is fast gaining entry into social media, and podcasts are making it ripe for exploration if you still need to record a podcast. 26% of creators have already jumped into either audio only or a combined video and audio podcast. Podcasts are a great way to build credibility, build thought leadership, and develop a core niche audience who keenly follow your opinions on industry-related trends, news, and stories.
Dabble Into Paid Ads
If you want faster results, paid ads may be the tactic you need. Content marketing is mainly for the future. Running ad campaigns on search, social, or blogs and having a strategy to turn advertisements into paying customers is the best way to pay your employees now and still make a profit. Ads are easy to set up but could easily become complicated given a higher budget, better targeting, and scaling parameters. It is best to involve a media buyer or ad strategist with market insights to help you achieve your goals.
Use The Power of Free; The 0 Price Effect
The 0 price effect is not a trend but an old trick that works like magic. The 0 price effect is when people are offered things for free. “Everyone loves free.” If you have ever wondered why brands offer their products and accessories and engage in other giveaways, discounts, and promotions, it would be thanks to this effect.
Use The Power of Influencers to Grow Your Brand
When you enter a new town and have a message for its people, you need to go through the chieftains. Similarly, the digital world is full of small and big chieftains who have the attention of the people you want to reach. All you have to do is get the chieftains involved and get your brand into the minds of millions of people and generate sales for your business. Influencer marketing has been growing in Ghana over the years, and new influencers keep growing from different niches and markets. McKinsey studied global trends and found that 80% of consumers have the propensity to buy a brand just because an influencer recommended it. That’s an overwhelming number to avoid.
Conclusion
Marketing is critical to any business and staying up-to-date with the latest ideas, trends, and strategies is crucial for success. By implementing digital marketing tactics, personalizing efforts, creating valuable content, partnering with influencers, focusing on customer experience, and staying up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies, businesses can increase brand awareness, attract and retain customers, and drive sales.