Top 16 Digital Marketing Trends To Swear By in 2024

By Vaibhav Kakkar | January 21st, 2021

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Table of Contents

Introduction

The digital space has evolved rapidly in the last few years.

The year 2022 saw significant changes caused by the unforeseen outbreak. And as we step into 2023, we can expect more significant changes in how digital platforms evolve and make marketing easier and more effective than ever.

Here’s a list of 11 exciting marketing trends to look forward to in 2023:

When navigating digital marketing trends, it feels like staying afloat in a continuously changing tide. New trends can quickly redefine the best practices of digital marketers. What resonates today might not have the same resonance tomorrow.

The digital marketing world reached a turning point in 2020 with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The industry transitioned due to the changing reality, growing with the new trends.

People started using digital platforms and content much more with the rise in the usage of mobile devices. This gave digital marketers and brands a big chance to connect with their customers through new technologies and improve their customer experience.

It’s about making money and being thoughtful and responsible in curating your marketing strategy. Let’s look at the top digital marketing trends for 2023.

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence is one of the increasingly popular trends when discussing the latest digital marketing trends. It is widely acknowledged how artificial intelligence has changed the usual approach to digital marketing.

These new technologies can handle regular tasks like sending personalized emails and managing paid ads. It makes it easier for the digital marketers to save time and money.

Artificial intelligence gives us important insights into consumer behavior patterns and helps show suitable ads to the target customers.

This is especially helpful for a business that wants to get the most out of its online ads without spending too much. These AI tools will become even more important for any digital marketer to design their strategy as they will get even better.

2. Semantic Search Will Be Big

All the search engines work around a single idea, helping users find answers to queries easily. And in the year 2022, this motto may be amplified.

As per SEJ, Marketers and businesses will benefit more if they understand what their customers want.

Reports say that this will be the year when Google focuses on “ zero search clicks.”

A zero search click is a concept where the answers to a question are highlighted at the top of the Google search. This helps the user find answers without clicking on multiple links.

Be it the content developed or ad campaigns run, everything should be built around a single sentence- “What is The User Looking For?”

In 2018, Google focused on this by releasing the –T update, and the trend to focus on “User Intent” is likely to continue in 2023.

3. Customer Experience

One significant digital marketing trend is tailored customer experience to fit individual preferences.

Nowadays, businesses are using smart technologies like AI and machine learning to understand information on consumer behaviors. This data includes valuable insights like purchase history and personal interests.

They use this data to curate product recommendations and craft personalized digital marketing efforts.

This focus on enhancing customer experience helps small businesses make loyal customers who keep coming back. It also helps them stay ahead in the market.

By using customer data, small businesses can curate unique customer journeys. This makes the shopping experience more exciting and revolves around what the customer wants, which helps build a strong connection with the customers.

4. Influencer Marketing

With the rise of social media platforms and content curation, influencer marketing has become an increasingly popular trend.

Social media users with a big follower count significantly influence their audience. They have a big impact on what their followers like and buy. Businesses work with them to promote their products or services.

Influencer marketing is a powerful digital marketing strategy. When the right influencer talks about a product, their followers trust their opinion.

Businesses carefully choose the right influencers who match their brand and values. This way, the influencer’s audience is more likely to be interested in what the business offers. Small businesses can choose micro-influencers to promote their business as a marketing strategy.

Influencer marketing has become a popular digital marketing trend in the past few years and is a big part of how companies reach customers online.

5. Rise of Chatbots and AI & Conversational Marketing

Continuing the emphasis on user intent, chatbots are helping businesses enhance user experience and, hence, conversions.

Reports suggest that chatbots are likely to reduce costs by over30%.

As a concept, chatbots are precisely that – bots. Their ability to understand the “user intent” is limited unless efforts are made to make them more “human.”

Personalized voice bots are expected to grow. Businesses are using platforms with bots to engage with customers.

The days ofconversational marketing are here, and businesses may want to spend time building marketing campaigns/ strategies with the user/ consumer at the heart of it. The use of AI & bots will aid businesses to do this effectively.

Reports suggest that 67% of millennials in the US reported that they would likely purchase products and services from brands with chatbots.

Along with chatbots, sending personalized messages through messaging apps and social media, DMs will be important channels for engaging customers in real-time.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed that 1 in 5 searches on Google is voice searches.

Optimizing SEO efforts for voice search should be a focal point for businesses in 2023.

Again, this is backed by making the user experience better.

Marketers are advised to focus on natural language and long-tail keywords.

With smart speakers like Google Home, Siri, and Alexa becoming popular, over 71% of people prefer to speak their query than type.

With this increasingly popular usage of smart speakers and virtual assistants, optimizing content for voice search has become even more important.

