10 stats that will help you plan your 2023 marketing strategy

Marketing is a game of balance.

Businesses need to constantly be able to anticipate the needs and desires of their audience, giving them what they want while also presenting innovative ideas and things they didn’t know they needed.

In short, audiences today want to be both surprised and given exactly what they are looking for. And that can make planning and building a strategy difficult, particularly when the data and information out there isn’t always relevant to you.

Because of that, this blog provides an overview on the power of different marketing tools and the importance of different components of the strategy, without relying solely on any one corner of the industry.

Regardless of where your business fits, and why your target audience is, there are parts of this blog which will apply to and support your 2023 marketing strategy.

So, let’s dive right in with a concept that we should all be familiar with…

1. SEO remains the #1 weapon in your armoury

Most of us don’t realise how many times a day we use search engines – not just in the form of a straight Google search but when we ask Siri a question on the go, when we use the search function on Instagram, and when we quickly turn to the internet to find out a recipe or to work out what we might have seen a certain actor in on the big screen.

The fact is that almost 70% of online experiences begin with a search engine, with SEO the most important tool you have in nurturing your online presence and driving those searches towards your site.

Just some of the things you should be doing as we move into 2023 are:

• Continue to share great content which adds value and transform larger articles and pieces into bitesize nuggets of information that you can share on social media and other platforms.
• Work on building a keyword strategy that will help to shape your content around those key search terms.
• Integrate internal and high quality external links into your content.
• Pay attention to Google’s Core Web Vitals – that is, know the page load speed of your website, its stability, and how well is adjusts to different devices and screens.

SEO is what makes sure that users can find your website and your brand when they are searching, with the best strategy being to frame your product or service as a solution.

2. Opinions and word of mouth matter

The belief that “people buy from people” is a two-pronged concept – encouraging businesses to both put their team members at the face of their brand and urging them to use more customer-generated content in the form of recommendations, reviews, and testimonials.

And the proof, in this case, is in the pudding – with landing pages containing customer testimonials said to boost conversion by up to 30%.

3. Short videos shouldn’t be ignored

HubSpot reported in a recent release that short-form video is set to see the most growth in 2023, with marketers citing it as the most prominent form of content that they are looking to produce over the next 12 months.

To quote the report -

“90% of marketers using short-form video will increase or maintain their investment next year, and 21% of marketers plan to leverage short-form video for the first time in 2023, also the highest of any trend.”

Short-form video here refers to Tik Tok, Instagram Reels and Stories, and even short Youtube clips.

4. Blogs are still important

A blog is what businesses can use to engage with their audience, inspire them, and offer them value in the form of guides, behind the scenes details, and advice on using their product or engaging their services.

And the stats show that blogging is still very much considered a core part of any successful marketing strategy, not only supporting a businesses SEO plan but arming them with tons of content to share on social media and across their email marketing – generating over 3x as many leads as traditional advertising schemes and costing around 60% less to produce and share.

5. Social media isn’t just for pretty pictures

In fact, in the three months to November 2022, 1 in 5 Gen Z’ers and around 25% of Millennials contacted a brand through social media for customer service purposes.

This demonstrates not so much a change in the prominence and importance of social media, as a broadening of its usage and how important it is for modern businesses. So much so that over half of users state that poor customer service would result in them unfollowing a brand – turning instead to one of their competitors.

And if you need more evidence of social medias reign…

6. Social media is a growing platform for discovery

Built on an intricate foundation of user-generated content, influencer marketing, direct brand marketing, and “people buy from people” campaigns and content ideas, social media has become a place where consumers search for and discover new products.

And the integration of in-app shopping features and the ability to link social media to other platforms has only heightened its prominence in the digital customer journey. Just as in the last point, during the three months to November 2022 almost 30% of under-35s purchased a product through social media.

7. Customer service is key

Not every interaction and online experience is going to be perfect – that’s simply not possible. However, what many brands and businesses don’t realise is that the way you deal with issues and challenges can literally transform the way a consumer or customer views you.

In previous guides and blogs, I have noted how important it is to face issues heads on – responding to negative comments in a professional manner rather than deleting them and demonstrating a willingness to fix problems rather than ignore them.

And, it’s this which drives and really nurtures that customer loyalty – with the following stats from SuperOffice all supporting this notion that customer service really is key.

• 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for great customer service and a positive experience
• 50% of customers will stop using a website if its mobile site doesn’t support the customer experience
• 72% of customers will share a positive purchase experience with 6+ other users
• 85% of customers want to experience proactive communication and contact from a business, in the form of solutions, guides, and tips 

8. Email marketing is a worthwhile investment of time and money

Did you know that in the same study from SuperOffice, 49% of customers have been found to make impulse purchases after receiving a more personalised experience?

Here at the Marketing Skills Academy, I always make sure to address clients by their first name whenever I speak to them or email them. In my mind, it makes for a better experience and it’s how I would want to be addressed if the roles were reversed!

This stat from SuperOffice does not explicitly refer to email marketing, however this is one area where personalisation really can make a world of difference – from enticing people to open your emails, to getting them to engage with you directly

9. Think about the way your customers SPEAK

Yes, seriously. Voice search is becoming more prominent year on year, with marketers encouraged to consider the ways in which users are phrasing and conducting searches through the Siri and Alexa functions on their devices. In fact, over half of users regularly use voice search as part of the exploration stage of a purchase, regardless of the industry or business sector.

While traditional typed searches might be phrased as “London Marketing Agency”, a voice search might used phrasing like “Marketing Agency Near Me”. These subtle differences make all the difference when it comes to assigning keywords and creating marketing copy which will match up to the way potential customers are searching.

The best way to navigate this is to include a variation of different search terms in your keyword strategy, to allow for different device users and search types.

10. Influencer marketing is on the up

This doesn’t have to mean celebrities and A-listers who charged thousands of pounds for a single post. It doesn’t even have to mean paying for posts.

The way that influencer marketing is used by businesses is changing – with specialist and niche influencers (or Micro Influencers) in your businesses industry or sector now a great way to establish your brand and bolster your content and online presence. This could mean inviting them to collaborate on a blog post or interview article, it could mean asking them for a review, or it could mean integrating affiliate links into their own networks so you can track the success of their outreach.

The B2B House recently reported that influencer marketing spend is projected to grow 23.4% and 15.9% YoY in 2023 and 2024 – showing that this is more than just a marketing fad. For businesses like yours, influencer marketing offers a way to nurture that idea that “people buy from people”, while increasing your network and establishing some reputation in your industry.

In Conclusion

The last few years of the pandemic and Covid-19 fallout have seen broad annual marketing strategies and tactics somewhat thrown out of the window, in favour of more responsive and reactive marketing as and when required.

2023 presents an opportunity to really finetune your marketing strategy and focus on those areas that are set to grow over the coming year – from voice search to video content, social media, and the rise in personalisation.

I hope you have found this article useful. If you wish to receive more marketing goodness like this, don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter – subscribe here

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Photo by Bich Tran: https://www.pexels.com/