Top Digital Marketing Trends in 2023 You Need to Be Aware Of

The digital marketing industry is ever-evolving, so to create successful marketing strategies and campaigns, you need to keep up with the latest trends.  

In 2023, these trends are influenced by factors like the increasing influence of AI and marketing automation among many others. 

To help you maximize results and stay ahead of your competition, we want to share with you the most important disruptive marketing trends in 2023 you should be aware of, including: 

• B2B Digital Marketing 
• Content Marketing 
• Social Media Marketing 
• Influencer Marketing 
• Paid Media Trends 
• Search Engine Optimization 
• Email Marketing 
• Video Marketing 
• Affiliate Marketing 
• E-commerce  

Let’s dive in and explore together what 2023 has in store for digital marketing. 

1. B2B Digital Marketing  

In 2023, marketers need to be more strategic and selective when it comes to the B2B industry. Here are a few trends to keep in mind when revising your current B2B marketing campaigns. 

Personalization 

According to Integrate and Demand Metric data, 54% of B2B marketing professionals will spend more on customer marketing. In 2023, marketers will shift their focus to creating an authentic and genuine connection with customers.  

This will strengthen the human aspect of B2B companies, improve brand reputation and create a sense of transparency and authenticity. 

Content Marketing 

When it comes to content marketing efforts, B2B marketers should focus on bringing value. In today’s cluttered digital space, most decision-makers get flooded with tons of information. So, to truly grab their attention, you need to provide the help and valuable information they’re looking for. This will help you win their trust, and they’ll be more inclined to consider your service/product as a possible solution they could use in the future. 

In terms of content format, consider: 

• Podcasts: About 80 million Americans listen to podcasts every week as of 2021 data. This type of audio content allows you to connect with your audience and start a conversation with them. You can also host industry experts and break down complex topics as these are sometimes harder to convey in written format. 
• Short-format written content: While long-form content could provide a lot of insightful information, most people tend to scroll through it until they find the specific answers they’re looking for. In this sense, busy decision-makers in big B2B companies might prefer more concise and straight-to-the-point content.  
• Interactive content: An increasing number of B2B companies use polls, quizzes, infographic videos, and even virtual events. This can help you engage with customers, showcase your products and services, and gain new leads. 

Influencer Marketing 

Influencer marketing is a trend that works well in B2C, but in recent years it is becoming more popular in the B2B industry as well.  

B2B marketers who want to experiment in this area should consider this: 

• The more niche the influencer, the better this strategy works. You do not need to find an influencer with millions of followers. In fact, micro-influencers (with under 20K followers) have proven to work much better and achieve higher engagement rates on social media. 
• Most people choose to get their information from a trusted source, and more often than not, these are influencers (as opposed to company sales representatives). 

As B2B marketing rapidly evolves in 2023, marketers should adapt fast to succeed in the dynamic digital marketing space. In B2B, your efforts should focus on creating more valuable content, building stronger, more human connections with your customers, and exploring influencer marketing to reach your target audience.  

2. Content Marketing  

Most content marketing trends in 2023 have to do with technology. With the rapid changes in AI, big data, automation, and the Metaverse, the way we create content will evolve as well. Here are three trends you should keep an eye on: 

Video & Interactive Content 

According to The Marketer’s Toolkit survey on the latest marketing trends, younger viewers prefer discovering new information through TikTok videos rather than Google searches.  

And while TikTok will definitely remain a trendsetter in the industry, YouTube and Instagram are adopting a similar style, encouraging more of their users to make video content. This creates a great inclusive environment for brands and small businesses to interact with their audiences, deliver value, and create brand awareness. 

Integrating polls, quizzes, and other interactive elements in your content will also prove a good tactic, as this increases audience engagement. 

Audio Content 

There were about 424 million podcast listeners in 2022, and this number is expected to grow by 17% in 2024. Additionally, about 60% of listeners report searching for a product they heard about on a podcast. 

So, this is another great medium that is steadily growing, and you can use it to deliver value to your customers. 

A few other trends in this space are on the rise. For example, Twitter Spaces (live chat rooms) also offer live podcasts. 

