Online Marketing Trends 2023

As the current year draws to a close, new online marketing trends for 2023 are already emerging. Whether it's SEO, web analytics, SEA or social media, the development of the online marketing universe is advancing at a familiar rapid speed and remains exciting! 

But what does 2023 have in store for us? Economic crises and conflicts have been shaking up the corporate world for some time now, making planning more difficult. This makes it all the more important to stay up-to-date on the various online marketing channels and adapt your strategy to new conditions and opportunities.

Together with you, the internetwarriors venture a first look at the online marketing trends for 2023!

Digital Marketing Trends 2023: Data Collection Following the "Form First" Principle

A meaningful data analysis is the basis for deriving effective marketing measures. For this, the most precise and selected data possible is needed. Therefore, it is no surprise that data collection will again play a key role in 2023. True to the principle of "Form first!", proactive data collection through targeted inquiry forms will be a focal point in 2023. These primarily serve to sustainably strengthen the sales funnel in customer acquisition. Even simple forms are sufficient here and offer many advantages over fillable contact forms.

Consideration of the customer journey is sometimes neglected in B2B content marketing. But only marketers who understand at which points of the customer journey the right content must be placed to be found by B2B prospects can reach B2B customers and win them over in the long term. Especially, organic visibility in the form of search engine optimization is a crucial factor here. Target groups looking for B2B services often use search engines like Google as a first step. This means companies that perform well with unique B2B SEO content are also accessible to the potential audience.

Verification of Local SEO Listings by Google

Local SEO is not new, but with the verification of local SEO listings, the significance of local search engine optimization for companies with local locations will continue to increase in 2023. Verified entries enhance the credibility of local businesses and hence are a true marketing booster! The verification status of one's listing can be checked in a few steps. Google Support shows how this works.

Online Marketing Trend Voice Search

Voice search isn’t new either, but it’s gaining even more importance in the online marketing trends 2023. Voice-activated digital assistants have seen a significant upswing in recent years, making it impossible for SEO managers to overlook voice search. This means keywords must be understandable when spoken. The popularity of voice search has led to significant shifts in keywords. 

The reason: A typed search on Google is framed differently from a spoken keyword. When searching for an Indian restaurant, you might type "Indian restaurant near me" on Google, while speaking: "Where is the nearest Indian restaurant?" Considering such long-tail keywords in content optimization is therefore an effective SEO strategy.

As voice search continues to grow, alongside the increase in smartphone usage for search, pages that are not optimized with voice search long-tail keywords may be found significantly less often – a trend that will intensify in 2023.

Optimization for Visual Search

Visual search is among the newer digital marketing trends. Instead of spoken or typed queries, users can now upload an image for their search. It’s also possible to retrieve information about a single image element. Upload a plant photo and receive information about that plant. The image of a city provides architectural, geographic, and historical information. The image of a product offers product descriptions, similar products, and purchasing options. Pinterest Lens, Google Lens, and similar search tools make the smartphone camera a search bar. Companies can leverage visual search by, for example

• placing high-quality images on their websites, equipped with descriptive keywords,

• prioritizing image optimization in online marketing,

• running ads on Pinterest.

Tip: An image sitemap helps the search engine to better crawl the images on the website. Speaking file names and meaningful image descriptions ensure that search engines can better capture the content of the image.

User Reviews for Local Businesses

Search engines now capture user reviews much better than in previous years and can influence local ranking. Not too few and preferably many positive user reviews from verified sources are important. This not only increases trust for human users but also in search engine ratings.

On Google, the most important review is the one under the Google My Business listing. The social network Facebook is also considered very significant due to its large number of users. In addition, there are industry-specific portals like Yelp for hotels, restaurants, and the leisure industry. Those who wish to generate user reviews can, for example, send their customers a link to their Google My Business entry after completing a purchase. A strategy to increase the number of (positive) reviews is therefore sensible for the online marketing goals of 2023, at least for local businesses.

By the way, we would be happy to advise you and create an online marketing concept tailored exactly to your goals and your industry.

