7 Digital Marketing Trends for 2023

The landscape of digital marketing has changed dramatically over the last few years, with events such as the COVID-19 pandemic prompting new techniques to surface and brands to realign their messaging as a response.

With our 10+ years of experience in the market and in-depth research backing us, we went ahead and picked the seven digital marketing trends you should consider if you want to get ahead of the competition this year. These trends fall into two categories: techniques and messaging. Without further ado, these are:

1. Social commerce
2. Video marketing (including TikTok)
3. Influencers
4. Metaverse
5. First-party data
6. Inclusivity
7. Sustainability

“Okay, but how do I go about these?” Fair question. Well, you can hire the services of digital marketing companies, which would take special care of the planning and execution of your campaigns. It’s important to note the costs that come with professional services.

You can also go the DIY route and build your own strategies from the ground up. If that’s what you fancy, we’ve compiled some expert tips so you can nail each trend to help you, along with some real life examples from big brands to give you that extra dose of inspiration. Just read on.

Digital Marketing Trends: Techniques

These are the most prominent digital marketing techniques and technologies being used now or quickly becoming integral to businesses.

1. Livestreams

Recent developments are bringing about a revolution in social commerce. The gist is pretty much this: rather than use social media to bring customers to shop, you can now set up shop on social media itself!

The numbers speak for themselves. In a report published by marketing platform Hootsuite and media company We Are Social in July 2022, 84.6% of the UK’s population were revealed to be active social media users.

Investing in social commerce — by venturing into Facebook Shop, for instance — is one of the best ways to tap into this market by guaranteeing that this potential customer base has access to your products at the click of a button.

Of course, in this arena, content is king. In this context, livestreams — another form of social commerce — are an important tool to translate eyeball-time into sales.

This form of content has been around for some years, and grew massively during the pandemic, but it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. The announcement made in July 2022 by YouTube that it would allow for ecommerce through an integration with Shopify sent waves across several industries and only highlights this.

Besides this, a report published by Sensor Tower in January 2022 stated that six out of the 15 most downloaded apps last year have already experimented with livestream shopping, or have announced plans to test it in the near future.

While this research was conducted in the US, the apps in question — TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, and Snapchat — are global, so this should be on the minds of UK business owners.

Brandon Wilkes, marketing manager at UK-based electronics retailer The Big Phone Store, mentioned that livestreaming regular events and influencer-affiliated content (more on this below, by the way!) boosted the company’s sales and social engagement rate.

As the livestream marketing example above shows, the easiest way to get started is via the ‘live’ services on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Twitter. It’s an affordable and time-efficient way to connect with your audience in real-time, which is exactly what the busy consumer is looking for.

2. Video Marketing (Including TikTok)

Like the rise of social commerce, video marketing’s role as a valuable digital marketing asset has only grown in recent years. In the July 2022 report we mentioned earlier, it was stated that 92.6% of internet users between the ages of 16 and 64 watch online videos.

Consumers now want easy-to-parse content and it doesn’t get much easier than video. It doesn’t matter whether you’re vlogging or creating training tutorials – we recommend that your business gets in front of the camera to maximise sales and build awareness.

Facebook and Instagram are huge platforms for this, but by all means don’t limit yourself to them. TikTok’s the hottest platform right now, and its growth isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Around one-third of TikTok users use the app daily, with this usage averaging at around 90 mins every day and 33.8% of TikTok’s users between the ages of 16 and 64 use it to follow or research brands and products.

However, TikTok’s strongest suit is in the entertainment field, with a whopping 78.6% of its users accessing it for that reason – and here’s your entry point. You have a much better chance of blending into the app’s visual language if you present an entertaining video, and therefore engage your potential customers.

3. Influencers

Doubling down on the video marketing point, influencer-based content continues to be a trend, as brands seek more engagement and exposure by affiliating themselves with profiles that grant them access to a broad audience.

Once again, the numbers, like Shakira’s hips, don’t lie: your business would do well to capitalise on this type of marketing, as a study published in July 2022 established that 22.3% of internet users between the ages of 16 and 64 cite following influencers as one of their main reasons for using social media.

Micro- and nano-influencers remain in the industry’s favour, and brokering partnerships with them is an excellent idea to enhance your product or service’s exposure. If you’re wondering how to spot one of these influencers in the agitated sea of social media, Shopify gave a breakdown of the stats you should look out for in an article published in February 2022. Here they are:

An important factor when negotiating paid posts, however, is engagement – the number of followers who are actively involved with the content through likes, comments, and shares. According to an analysis published by Influencer Marketing Hub in April 2022, the engagement rate of an average nano-influencer is about 7.2%, whereas that of a mega-influencer is about 1.4%.

Arithmetically, the mega-influencers have the upper hand: comparing the two percentages, they have an average of 140 engagements per post against the nano-influencers’ 72. However, in this scenario, you could be paying 1,000 times more for only double the engagement. Hence the direction the industry is going – and one that you should consider. If you spend smart, influencer-based marketing is a strong strategy.

4. The Metaverse

Gone are the days when virtual reality was a sci-fi concept. In fact, the metaverse is here to stay, and wise money is on being able to ride this initial wave. Your business is now able to venture into this brave new world and benefit from the pioneer status. True, the rules are still being written, but the commerce possibilities are expanding as more companies are drawn there. In essence: it’s very much a place to be!