User Generated Content (UGC) 

As 2023 is all about delivering human-centered content, what better way to reproduce that than going for UGC. According to Adweek, 85% of people say user generated content has a stronger impact than content made by brands directly. 

Additionally, user generated content is perceived as more authentic and trustworthy. 

The best part?  

With all the tools and features social media platforms offer, making and sharing such content is easier than ever. And users create this for brands, so you don’t spend much time creating your own content.  

3. Social Media Marketing  

With almost 4.6 billion social media users in 2022, it’s no surprise that social media marketing is a big part of most business growth strategies. But not all platforms are equal.  

For example, 30% of 1,700 marketers who participated in The Marketer’s Toolkit survey said they would decrease their Facebook spending. On the other hand:  

• 76% of them plan on increasing their marketing investment in TikTok.  
• 57% will increase their YouTube budgets.
• 46% will increase their spending on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Here are the trends you should keep in mind: 

Short form Video 

In 2023, short videos will overtake social media. While this trend came with the rise of the short and entertaining TikTok videos, now other platforms take on the same approach. Instagram’s reels and the newest kid on the block – YouTube shorts will definitely dominate the social media world this year. 

Incorporating short-form videos in your social media marketing campaigns is a great way to create engaging content and grow your following faster. 

Authenticity 

Authenticity is a hot topic when it comes to social media. And since community is the main building block of social media, trust and transparency are highly valued. More people insist that businesses and brands be transparent and authentic in the online space.  

With the emergence of apps like BeReal and Clara for creators, being authentic is becoming a vital factor for success in the online space. 

Social Commerce 

Social commerce has been on the rise for a while now. And with about 75% of users using social media to research products, this trend will steadily grow in 2023.  

With Facebook’s Shop feature and Instagram Storefront, more social channels will likely follow and set up a similar shopping feed for their users. 

According to a HubSpot survey, 36% of consumers used Facebook to make a purchase, and 24.5% of Instagram users bought products through the platform. 

However, before deep-diving into social commerce, do your research and check how your target audience uses social media, which platforms they prefer, and whether this strategy is viable and aligns with your business growth. 

4. Influencer Marketing 

Experts predicted influencer spending to reach $15 billion by the end of 2022 (a 9% growth from 2021). The prediction is that this marketing branch will also keep expanding steadily in 2023. 

Moreover, influencer marketing could become one of the most powerful marketing tools this year. Let’s look at the influencer marketing trends for 2023. 

Micro-influencers 

Micro-influencers usually focus their content on a specific niche, and have between 1,000 and 100,000 followers.

These influencers have a smaller following, but their audience highly values their opinion. That’s why they bring higher engagement and build deeper connections with their followers. As brands favor engagement over the number of followers, more businesses tend to divide their budget between several smaller influencers rather than fewer big celebrity ones. 

Influencer-led Branded Content & Events 

Influencer-branded content, merch, and events become more popular as the audience usually trusts, truly listens to, interacts, and connects with the creators they follow.  

As this relationship becomes more authentic, it’s important to give influencers full control over the branded content they create. So, in 2023, voting trust in the influencers you work with and collaborating with them could lead to outstanding campaigns and satisfying results.  

Influencer Marketing on TikTok 

As TikTok keeps growing, influencer marketing spending on the platform in 2022 amassed $800 million (10 times the initial spending when it just launched in 2020). By 2024, it’s forecasted to grow to over $1 billion.  

In 2023, TikTok’s focus will be providing a venue where brands and consumers can connect. Both B2B and B2C brands will be able to share entertaining and educational short videos for their viewers. 

5. Paid Media Trends   

As ads become more interactive, short, and automated, paid media trends are also changing. While ad spending was mostly focused on social (Meta’s Instagram and Facebook) and search (Alphabet’s Google and YouTube), newcomers like Netflix also start integrating OTT ads.  

Let’s check what advertisers can expect in the paid ads niche: 

Programmatic Advertising 

Programmatic advertising uses automation to buy and sell media ads to reach the right users on the right platform at the right time.   

