3 Tips to Owning Your Digital Marketing in 2023

It’s never too early to think ahead. With the fourth quarter of 2022 nearly upon us, 2023 will be here before you know it. A great marketer is always looking toward the future, growing and advancing strategies in ways that make the most sense. Because in this changing world, it would be remiss for marketers to just do what has worked in the past.

Trends come and go as new technology is introduced and consumers take a liking to new or revamped mediums. While podcasts are having a moment now, for instance, they were an often-overlooked platform just a few years ago. You may not have thought about audio opportunities previously, but they may be something worthy of your attention today.

Of course, there’s no foolproof way to forecast what will happen six weeks from now, let alone six months from now. Nevertheless, there are ways to think about your strategy and be on top of your game. To have a top-notch digital marketing strategy in 2023, keep reading. This article will dive into three ways to own your digital marketing during the upcoming year.

1. Think About SEO in a New Way

Typing out a response or Googling something takes a bit of time. You have to stop what you’re currently doing to either reply or get the answer you need. This is where voice search comes in handy. This tool enables consumers to get the answer they need without lifting a finger — literally.

From a search engine optimization perspective, this is huge. With voice activation, the search algorithm relies on the most readily available and likely answer. This means that brands need to be at the top of the search query in order to get attention. A lawyer looking for new clients, for example, needs to focus on how to meet their desired target audience from an audio standpoint. This could look like trying to win keywords that are question- or location-based.

Also, it helps if your content is written in a conversational tone. A consumer seeking legal advice on a divorce wouldn’t ask Siri or Alexa, “law firms divorce best credentials [ZIP code]?” Instead, they’d likely ask, “Who’s the best divorce lawyer near me?” In this example, the law firm SEO strategy needs to be fixed on both conversational and location-driven queries.

2. Express Your Brand Values

Back in the day, companies gave politics and cultural movements a wide berth. Their job was simply to provide a product or service to as many consumers as possible. For the marketing department, this meant crafting campaigns that offended as few of the latter as they could.

Today that approach will no longer fly. Consumers want to know that the companies they do business with share their values. Brands need to practice a sense of social responsibility and communicate that to consumers in their onsite content and social channels. Companies are increasingly being asked to react to current events, and with ever-changing news cycles, every day can be a big news day. Brands can be “canceled” at the drop of a hat if they fail to show up well on social media.

While your brand needs to manage how it’s perceived in the world, both its communications and commitment to principle must be genuine. Consumers will know when a brand isn’t walking its talk. Take Oatly, a plant-based food company that took part in an investor deal that was tied to involvement in Amazon deforestation. Consumers recognized this betrayal of the company’s environmental principles for what it was and took their wallets elsewhere. To gain and retain the loyalty of today’s consumers, you need to say the right things — and, more importantly, mean them.

3. Know That AI is the Wave of the Future

Artificial intelligence is here to stay. Once looked at as a futuristic or far-fetched strategy, AI has become an integral component of marketing practice today. At the heart of AI is understanding consumers better. With its pattern-recognition capabilities, this technology can help spot trends early and lead to improved customer behavior predictions.

Brands can use this intel to attract their core target audiences faster and retain these consumers for longer. There is a better sense of how, why, and when consumers are purchasing. With this data, you can develop marketing strategies to reach consumers at the point of the buyer journey when it matters. This, in turn, will increase sales and overall profit margins.

The number of uses for AI in marketing is almost limitless. Do you need help filling your content calendar? Tools like MarketMuse can outline blog posts that answer key audience questions, and solutions like SproutSocial can push them out to your social channels. Are your email campaigns lackluster? Tools like Seventh Sense and Smarter.ai can optimize and automate your email outreach efforts. Whatever your marketing pain point, there’s probably an AI-powered solution to it.

Takeaways

The beauty of marketing is that it is constantly changing. New industry developments, tools, and sources of information provide novel ideas all the time. While this may be overwhelming, think of it as part of a greater opportunity. It’s a chance for you to try out and test tactics that make the most sense for your brand for 2023 and beyond.