As we look at 2023, we see that the world of advertising is evolving rapidly, driven by advances in technology and the changes in consumer shopping behaviour.
Some of these evolutions have been a long time coming. Others have essentially just built on trends that emerged in 2022. Many appear to be here to stay.
It’s clear that businesses and marketing professionals need to stay on top of these shifts to stay relevant.
If you came here in search of the top advertising trends to look out for in 2023, you’re in the right place. We’ll talk about these trends and show how you can prepare for and take advantage of them.
1. Personalised ads
Personalisation is becoming increasingly important for advertising. Also known as interest-based advertising, it enables the creation of ads tailored to individuals’ interests, preferences, and demographics.
This is one of the top marketing trends that was relatively easy to predict, by the way. For several years now, we’ve seen rising interest in customised services from consumers, so this only makes sense.
How can you take advantage of it? Try investing in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning technologies that can help gather and analyse user data, among other things.
You can also start regularly reviewing and updating ad campaigns to ensure that ads remain relevant to the people you’re targeting. Combined with user data, you can adjust ads dynamically to suit your target user at any given time.
2. Shoppable posts/features
Shoppable posts or features are showing up a lot now as one of the new trends in social media marketing. This enables users to purchase products directly from social media platforms or other websites.
Probably the most recent example is TikTok Shop. Through this, a merchant can link an e-commerce store or product to their content on TikTok.
The advantage is obvious. A lot of people discover products on social media. By making the step from discovery to conversion easier, you encourage consumers to make purchases faster.
So, how do you prepare for this trend? Among other things, get on social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok that offer it!
To beef up the efficacy of this strategy, businesses should also ensure that their online stores are optimised for mobile devices and that they have user-friendly checkout processes.
Finally, businesses should regularly update their product listings and content to keep consumers interested. You may also consider partnering with influencers to promote products better on platforms!
3. Short-form videos
Short-form videos are becoming increasingly popular, particularly on social media. Ad platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts provide marketers with new opportunities to reach younger audiences and create highly engaging content.
The idea here is to create impactful and memorable experiences that connect with viewers in just seconds. Video remains one of the key drivers behind sales, but there’s also so much video content now that it can be hard to keep people interested.
So, leveraging short-form content is a great way to use videos to your advantage without hitting viewers’ saturation points.
Try experimenting with new video formats and platforms too. It may be a good idea to analyse user engagement to determine which videos are most effective, in order to stay ahead of the game.
4. Influencer marketing
This one isn’t new, but it remains a powerful tool for businesses looking to reach new audiences.
In 2023, though, we think businesses should focus on identifying and partnering with influencers who have a large and engaged following in their target market. The latter attribute (engagement) is becoming increasingly important in influencer selection.
That’s because engaged followers often tend to be the ones that convert for campaigns. Engaged followers are the ones who act, after all.
We also advise that you regularly update your influencer marketing strategies and ensure that the ones you partner with comply with local advertising regulations.
Check out our article on influencer marketing to find out more.
5. Smart bidding
Smart bidding is a method of using machine-learning algorithms to optimise ad bidding in real-time, maximising ROI.
Offered by Google Ads, it frees you from the difficulty of manual ad bidding adjustments. The algorithms optimise your bid for you instead, based on various parameters and always with the goal to get the most conversions.
It’s easy to see why this is an emerging trend in advertising and why it’s easy to recommend! This can help improve campaign performance, increase efficiency, and save time.
Whether you’re looking to reach more people, optimise your ad spend, or expand your advertising channels, smart bidding is just one more way you can better set up your ad campaigns for better performance.
Use the top advertising trends to get started on your ad and marketing campaign for 2023
The trends above should give you some idea of how to set up your advertising campaigns for this year. Be sure to neglect the rest of your marketing, though!
Digital marketing is more than advertising, and businesses (especially small or new ones) need to cover all their bases here.
If you need help to ensure this – or perhaps to tackle one of the trends we mentioned earlier – send us a message. We can chat and talk about how to get your digital marketing and advertising strategy to where it needs to be.