7. Google My Business For Local SEO

COVID-19 has changed how customers used to search & shop. Increased focus on search terms, including the keyword “nearby,” has led to an increase in Local SEO in 2020. This is likely to continue in 2023.

More than a billion people use Google Maps every month.

What can a business do to better its local SEO?

First of all, claim your business page on Google My Business (GMB) and optimize it by:

  • Answering FAQs about your products or services.
  • Adding weekly photos relevant to your business and customer base. These could be photos of your location or new menu items.
  • Sharing regular business posts to announce new products, events, or specials.
  • Creating a site using Google My Business website buildCheck out this interview we did with Marc Brookland. Here he talks about his trade secrets to nail a Local SEO strategy for your local business.

8. It’s All About Video Marketing

Videos, as an integral part of modern marketing campaigns, have grown rapidly in the past few years.

In 2023, it becomes more prominent.

Reports suggest that nearly 40% of Americans spend more than one hour per week watching video clips on social media. It’s also projected that in 2023, people will spend 100 minutes each day watching video content.

What‘s more interesting is that with short video platforms gaining popularity, businesses will have to spend more time building content accordingly.

From an SEO perspective, video carousels are shown at the top of the SERPs for any search query. Optimizing video content for SERP and focusing on building content platform-wise will be big in 2023.

TikTok and Instagram Reels for short-form videos and YouTube and other platforms for long-form videos are expected to be important for engagement.

9. The Rise Of Short-Form Video

Short-form video content has seen a surge in digital marketing trends. Apps like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts have become very popular for businesses.

This digital marketing strategy is great at catching consumer attention and building a brand identity.

There are many reasons behind this digital marketing trend. This strategy is being used to connect with young potential customers known for their active presence on social media platforms. Instagram Reels and Shorts are the most used platforms by the youngsters.

Short-form video content is easy to make and easy for people to watch, making it useful for all digital marketing efforts.

Whether showing product demonstrations, crafting tutorials, discussing brand awareness initiatives, or providing entertainment value, short videos have become a handy tool for many marketers.

10. Changes to the data-sharing policy of Google Ads

Even though data is turning out to be a great tool to spot trends, for Google Ads, advertisers would no longer be served with “search query” data by Google.

This is happening due to Google’slatest changes in data-sharing policies.

Aim? To protect the users from spam and scams. But this also means lesser data availability for advertisers.

However, all is still there.

Google is introducing the “Custom Audience Tool.”

This is Google’s way of automatically choosing the right audiences for your ad campaigns based on all of the information you specify.

Introduction of Explanation Feature

This feature is still in the beta stage. It aims to help advertisers understand the sudden changes in Ad performance.

11. Responsive Search Ads

RSA is the newest ad format introduced by Google to help advertisers push out more focused ads.

You can now write up to 15 different headlines and up to 4 different descriptions. Google automatically tests different combinations of headlines and descriptions and learns which combinations perform the best.

12. Diversifying ad platforms beyond Google

With Google changing its data sharing policy, some experts are expecting search to grow beyond only Google.

13. Data-Driven Decisions- Hyper-Focused Marketing

With an increased focus on user intent, marketers are being directed to analyze data more comprehensively to make any decisions. Hyper-focused marketing is expected to be big in 2023.

SEJ suggests that data on behavioral analytics will be in the spotlight.

Instead of focusing on “keyword volume”, it’s advised to study “why” the consumer is searching.

Delving deeper into the minds of users, studying their behavior, and then driving marketing strategies and SEO efforts will help ensure big wins for businesses.

14. Focus on Mobile SEO

Mobile as a search platform for users has grown bigger in the last two years. In March 2021, sites that are desktop-only will completely drop out of Google’s index.

15. Multi-channel Social Media Marketing

Multi-channel social media marketing is when businesses use different platforms to reach their audience. This includes platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more. This digital marketing strategy is one of the most popular in current trends.

Businesses use such marketing strategies to reach a wider audience through social media channels. Each platform has its strengths. For example, Facebook is good for long-form personalized content, Instagram is great for sharing pictures and visuals, and Twitter is for quick updates.

By leveraging different social media platforms, businesses connect with diverse audiences and can cater to different preferences.

16. Web Vitals as a ranking metric for SEO

Earlier this year, Google announced that Core Web Vitals would play an integral ranking metric for SEO from May 2021.

Web Vitals are designed to measure how users experience the speed, responsiveness, and visual stability of a page.

And what is covered under Web Vitals?

As per SEJ, the following constitute web vitals:

  • Largest Contentful Paint: Defined as the time it takes for a page’s main content to load.
    Ideal LCP measurement = 2.5 seconds or faster.
  • First Input Delay: The time it takes for a page to become interactive.
    Ideal measurement < 100 ms.
  • Cumulative Layout Shift: The number of unexpected layout shifts of visual page content.Ideal measurement < 0.1.

