As a marketer, it is imperative to keep your finger on the pulse to keep your customers engaged and sticking around for the long haul. Marketing is however always changing, and it can be hard to keep up with the latest trends. But if you want to stay ahead of the curve, it’s important to know what’s coming down the pipeline.
According to Reuters Events: State of Marketing Survey, the top marketing priorities for 2023 are as follows:
- Brand evolution 25%
- Creating personalised content 23%
- Omnichannel marketing 22%
Thus, keeping your brand front of mind is fundamental for improving brand identity, increasing brand awareness and creating purpose and value-driven content to separate you from the competition.
Creating content that speaks to and connects with your consumers is second to brand evolution. TikTok is one channel, expected to deliver some of the strongest growth in 2023. Reported to have a billion active users across 154 countries (43% Gen Z), TikTok is perfect for users of all ages because it encourages creativity, positivity and collaboration. Becoming increasingly popular amongst users due to its ability to stir up conversation and easily accessible content, TikTok’s effective advertising tactics and interactive interface allows users to engage and network with each other, becoming a go-to platform for businesses looking to make a mark on potential customers.
So what other marketing strategies should you be considering in 2023?
- Account Based Marketing
Account Based Marketing (ABM) is one of the most powerful and promising approaches for B2B markets, allowing companies to tailor their marketing strategies to target high-value accounts. Combining personalisation with benefit for your intended audience can result in a maximum return on investment. ABM data analytics and insights, has the ability to help your relationships with your customers evolve, thanks to a more refined understanding of your customers preferences and behaviours.
This strategic approach to building relationships allows marketers to customise their outreach efforts to specific buyers and decision makers – thanks in large part to technologies like AI-backed CRMs and customer data tracking platforms. We can also expect quicker ways to analyse audience industry trends in real-time, greater personalisation per account, improved methods to measure ROI, and increased focus on net new sales. Without a doubt Account Based Marketing is the most innovative approach marketers can take today.
- Podcasts
Podcasts come in a range of digestible formats, but this audio-first platform is perfect for consuming when multitasking and on the go. I personally discovered podcasts with the release of the popular True Crime podcast: Serial. And like 22% of listeners who drive whilst tuning in, I was excited to jump in my car just to hear what was coming next.
Terrific for their ability to inject enthusiasm, expertise and excitement into your audience, podcasts are also a fantastic revenue making opportunity, and in 2023, the ad revenue generated from podcasts is expected to grow to over $2 billion.
Leveraging advertising features like dynamic ad insertion and targeting, businesses can get longevity and create new revenue opportunities for their campaigns. These can then be repackaged into the likes of whitepapers, blog posts, social posts and other marketing assets to bring in an even higher ROI and further strengthen your brand and leadership position.
With a low barrier to entry and an increased growth in popularity (with many tuning in daily), it is exciting to know that businesses with branded podcasts see “89% higher awareness, 57% higher consideration, and 18% higher purchase intent” than organisations that do not.
So if you are yet to explore this channel, it is worth trying in 2023 – your audience is ready for it!
- Community Building
Building a B2B community is an effective way to form meaningful long-term connections and bolster brand loyalty. The most successful B2B online communities provide its members with a feeling of belonging where they can learn, connect, share and collaborate.
It allows you as a business to obtain feedback and gather ideas from members through real conversations, whilst learning what they care about, expect, and need in terms of content, products, services and support. Implementing an effective communication strategy will allow your business to communicate with customers and the opportunity for member-to-member interaction through the likes of forums and virtual events. Helping you to build trust, increase reputation, and create meaningful connections.
Couple this with targeted content and you have yourself the start of a thriving B2B community.
Here are a few essential elements you’ll need to consider:
| A clear purpose and mission for the community | Engaging and valuable content | Subject matter experts to provide value-driven content and support | Promote engagement and foster collaboration | Keep the conversation going with a mix of public and private areas |
| An intuitive design that encourages self-moderation and is mobile friendly | Social media opportunities and integrations | Powerful search and discovery features | Free and frequent content | Platforms that allow for data driven decision making and moderation |
- Paid Social
Digital marketing campaigns are becoming increasingly important for businesses that want to stay competitive. Paid social is a valuable part of any digital campaign, enabling marketers to drive traffic and conversions across multiple platforms.
Crafting creative and compelling social-friendly content is key to success. Leveraging existing assets and optimising them for each channel will see the difference between reach and engagement. Equally, developing assets that are interesting, dynamic and are in line with a compelling content plan, will form an effective multi-channel approach that drives top-of-the-funnel awareness and bottom-of-the-funnel transactions.
To see the best results, you will need to ensure you have tested across multiple platforms to understand where your customers spend their time. If you have not yet researched where your customer base lives online or undertaken any form social listening, these should be high on your priority list! You can have the best copy, imagery and CTAs in the world, but if your target market spends their time somewhere else, your conversion efforts will be in vain.
All in all, paid social is quite simply a powerful targeting tool, that allows businesses to scale campaigns and track performance all in one place. So, whether you’re looking to create long-term customer loyalty, generate fast leads or drive more attendance at events, be sure to include paid social as part of your digital campaign strategy for unparalleled results. And per my opening comments, if you are yet to explore TikTok, add it to your list, it is a brilliant way to personalise your brand and show behind the scenes action!
- Digital Content & Assets
Digital assets are increasingly important for businesses today. Striking infographics, brochures, whitepapers, guides, case studies, webinars and other video content are being used more and more to communicate with customers and create a strong brand presence. They allow your customers to have greater access to insight and knowledge, whilst creating a sense of trust with your customers.
Varying formats mean that content is more accessible and digestible. Augmented reality (AR) and animation are powerful in the that they lend themselves well to capturing attention and delivering unique interactive experiences as they inform or educate.
For this reason companies must make every effort to keep their digital asset strategy up-to-date in order to remain competitive and front of mind.
So here are 5 of our top 10 engagement strategies to kick off your 2023. I’ll be back with our part 2 of this list next time. But in the meantime if you would like to discuss how Outsourced Engagement or Outsourced Events can help you with your engagement activities, be sure to contact us on +44 (0) 330 460 6007, or email info@outsourcedengagement.com
Until next time.