But as the Internet is gradually shifting to first-party customer data (essentially becoming “cookieless”), new technologies and ways of collecting data will emerge in the ad space. This will allow marketers to create better contextual targeting ad campaigns without relying on third-party cookies.  

Voice Advertising 

As voice assistants and voice search become more popular and elevate user experience to a new level, voice advertising is shaping up as its own ad field.  

This includes audio ads similar to those on Spotify and Apple Music. While this trend is still emerging, it has the potential for a higher engagement rate as consumers are less distracted, as opposed to when browsing a site or a social media platform where their attention is divided between several different visual stimuli.  

OTT Advertising 

With an increasing number of people using streaming channels and watching content online, OTT advertising is becoming more popular. In 2023, OTT advertising is expected to grow by over 12%. 

Additionally, OTT ads are more cost-effective than traditional advertising as they’re more sophisticated and can be tailored to the users’ preferences. OTT ads offer dynamic advertising as the ad marketing content changes depending on who’s watching.  

This makes them a lucrative alternative to traditional ads, and now is the best time to get into this advertising niche since about 92% of Internet users watch content online. 

6. Search Engine Optimization 

As SEO has always been a hot topic and an undeniable winning marketing strategy, the trends in this branch are closely monitored by marketers all over the world. And Google regularly updates its algorithm to deliver a better and authentic experience for its users. 

Here are the up-and-coming trends in SEO for 2023: 

E.E.A.T. 

If you’ve been around for a while, you know Google’s E.A.T., which stands for expertise, authority, and trust. Well, 2023 marks the reign of E.E.A.T. with the new E standing for experience. 

But what does that mean exactly? 

When it comes to content creation, Google wants to ensure that its top results are from creators with real-world experience, as they provide more value.

Say, for example, you’re a marketing professional but you have to write on a medical-related topic. In this case, Google will probably not show your content at the top of the SERPs even if you have flawless copywriting skills. Instead, it will push content written by someone with first-hand experience (e.g., a doctor, a medical student, or a nurse). 

This means you should carefully choose your content writers. Consider their expertise on the topics they’re writing and whether they can bring real-life value to your written content. 

Audience-Targeted, Satisfying, Useful Content 

In 2023, Google will also reward content that directly serves its audience, instead of content that’s clearly written just to pursue high traffic keywords. That’s why it’s important to keep your content industry-specific and niche-related.  

The more content you write on your main topic, the more authority you’ll have in Google’s eyes. In turn, that indicates you create useful and valuable content, helping you rank higher. 

AI Content & SEO Automation 

With the mass popularity ChatGPT has gained recently, AI-powered automation is inevitable. But while artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving and has already entered the SEO and content writing industry, Google still prefers content written by humans and for humans.  

Just like machine translation, you can use AI tools, but they still require some degree of human oversight.  

For example, some tools help you enhance your text with relevant keywords or even give content briefs to writers, guiding them on what topics to cover. Other SEO tools can monitor vital website indicators, audit your web pages, and help you do keyword research. 

7. Email Marketing  

Email marketing is one of the most profitable marketing channels, with an average ROI of $36 for every $1 invested. Moreover, email marketing has high returns even in unstable economic periods, like the upcoming recession in 2023. According to a recent report, almost half of the marketers have confirmed they will use this marketing channel.  

Interactive Elements 

Interactivity has been an increasingly occurring element in email campaigns for several years now. As it helps retain the viewers’ attention and increases engagement, interactive elements are a powerful way to help customers complete a specific action once they’ve opened your email. 

Some interactive elements you can use in your emails in 2023 include: 

• Carousels 
• Click-to-reveal elements 
• Games 

Visual Storytelling 

Storytelling is a powerful way to grasp someone’s attention. Combine that with well-crafted visual content, and you’ve got your readers enchanted by your emails. This type of storytelling is not only engaging, but it can also build a deeper connection with your readers. You can integrate this trend if you’re releasing emails about new product launches, your success stories, and origin stories. 

Email Automation & AI  

Email automation is getting established as one of the best practices in email marketing. So, it’s no surprise that it’s here to stay also in 2023.

Email automation also contributed over a 29% conversion rate in 2020, and in 2023 it will become even more advanced in its CRO optimization efforts. 

