Marketing Predictions and Trends for 2023

Here we’re going to assess the expected marketing trends for 2023 and have a look at how companies can use marketing technology to generate growth this year.

As technology continues to develop and new marketing channels make their mark the landscape constantly evolves, but that isn’t always to the detriment of more traditional channels. With this piece we want to highlight what’s going to help you effectively engage with your customers and build strong, lasting relationships during 2023 and beyond. We’re going to bring you some new ideas whilst looking at traditional marketing methods and outline how we expect a range of channels to perform this year.

Perfect your personalisation

Personalisation is key to customer engagement. Your data partner will provide you with personal information, not just contact information, and it’s important to use it. Personalise your marketing messages and create a more relevant customer experience. By tailoring messages to individual customers, you will increase engagement, sales, and brand recognition. Make each customer feel important and you will see your impact increase, along with your email open rates.

Video marketing

Video marketing remains a crucial channel for you to use to connect with your customers. Videos come in a range of types and uses. Whether it’s a video of you talking to your audience, a video of the team at work, an animation, or a full media production, video remains the most compelling way to interact with your customers and stakeholders. Short form video is becoming more and more popular, especially on social media platforms where people seek out engaging content that’s quick and easy to consume.

Influencer marketing

As the majority of the largest social media platforms are now quite mature with millions of users, it’s difficult to get free ‘attention’ organically. Just posting and keeping your profiles relevant isn’t enough. In 2023 it’s going to take advertising spend or the use of influencers to get in front of a new audience.

By partnering with social media influencers, you can tap into their loyal base of followers and convert them into customers, or potential future customers. Influencer marketing is a great way to elevate your brand and this will remain the case in 2023.

“Influence sits at the head of the table, as it allows brands to connect with audiences in a way no other marketing can – with authenticity.”
Ogilvy Global Head, Rahul Titus

Email marketing

When we looked at 10 Key B2B Marketing Stats for 2022 we identified that 59% of B2B organisations saw email marketing as their top tool to drive sales last year. We expect email marketing to remain a strong performer in 2023. It’s powerful, cost effective and simple to manage.

That said, it’s vital to make sure your emails get seen and they engage people. On average people spend just 35 minutes a week exploring their inboxes. Compare that to the average 2 hours and 30 minutes the average social media user spends on platforms daily.

This is why personalisation is so important. 32% of B2B organisations plan to invest in personalisation to increase their chances of success in 2023 and we expect this figure to rise as the year progresses.

“As the global economic situation gets more precarious, companies will focus more on what they know retains or provides value. Email marketing, with its proven ROI, will further increase in importance.”
Director of Digital Marketing Content and Delivery at Nationwide, Magnus Eén

Voice

With the growth of voice-activated devices like smart speakers, there will also be opportunities in this space for companies who can optimise their content for voice search. Whilst this technology is still relatively new in terms of how consumers are using voice devices, there is a growing trend of people using voice search. Consider making your website and content easily discoverable through voice search to reach those customers who are using this technology.

Privacy and transparency

Privacy and transparency are big considerations for 2023. With consumers being more aware than ever about how companies can use their data, and with regulations like the GDPR in force, people are demanding greater control over their personal data. You need to be transparent about how you use customer data and provide customers with clear opt-out options in your email marketing campaigns. As a data provider it’s our job to take this worry off our customers’ hands by providing legal, compliant and effective data that’s ready for you to market to.

We’re also aware that companies often use a variety of data providers, so we want to make sure that you know as much as possible about those you’re dealing with.

• Are they compliant?
• How do they gather their data, and does this result in effective data?
• Are there any red flags that should concern you?

We’ve taken a closer look at ZoomInfo, Cognism and Lusha in a recent blog post here, to help you make an informed choice when you’re looking for a new data provider.

By taking privacy seriously and being transparent you’re letting customers know that you’re a business they can trust. This is vital to increase brand equity, retain existing customers, and attract new ones.

“Over the past few years, we have seen a huge uptick in businesses’ awareness of privacy legislation, as well as understanding its role in helping to build consumer trust."
DMA UK CEO Chris Combemale

Is it time to try something new?

You’re likely very familiar with some of these marketing channels such as email and video, and these are going nowhere, but is it time you tried something new this year?

For tech vendors and other customers of ours with similar traits, it may not be necessary to look at lots of new marketing channels in 2023. It’s our expectation that the tried and tested will continue to perform well. If that’s what you perceive is right for you, why not instead try new approaches within traditional channels?

That could be something as simple as an email campaign with new creative to a new database. Or perhaps a new range of how-to videos to help your customers use your products.

At i-4business we’ve got the ideas and the experience to help you if you’re looking for some inspiration and access to new data – a new audience of potential customers.

Want to know more?

We hope this has whetted your appetite to kickstart some all-new, exciting marketing campaigns for 2023.

Why not try the i-4business database with no commitment with our 30-day free account?

That’s 30 days’ full access to our entire EMEA database to look up as many contacts and companies as you want. Guaranteed for quality and compliance, we offer instant 24/7 access to real-time data with contact records for over 100 job roles across 300 verticals of enterprise and public sector organisations.

If you want to know more about how we can help with data or to set up your free account, contact the team on 01252 367400 or enquire here.