Marketing Trends: Which Are Worth Using?

At Mid-West Family, we're always focused on the value of strategies over tactics. Long-term strategies bring measurable results, and the insights businesses need to build momentum and stable business growth over time.  

While tactics are helpful in isolated campaigns and projects, they're no replacement for long-term thinking. Similarly, focusing on long-term marketing strategies over options that get fast but fleeting results is essential. If you're planning out your objectives and processes for the next year, consider these 2023 marketing trends that have proven their sticking power. 

Long-Term Influencer Relationships 

Here’s a wild perspective: Influencer marketing was first developed in 105 BCE! Modern social-media-based influencer marketing has been growing for the past ten years into a solid marketing strategy for every type of business.  

Influencers can be radio personalities, social media fan favorites, or other content creators like YouTubers. These creators have built audiences who trust their word. When working with an influencer, their audience becomes your audience, so it’s important to have a similar target audience that will resonate with your brand. It's almost like they're getting a referral from a friend.  

Video-Based Content 

Video content continues to engage and delight viewers. One Cisco report states, "82% of global internet traffic will come from either video streaming or video downloads in 2022." Businesses are creating videos to showcase products and new releases, engaging audiences on social media, and creating tutorial content, and audiences love it. 

Videos can easily align with your overarching content marketing strategy. They are powerful assets that can grow more popular over time, especially if you invest in high-value educational or entertainment videos your audiences will want to share or rewatch. Videos can also go beyond sharing your products or expertise to creating a unique brand voice that aligns with your target market's preferences. 

The best part? HubSpot reports that "87% of video marketers reported that video gives them a positive ROI.”

Cohesive Customer Experiences 

Cohesive customer experiences help shoppers create expectations for your brand and make your company stand out as a familiar, reliable source of services in a crowded marketplace.  

Some of the factors that lead to cohesive customer experiences include: 

• Consistent visual branding, from logos to fonts 
• Recognizable, on-brand voice for any interaction across marketing, sales, and customer service touchpoints 
• Dependable, helpful interactions across every online and in-person channel 
• Core brand values: If your employees understand your core company values, even slightly different styles and approaches will carry the same underlying voice and intention 

When customers grow familiar enough with your brand to expect a certain sort of experience — and have those expectations met — those customers can trust your brand more than if every interaction is surprising or inconsistent. 

Interactive Websites 

In 2021, the average time users spent on a specific page was 54 seconds. This average encompasses a wide range of time lengths, as shoppers are well-known for leaving pages that don't load immediately. The more you can increase that time and strengthen their familiarity with your brand, the better, and one of the best strategies for doing so is by building interactive websites. This includes: 

• Appointment setting tools so visitors can transition from being first-time visitors to engaged leads 
• Online calculators, especially for financial services 
• Product configurations and AR tools that let shoppers interact with potential purchases as smoothly as possible 
• Other widgets that viewers can customize with their information and preferences 

Not only do these tools increase visit duration, but they can also give you a great deal of insight into what your shoppers want. It also creates an increasingly personalized visit, which online audiences crave. 

Strategic Marketing Partnerships 

Another quickly growing trend is developing a partnership with a strategic marketing service. Businesses are turning to specialists who can provide solutions and help create marketing plans that align with cutting-edge trends to reach audiences and establish relationships. At Mid-West Family, we help companies to craft personalized marketing plans that will align with the needs of 2023 shoppers and help grow the business. Contact us today to start preparing for the new year.