At the end of each year, companies big and small conduct a thorough assessment of their activity over the past months, analyzing every business area from finances to employee performance and everything in between. This is a very necessary process in order to identify strengths and weaknesses and develop new plans and strategies for the future.
As you may assume, marketing is one of the areas that receive special attention in year-end reviews, given the crucial role it plays in ensuring business success. There’s no way to find out if your marketing efforts have paid off, if your strategies require some tweaking or if you need to reassess your entire marketing plan if you skip this crucial valuation. And even if you come to the conclusion that your marketing campaigns have yielded good results, keep in mind there’s always room for improvement.
Marketing is a constantly evolving field, with tech innovations and changing consumer behaviors driving trends to shift faster than ever before. From influencer marketing to link building services to augmented and virtual reality experiences, there are numerous variables that influence marketing. Therefore, you can’t just rely on the same methods for years on end. It’s important to keep up with the times and always strive to boost your company’s marketing game.
The Famesters influencer marketing agency offers its expertise to help you review your marketing efforts and find new effective channels – from peculiar social media strategies for a large company to influencer marketing for a small business.
So, as a forward-thinking entrepreneur, here are some smart marketing strategies you should focus on in 2023 if you want to gain an advantage over your competitors.
SEO
Entrepreneurs have always had a rather tricky relationship with search engine optimization, also known as SEO, mostly due to the complexity of the domain and its ever-shifting nature. SEO has indeed changed dramatically over the years, but this progression was necessary for the field to finally reach maturity. Does this mean SEO methodologies are now set in stone and nothing will ever change from this point on? Absolutely not. SEO, like all other disciplines that fall under the digital marketing umbrella, is bound to evolve and transform.
However, SEO has proved its utility and relevance and established some guiding principles that all entrepreneurs should be aware of. So, 2023 is the year you need to confront your SEO fears and fully embrace SEO practices. This means you should brush up on your SEO skills and if you decide you have too much on your plate already, working with a link building agency or a digital marketing specialist provides a great alternative.
Direct mail
Yes, you read that right. Direct email is making a comeback. In truth, direct mail never went anywhere as it has always been a lucrative marketing method. It’s just that the world in general and marketers, in particular, have been so busy searching for the next big digital breakthrough that would revolutionize marketing that they forgot to pay attention to other seemingly less evolved methods like email marketing.
But why should direct email be among your top priorities this year? The explanation is simple. Given the widespread adoption of work-from-home models, people are spending much more time at home, in front of their computers. Therefore, this timeless marketing tactic is proving to be much more efficient than newer strategies. So, far from being dead, this form of communication should be on every marketer’s radar in 2023.
User-generated content
It is often said that customers can be the biggest advocates for a business. So, why not let your clients do the talking and spread the word about your products and services instead of bragging about them yourself? Obviously, in the digital age, word of mouth has adapted to tech advances of the moment and now comes in the form of user-generated content or UGC.
This new marketing strategy implies using content created by consumers as a way to promote your brand’s offering. This can include all types of content from social media posts and reviews to unboxing videos and testimonials, vlogs or even podcasts. If influencers have been dominating the digital marketing scene in recent years, now it’s time for average consumers to step into the limelight as brand advocates, promoting different products and services that they deem worthy of their time and attention. This type of content is generally seen as more authentic and can have a more positive impact on your brand’s reputation.
Video and live streams
This might feel like you’re trespassing on gamers’ territory, but hear us out. Gen Z and millennials are huge consumers of video content and live streams and they also make up a big proportion of your audience. So, what better way to win them over than speaking the same language as they do?
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or Twitch support and prioritize this form of content and provide businesses with venues to connect with their target audience, drive engagement and increase brand awareness. Therefore, if you still haven’t jumped on the video marketing bandwagon, you should definitely take the leap in 2023.
Unified customer experience
There are more marketing channels that marketers can use to promote their products and services. However, the wide variety of options can lead to a rather fragmented experience for customers. A disjointed marketing image can cause confusion among consumers and make a company look like they don’t know what they’re doing or that they’re not completely honest and transparent when communicating with their audience.
As an entrepreneur, you need to make sure that your customers are able to enjoy a seamless experience across all points of interaction with your brand. That’s why you need to keep a bird’s eye view of your marketing and provide a complete and consistent experience from beginning to end.
The marketing landscape is getting more complex by the day, bringing new challenges and equally new opportunities for business owners and marketers. So, staying up to date with the latest trends and developments and including them in your marketing strategy is paramount for business success.