Google Ads with Automated and Intelligent Bidding as a Key SEA Trend 2023

Automated and intelligent bidding in Google Ads has been refined and is therefore among our online marketing trends for 2023. Since mid-2022, responsive search ads are the only ad type that can be created. With automated bidding strategies using AI and machine learning, marketers have been able to gain a lot of experience this year. Google's focus on automation means a certain loss of control in optimizing campaigns and ads, however, new expertise around the SEA channel is increasingly evolving. Manual measures are increasingly being replaced by strategic performance marketing tasks. For instance, addressing the right target audience and the synergies between different online marketing channels will remain important and can likewise be seen as a trend for 2023.

TikTok Between SEO, SEA, and Social Media Marketing

What was once dismissed by many as a channel for fun for the younger generation, shows considerable potential as a platform for customer acquisition and retention. Whether for a behind-the-scenes look at a company for applicants or as an advertising channel - TikTok must be taken seriously in online marketing and thus belongs to our online marketing trends for 2023. 

While Facebook and Google's ad revenues saw drastic declines in 2022, TikTok experienced growth. One reason may be that Apple's new privacy settings are making it harder for large platforms to play personalized ads, whereas TikTok is presumably affected far less. Another reason is the increasing popularity of the platform for entertainment, but also for information and news. What's interesting about TikTok is the overlap of various online marketing disciplines: TikTok SEO for organic visibility, ads for paid reach. In the marketing mix, the platform should therefore definitely be considered by companies with a younger target group.

Growth in Instant Messaging Platforms

Instant messaging platforms now allow customers to be efficiently addressed in great ways. They want the information they need about a product or service faster than ever, which works best through instant messaging. WhatsApp is probably the most popular platform for instant messaging. Many German companies are still reluctant to send their customers and prospects notifications via WhatsApp, but the communication channel should not be neglected. Naturally, consent for this, as for any advertising, must be obtained in advance. One of the major online marketing trends for 2023 is to use this medium more intensively. It’s effective because people love WhatsApp and usually pay more attention to a message if they receive it over this platform. In the context of customer loyalty, instant messaging services are becoming increasingly indispensable in many industries.

The Introduction of Google Analytics 4 Determines Web Analysis Trends 2022 and 2023

Google already introduced Google Analytics 4 (GA4) in October 2020, which many companies are already using. The switch to GA4 will be one of the important online marketing trends by next year at the latest, since the predecessor version Universal Analytics will no longer provide data as of July 1, 2023. Users can use GA4 to access the Google Merchant Center, BigQuery, and Google Optimize for free and add custom reports to the navigation menu. Other features include anomaly detection, deeper attribution models, and predictive analysis. To avoid a data gap, it is important to set up Google Analytics 4 as quickly as possible. Experience shows that several months of lead time should be expected to professionally set up, test, and adjust the tracking if necessary before Universal Analytics is shut down.

Haven't switched to GA4 yet? We can support you with the implementation of Google Analytics 4 and train you on how to handle the new interface.

Inclusion as a Company Value and Marketing Benchmark

Our last two online marketing trends for 2023 are cross-channel and affect both search engine optimization and SEA or social media marketing.

Never has the topic of inclusion, equality, and representation been so much in the public spotlight as this year. Thanks to social media, underrepresented groups also have a voice and can raise awareness of their situation and disadvantages. Companies are thinking about their image and values and how they can communicate these externally. It is not uncommon for different generations and ideas to clash. Engaging with inclusion - whether through gender-neutral language or more diverse visual imagery on websites and marketing materials - is an important topic for companies to practice target-oriented marketing and live their values, regardless of the standpoint.

Data Protection Remains an Important Topic in 2023

The general public has been sensitized to data protection since the GDPR. Many people have become more critical of what data is disclosed about themselves and how this data is used. As a result, the cookie consent banner is met with "Reject cookies," and user data is not tracked or only tracked to a very limited extent. Consequently, companies do not have access to all the data unless they choose solutions like server-side tracking. The balance between data protection regulations and the desire to have as much data as possible for evaluation and planning of upcoming online marketing actions will therefore remain a significant topic for the foreseeable future.

Conclusion: Online Marketing Trends 2023

In the online marketing trends for the coming year, we see various developments that were already on the horizon in 2022 and will intensify in 2023. It remains exciting to see how the advertising revenues of the different platforms will develop over the next year and whether there will be further shifts. The complexity of Google search from voice search to local SEO, under the increasing influence of artificial intelligence, will be another major topic in 2023 that we will follow with interest.

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