The concept of what we understand as “marketing” is constantly growing, evolving and becoming broader as brands and technology find new ways to work together to speak to their target audience. 

As a marketer, whether you’re looking for content elevation, exciting opportunities or finding your niche in a growing and changing digital landscape, it's important to have short-term goals that are catalysts for long-term success. We may not have a crystal ball for the future of marketing, but industry insights and professionals can offer some useful predictions.  

 

The marketing trends that will create an impact in the next 12 months will include, but are not limited to, Customer Experience, Strategic SEO, Content Visualization, User- Generated Content and The Metaverse.

Consumers have higher expectations than ever before and you’ll have to meet them. This is because customer experience is the golden goose that keeps on giving when it comes to the revenue bottom line. If they like your brand and feel that it understands them and solves their problem, they are more likely to continue doing business with you as well as recommend you.

 One can not deny that creating content to entice your potential customers is getting harder, and demands more creativity and an understanding of your customer journey, touchpoints and potential changes. 

What can you do?

Adopt personalized marketing to understand the needs of your customers better. Through this strategy, you’ll be able to deliver a personalized experience throughout your customer journey. This enables you to respond to their problems, create solutions and anticipate future hiccups. The involvement of your digital marketing team, sales department and customer service team will become more important, as these are departments that can no longer work independently. 

 

User-Generated Content

It’s the latest buzzword on the streets and it's created by consumers themselves. If there’s one thing that TikTok has taught us, it's that everyone is a content creator and brands need to take note. Anyone can create reviews about your brand and product and resonate with your target audience. As a brand, what are you doing to leverage that?

 

What can you do? Create authenticity in your marketing strategy by including user-generated content. Consumers are more likely to engage with content that is original and resonates with them than one created by a brand. Look out for your brand and product reviews, branded hashtags and photo tags from consumers. These are great examples of how to take advantage of user-generated content. 

Gone are the days when throwing a bunch of keywords in a blog or optimizing tags did the trick. You’re going to have to be smarter and more strategic than that. In 2023, it’s all about creating content that the user wants. The relevance of strategic keywords will always be there, however, quality content from an authoritative figure becomes more paramount. We will see more SEO focus given to click-through rates and engagement metrics being measured. 

What can you do? Create high-quality and relevant content that fits the consumer’s needs and let Google organically raise that content to the top.

 

Video content is the future, and it's here to stay. If you’re wondering how that’s a fact, argue with TikTok and its numbers. With over 6.4 million users between the ages of 15 and 3 using TikTok daily, it is the newest platform but already has over 6.4 million users in South Africa. And with brands entering the space, it's seen a 25% increase in its numbers. Video content is a great way to better understand your consumers.

What can you do? Get an understanding of these platforms, their format, appeal and content. Create behind-the-scenes (BTS) videos that give your consumers a sneak peek into how your brand operates, its thought process in campaigns and much more like live videos.

Then test and experiment with how they could work for your brand. With short video formats making their way to social media management tools and schedulers, getting insights into how your audience is perceiving you will become a lot easier. 

There is no denying that influencer marketing will continue to rise throughout 2023. However, the need to be more specific with the kind of influencers used will be more crucial. Thanks to platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, we’ve seen a rise in influencers who resonate with consumers more than ever and generate a great RIO. However, brands must work with influencers who influence their audiences authentically. 

 

What can you do? Research opportunities to integrate influencer marketing into your marketing plan for next year. Pay close attention to how your competitors are using influencer marketing to grow results and what you can do differently or better.

The look into the MetaVerse

It’s a virtual space where consumers can meet up, socialize, show and try out products and so much more. However, many brands are still on the fence about its capabilities.

 

 It’s best to start learning more about it and how it can enhance the customer experience for your brand. Where there is an opportunity to experiment on it, take it and find interesting ways to reach your audience. According to the CX Report, 53% of respondents had never heard of the Metaverse before, while 79% of them said they saw themselves interacting with a brand in the metaverse in the future. This is telling of interest in something new and exciting.

 

You can shape and redirect your marketing strategy according to these trends. If there's one thing these trends show, it's that consumers' needs and experiences are key.