Your Guide to Digital Marketing in 2023
With 2022 rapidly coming to a close, businesses are preparing for another year of stiff competition within the marketing landscape. To help you get a leg up on the competition, we’ve compiled a list of the top marketing trends and predictions to watch in 2023. We’ll cover:
- SEO trends and predictions for 2023
- What’s changing for website in the new year
- 2023 social media trends
- The complete marketing mix for 2023 success
Normally, our team likes to begin each year identifying the key changes to expect within the marketing landscape. However, with so many changes taking place, waiting for the clock to strike midnight on January 1 would put our clients at a huge disadvantage.
Instead, we’re jumping the gun on our annual trends report to help business owners better plan for their marketing efforts. Read on to discover what you’ll need to watch out for in the new year so you have the best chance at meeting your online goals!
SEO Trends & Predictions for 2023
This year, Google made some of the most significant changes to its algorithm to date. The introduction of the helpful content update placed a sharper focus on serving content to users that is original, informational, and trustworthy.
Not only that, but the search engine giant announced that it will be transforming the mobile search experience into one that resembles an “endless feed of discovery.” That means users will no longer need to toggle between Web, Images, or Video tabs, but will be able to view personalized results all on the front page.
There are some other interesting changes that searchers will see on the platform as well, including:
- Shortcuts: Searchers can now use tappable shortcuts to begin a search query by uploading photos, translating with Google Lens, or finding songs by humming.
- Results: Google will begin populating results in the search bar before a query is even submitted, making it easier than ever to find the right answer.
- Refinement: Users can more easily refine their search query to get better results with Google’s all-new ability to suggest different ways to expand on the topic.
- Stories: Google Web Stories will allow users to explore subjects in highly visual ways, including content from creators on the open web for additional context.
With all these changes coming to the platform, SEO teams will need to ensure they are incorporating a variety of content into their strategies. Video, images, and short-form video content will become increasingly important for websites to display alongside long-form written content.
Especially with the introduction of Google’s helpful content update, longer content will need to take on a slightly different form. The helpful content update is essentially a continuation of the rollout of Google’s passage ranking algorithm introduced back in December 2020. It allows Google to hone in on the most important passages of your content to direct users to the most relevant parts of your webpage. To help Google identify these areas more easily, strategists will need to be more intentional about segmentation within long-form content pieces.
What’s Changing for Websites in 2023?
As SEO strategists work to include varied content types, websites will need to contain multiple integration points. This means:
- Linking: Websites will need to contain plenty of internal and external links to direct users back to the original source of the content, especially when that content is coming from a social media profile.
- Embedding: As websites work to include videos and imagery, they will need to rely on embeds to prevent against slowing down the user experience.
- Schema: Developers will need to ensure that their website schema includes integrations with any social media or video platforms that may help strengthen the user experience, especially as it relates to search.
- Taxonomy: A clean and organized site taxonomy with clear internal linking structure will be paramount to a successful online strategy in the new year.
Additionally, websites will need to have a stronger focus on converting visitors. In today’s highly competitive marketplace, every webpage needs to be a conversion page. Optimizing for increase conversions will mean including stronger CTAs, faster site speeds, and more personalized contact form experiences.
With more small businesses publishing websites than ever before, it’s increasingly important for sites to illustrate the value behind their offerings. If your website doesn’t have a page dedicated to real-life case studies or testimonials already, now is the time to add this information to establish trust with your target audience.
2023 Social Media Trends
Brands can no longer afford to “set and forget” their social media content. Instead, they need to be actively involved with their social media followings to earn meaningful results. To have the best chance at success, social strategists will need to build out thoughtful audience personas to gain a complete understanding of their target market. Be specific and segmented when creating buyer personas, and use available listening tools to stay current on the conversations actively taking place on social media.
Understanding the audience is just one small piece of the puzzle. Strategists also need to remain engaged with their followers. Comment and interact with users often to maximize engagement and reach for a stronger online presence.
Finally, it’s important to diversify by engaging with multiple ad types. While short-form video content continues to dominate the organic social media landscape, it’s important to test creative with different types of ad sets to see what’s most impactful with your specific audience.
The Transition From Social to Entertainment Networks
This is not entirely new, we have seen this transition happen for a few years, but it has amplified in 2022. Most online networks will place more of an effort on entertainment and viewership than truly being social. You can see this with the emergence of TikTok and older networks like instagram and Facebook highlighting reels, stories, and video of still photos.
This emergence in entertainment networks is an effort to create longer viewership and continued scrolling.
These networks, who’s original intent was to create true sociability amongst peers, now puts more of an effort on creating content than conversation.
Adapting content creation into your strategy will get you more visibility on all platforms. Also, keeping an eye out to where your audience is engaging will be critical to for you to interact with your customers.
Create Referral Engines
Building an active online community is one of the greatest ways to achieve digital marketing success. This can be done in several different ways, including:
- Facebook Groups: Create niche communities on Facebook to remain engaged with your audience.
- Webinars: Host informational sessions to showcase your expertise and bring variety to your content strategy.
- Go Live: Try using the livestream feature on various social media platforms to maximize engagement.
Establishing a referral engine for your business is one of the easiest ways to gain trust within your target audience online.
Cross Sharing & Integration
As aforementioned, content strategists will need to develop multiple different types of content to remain competitive. Creating a series based on a single topic is a great place to start.
From there, it will be important to cross-share these content pieces across the various networks where your brand is present. For example, a long-form video may appear on your website’s blog but should also be published to your business’s YouTube account. This will increase reach and strengthen SEO efforts as Google continues to roll out its Web Stories feature highlighting content creators on the open web.
Business Highlights
With more people competing in the space, earning trust has become increasingly difficult. One way to combat this in 2023 is by investing more time in sharing your brand’s unique story. Showcase the multiple stages of your business by lifting the curtain on what makes your brand special.
Getting Noticed
Posting to your blog or social media profile once a month is insufficient for getting noticed by your target audience. Brands need to invest in creating a more impactful content strategy that keeps them in front of their audience wherever they are most active. Getting noticed will mean creating and publishing content regularly across multiple platforms within the online space.
Patience & Neutrality
Customers are smarter than ever, which means they’re more in-tune to salesy, fluff content that doesn’t offer additional value. Businesses need to exercise patience and neutrality when speaking with prospects online. Google searchers and social media users aren’t necessarily in the mindset to buy when engaging with your brand online. Help guide them in the right direction by showing them that you’re there to help first and foremost.
Creating a plan for online success can be a daunting, overwhelming process. At Signature W. Studio, we help businesses achieve their objectives through carefully tailored marketing campaigns. If you’re looking to grow your business online in the new year, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team for a consultation!