If email marketing is one of your main marketing strategies, then using a reliable automatization tool is key to your success in 2023.  

8. Video Marketing 

Video represents 82% of all internet traffic and is here to stay as one of the most used marketing channels in 2023. Let’s see the hottest trends in video marketing this year: 

Vertical Video Format & Style  

With the rise of YouTube shorts, Instagram reels, and TikTok, vertical videos are becoming the preferred format in 2023. These videos will also play an important role in advertising as they’re cost-effective and easy to set up and can be optimized to target a specific audience segment. 

Virtual and Augmented Reality in Videos 

Since 2020, virtual and augmented reality have become more integrated with our everyday lives. In video, AR and VR will help marketers create more immersive and interactive customer journey, increasing engagement. 

Some of the upcoming trends are AR shopping apps where you can preview an item before you buy it, and VR events that enhance conversational marketing efforts, helping the user get as close as possible to in-person interaction. 

Shoppable Videos 

Shoppable videos are designed to attract and hold the viewer’s attention, just as a traditional video does.  

The key difference: They also feature pop-up text or images that link to products for sale at just the right moments.  

This is an emerging trend arising from the response of social media viewers, who are usually reluctant to click on a shopping link since they don’t want to interrupt their viewing experience. 

9. Affiliate Marketing 

As it’s one of the most cost-effective branding promotion initiatives, an increasing number of businesses use affiliate marketing. In the current economic environment, the affiliate marketing industry will keep expanding at a steady pace.  

Check out the main trends in this marketing branch: 

Community-based Affiliate Marketing 

Communities usually have higher engagement as they’re more niche-focused. So, as long as you find the right community, you have a great opportunity to showcase your brand, find quality affiliates, or just connect to build better brand awareness.  

Relying More on Data Instead of Cookies 

As Google will release its cookieless feature in 2024, brands will have to turn to other data sources. This means many brands will have to readjust their marketing strategies, be more careful when choosing affiliate partners, and optimize these partnerships to bring more sales. 

Increased Brand Presence in the Metaverse 

In 2023 more brands will step into the Metaverse AI space. That’s a great venue to create meaningful connections, strengthen customer loyalty, and promote your physical and virtual products. As the Metaverse community will only grow from now on, now is a good time to scout for affiliate marketing opportunities there and find some partners. 

10. E-commerce 

Did you know that in 2023, an estimated 265 million US consumers will be shopping online? 

As the e-commerce industry keeps expanding, with Amazon being the largest e-commerce company, the online shopping experience keeps evolving. Here are some of the main e-commerce trends you should know of: 

Live Shopping 

With live streaming becoming increasingly popular, online retailers have the chance to tune in and connect with their customers, creating a more personalized marketing initiative. This allows users to ask questions, share reviews, and make purchases in real-time. 

This trend also allows brands the opportunity to fuel this marketing channel with creativity and think out of the box when presenting their products to their audience live. 

Mobile Commerce  

Since more than 90% of the world’s population owns a smartphone, mobile commerce is constantly growing. And by 2024, mobile commerce is projected to hit $4.5 trillion in sales. 

So, if you own an e-commerce outlet, you must capture as many potential customers as possible. To do that, you need to enhance the shopping experience for users and have seamless mobile-friendly websites and optimized apps.    

Sustainability 

Sustainability is becoming a more apparent factor when it comes to consumer decisions. In fact, 73% of consumers say they are willing to change their purchasing behavior to be more eco-friendly. 

If you own an e-commerce outlet, consider adjusting your strategy to be more sustainable. Understand how you can bring a positive impact on the environment and society and incorporate this into your brand. This will certainly make you more appealing in the eyes of your customers. 

Final Thoughts 

The top marketing trends for 2023 we covered so far show one common pattern – your marketing efforts should be focused on creating a relatable, valuable, authentic, and personalized experience for your audience. And to stay competitive and achieve optimal results you need to be aware of and act upon the latest trends in the industry. 

Remember, the digital marketing scene is a constantly evolving one. To stay relevant and competitive as a CMO, marketing professional, or marketing agency, you need to constantly update your knowledge and skills.