In a document published in February 2022, banking powerhouse JP Morgan reported that $54 billion are spent on virtual goods every year, and it expected that the metaverse would translate into market opportunities estimated at over $1 trillion in yearly revenues. To drive the point home, it became the first bank to enter the space that same month, only to be followed by HSBC in March 2022.

You may be thinking: “All very nice, but what does this have to do with my business?” It depends on your size and budget, really: big companies like Absolut and Hyundai are opening full-on experiences in the metaverse, but for medium- and small-sized businesses, ads in the virtual world provide enough of a foot in the door and are a cheaper entry point. Providers such as Anzu and Bidstack are among those exploring this market, and they’re worth a look.

Since this is a technology in its development phase, investing in it largely means a long-term prospect. In the meantime, it’s important not to overlook the foundation process that can lead to your metaverse debut. One key point brought up by Facebook in an article published in November 2021 is the need for businesses to focus on the social media monetisation currently available (like the ones we mentioned above). This will render them primed to reap the benefits of this new reality.

This really drives the point of the need for a social media marketing strategy home. Not sure how to devise one? Here’s an easy fix: just tell us your digital marketing requirements and we’ll match your business with agencies that suit your needs. They’ll then be in touch with more information and no-obligation quotes for you to compare. It’s super quick and free to get started.

5. First-Party Data

A tectonic shift is happening in digital marketing due to Google’s announcement last year that it would phase out third-party cookies by late 2023. It’s true that they’ve been living on borrowed time for a couple of years now, as the tech giant first publicised this plan in January 2020 and the current deadline is in fact a delay, as it was meant to happen in 2022.

Cookies in real life are a treat, but their online counterpart has been part and parcel of online advertising for decades. They’re what make ads for a product you searched for last week keep popping up for several days. Perhaps not the subtlest of strategies, but certainly effective – and the industry is bracing itself for a) how to go on without it and b) how its replacement will work.

One thing is for sure: without third-party data, ads are likely to become less targeted and personalised, unless you can rely on another data source to make sure you continue to tick the right boxes with your customers. Enter first-party data, which is nothing more than the data that you collect directly from your clientele.

The good thing is that access to data costs absolutely nothing – it’s yours, after all. However, you will have to put some effort and resources into compiling and organising it so it provides insightful and relevant information about your customers. 

Using a Customer Data Platform (CDP) is an excellent way to achieve these goals, as this new type of software is designed to combine and consolidate multiple data streams into a database that can inform your next marketing strategies.

Zac Surprenant, marketing director of US-based company Bennett Packaging, highlighted the importance of having unified user profiles via a CDP system, and that ability should be on your wishlist when you browse for one:

CDPs are a market in sheer expansion, projected to be worth almost $7 billion by 2029 globally according to a report published by Fortune Business Insights in March 2022. As cookies fall by the wayside, this technology is bound to become more vital in the aftermath and should be on your radar.

Digital Marketing Trends: Messaging

Many brands have adjusted their messaging recently, keeping up to speed with the ever changing global conversation. The two main issues they are tackling — which you should tackle, too — follow below.

6. Inclusivity

The discussion around inclusivity will keep on being part of the public conversation, and marketing that addresses it gets a headstart when it comes to grabbing customers’ attention or generating awareness of a brand or product.

Brands are now placing an emphasis on inclusion and diversity, and quite rightly. Achieving this demands more than just using stock photos of mixed genders and ethnicities, though – it takes a thoroughly-developed inclusive marketing strategy.

Recent studies show that this messaging shift is affecting consumer behaviour. A survey published in February 2022 found that two out of three Americans have their social values now shaping their shopping choices. In this cultural landscape, businesses that are seen to be non-inclusive or oblivious to the public discussion of important topics are bound to be negatively impacted.

7. Sustainability

Sustainability is a great concern for customers these days – and the Covid-19 pandemic sounded a massive alarm that skyrocketed the awareness of this issue in society. In a research conducted by IBM in February 2022, 51% of consumers said environmental sustainability is more important to them now than it was in 2021. Also, 49% of consumers said they’ve paid a premium — an average of 59% more — for products branded as sustainable or socially responsible in the last 12 months.

With the growing issue of climate change, consumers — particularly the younger generations — have become more environmentally conscious. Nowadays, it’s crucial that brands demonstrate similar passion about helping the environment.

For your business to get in on this important trend, you don’t need to spend thousands on an entire rebrand.

For starters, you might want to openly discuss environmental issues on your social media pages, tweak your band colours to reflect a green approach, use biodegradable or recyclable packaging, or just offer environmentally-friendly add-on products, such as tote bags or reusable cups. Most importantly, you need to make sure your customers know about these offerings!

What’s Next For Your Business?

The seven digital marketing trends we discussed can help you increase sales and build strong customer relationships. But what’s the best way to get started?

For starters, we recommend you get creative on social media platforms, doubling down on the ecommerce possibilities where possible. We suggest creating engaging content that taps into current conversations, whether that’s livestreaming Q&As to customers on-the-go or selling reusable bottles for antibacterial wash. Long story short: if you follow these trends, your business is bound to get a serious boost.

The easiest way to get your business on that track is by implementing a forward-thinking digital marketing strategy. If you don’t have the time or energy to do all that by yourself, you can always hire an agency to create a bespoke campaign for you.

We can match your business with leading agencies that suit your exact requirements, who’ll be in touch with free quotes. All you have to do is tell us what you need using our free quote-matching tool – it only takes a minute.