Marketing Smarter in 2023

Paraphrasing a 2006 Forbes article, Peter Drucker, the father of business consulting said: “Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two—and only two—basic functions:

Marketing and Innovation.

Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.”

So, if you want to “market smarter” in 2023, you’ll need to develop a plan to create consistent and engaging content that you can deliver to prospects and customers on a regular basis. As the marketing landscape shifts to become customer-centric, it’s imperative to connect with your customers and prospects through the most innovative marketing channels available.

The key to success this year (to market smarter) is to know how you stand apart from your competition and communicate it to your customers in a way that makes them feel validated and valued.

If it sounds simple yet confusing, it is. With so many marketing options available, how do you pick the best for your business? By utilizing a combination of paid, owned and earned media, you will be marketing smarter in no time. Based on the latest trends and our personal and professional experiences, here are Black Twig’s top marketing channel picks for 2023…

• Content Marketing with an emphasis on Video
• Search engine optimization (SEO) – Organic search
• Email marketing
• Social media marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Paid search/ads
• Events
• Direct mail
• Video
• TV or radio
• Outdoor media
• Podcast/voice
• eBooks

1. Content Marketing
Blogging, video, webinars, articles, infographics and white papers are all forms of content marketing. Some are owned (your created content- blog, video, webinars, white papers), some are earned (articles arranged with publications, not paid for) and some are a combination (articles turned into blogs).

Content marketing comes in all forms. From blogging to webinars to gated content (which requires that users fill out a form before they can access it) to earned media, there are plenty of avenues to get your messaging to your customers in a thoughtful way. When creating content this year, it’ll be essential to take a customer-focused approach to increase engagement.

In addition to your customer-focused content, consider adding video. Video will continue to dominate the digital marketing landscape well into 2023. With the rise of Tik Tok and other social media apps, the urgency to capture customers’ attention is greater than ever. According to Social Shepard, the global average of time spent consuming video content is 84 minutes a day. Whether it’s a resource for your website, social media content or email campaigns, video content gets in front of prospective customers and your current audience with ease.

2. Search engine optimization (SEO)- Organic search
SEO is the use of techniques to improve traffic to webpages delivering highly relevant search results and a greater user experience. It’s important to note that regular SEO audits are as important as regularly adding content to your site to maximize your search ranking. There are many factors that go into how search engines like Google rank your website, with compelling content and keyword optimization being just two.

3. Social Media Marketing
Over the past few years, the social media industry has exploded. From the rise of new platforms and the acquisitions of others, it’s become apparent that it’s not going to fade away anytime soon. Social media advertising, curated organic content, and outreach to influencers will be crucial for business growth. With billions of monthly users, there are plenty of opportunities to attract and retain customers.

4. Email marketing
Email marketing is more effective than social media in acquiring new customers. Email marketing not only helps increase brand awareness but also improves customer engagement especially when integrating clickable social media icons in newsletters and email drip campaigns.
While social media marketing attracts your audience, email marketing converts them. Keep your business at the forefront of customers’ minds with consistent, custom email campaigns that generate the leads you’re looking for and fill your sales funnel. In 2023, customers will be looking to their favored brands for authenticity in their email campaigns. The average person receives 100 emails a day and more than half come from businesses and brands competing for opens. No need to fluff. An engaging subject line, a few visuals, and your desired call to action can lead to more effective email campaigns in the new year.

5. Social media marketing
In order of activity … Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit, LinkedIn and Twitter have a combined 12 billion monthly active users.

When it comes to ROI, Facebook, with 2.9 billion active monthly users, continues to dominate the value proposition. However, they seem to be decreasing in the number of engagements. This is most likely due to an over saturation of good content, thus making it critical for marketers to keep coming up with unique higher quality content. On a positive note, if there is one element that may have helped engagement numbers, it has to be video- mostly short-form but some longer form video has weaved its way into the mix. These shorter videos are being used by companies to recruit and retain employees, create more product education and in our opinion, as a byproduct of COVID, showing off their facilities. This helps to build and maintain brand awareness by engaging current customers and building relationships with new ones.

6. Earned media
While traditional media outlets such as newspapers and broadcast television become less and less relevant, niche publications like trade magazines, blogs and online communities continue to thrive. Individuals are looking to consume content that is both relevant to them and strikes a chord for action. Through improved public relations strategies, you can connect relevant influencers with your business to earn more media placements. This year, genuine diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) earned media will be crucial for brands as Gen Z places higher value on brands that share their beliefs.

Give Tom a call to discuss how you can best deliver your message to your target audience.