How this affects the rankings of websites remains to be seen.

17. Interactive and User-Generated Content:

Interactive content means polls, quizzes, surveys, challenges, giveaways, and shoppable posts.

This kind of digital marketing strategy is popular in current trends.

Such conversational marketing trend engages users and provides a more dynamic experience.

User-generated content has also been on the rise in recent years.

Suppose someone got some new clothes, clicked some pictures wearing them, and posted them on their social media handles. Or someone got a new phone or a laptop, and they post an unboxing video on YouTube. That’s what user-generated content is.

User-generated content includes images, videos, testimonials, reviews, or even a podcast. But the most important part of user-generated content is authenticity and quality. To be successful in this digital marketing trend, 60% of marketers say that the content should be authentic and relevant.

This encourages customers to share their experiences about a brand or a product online. It helps build trust and authenticity.

How To Prepare For 2023 Digital Marketing Trends?

Quick action is important if you want to stay ahead in the market in 2023.

Look back at 2022 and analyze the digital marketing trends that gained traction. Identify which strategies worked well and which didn’t. Learning from your experience will help you adjust your marketing materials accordingly for upcoming sales.

Keep an eye on industry news, blogs, and other reliable sources. Subscribe to newsletters that share digital marketing trends. Follow micro-influencers in social commerce who share relevant content in the digital world. This will help you stay ahead of new technologies and emerging trends.

Incorporate Artificial Intelligence and automation tools like Machine Learning in your digital marketing strategy for personalization, data analysis, customer service, and more. Look how Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality can be incorporated into your digital marketing efforts for immersive experiences.

Social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn are powerful tools for building brand awareness and improving engagement. Explore new features and the latest digital marketing trends for 2023 on these social media channels.

With the rise of smart speakers like Alexa, voice search optimization has become an important part of digital marketing. Stay ahead with the latest optimization techniques for search engines and digital marketing trends.

Video marketing trends have become very popular in recent years. Include video formats like live streams, webinars, and short videos into your digital content strategy to curate interactive content.

Most importantly, define your goals for 2023, whether it’s increasing website traffic, improving brand awareness, or boosting conversions. Keep an eye on key performance indicators to know how well you are doing. Experiment with different ideas and see which ones get the best results for you.

FAQs

Digital marketing trends are the latest changes in strategies, technologies, and practices businesses use to promote products or services online. These trends include social media marketing, content optimization, video marketing, and AI integration. Staying updated with these trends helps businesses stay competitive and effectively engage with the target audience in digital media. For example, using social media influencers or creating personalized customer experiences to strengthen your brand identity. Keeping up with these trends helps businesses adjust their marketing strategies for better online success and customer engagement. 

Many digital marketing trends have come into the picture in 2023. Some of these are:

 

  • Semantic search has been gaining popularity. Understanding customer’s intent becomes important to optimize content or ad campaigns for search engines. 
  • Automation has become the centerpiece of a business’s success. Personalized interactions are expected to grow with the use of chatbots and AI-driven conversations. 
  • Ensuring voice-friendly content for virtual assistants has become a growing search trend, with Siri and Alexa's increasing popularity.
  • Google My Business has been in trend since COVID-19. Use it to optimize your listings for better visibility in local searches. 
  • Short videos and live streams are grabbing the attention to foster engagement. 
  • Polls, quizzes, and other interactive content are becoming more popular to keep your audience engaged and interested in your brand. 
  • Sustainability and ethical marketing have grown bigger. Customers now prefer eco-friendly and ethically driven brands.

The most effective digital marketing strategy involves a holistic approach incorporating different social media platforms. The best way to do so is using a mix of different methods, such as:

 

  • Create helpful and relevant content that would engage and educate the target audience.
  • Make use of SEO and optimize content accordingly to ensure visibility when people search on Google.
  • Use platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram to connect with your audience and establish brand awareness.
  • Paid ads through Google ads and social media ad campaigns help your business reach out to the target audience. 
  • Email marketing allows you to keep your audience updated about your product or services. 
  • Keep an eye on data analytics and adjust your marketing efforts accordingly to make it better.

The most in-demand marketing right now is Digital Marketing. This marketing approach involves online strategies like search engine optimization (SEO), content and video marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, pay-per-click advertising, etc. Businesses are prioritizing their online presence with the increasing use of social media for information and shopping. Digital marketing helps them target a specific audience, get real-time analytics, and build a connection with a global audience. It is essential for businesses to stay updated with the evolving digital world to build a brand identity and build relationships with their customers.

January 21, 2021
Vaibhav Kakkar