Last year, we saw Digital Marketing trends changing every month. As I predicted, artificial intelligence and automation were massive hits and still continue to surprise us.
Just in December 2022, ChatGPT blew every marketer’s world apart. ChatGPT was to Digital Marketing just as Zoom was to online meetings.
So what’s in it for digital marketing in 2023? Have we reached the peak yet?
Certainly, not! With Google’s new announcements like a better and advanced search engine, the Search Generative Experience (SGE) and a new web analytics platform, the Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
2023 is going to be as exciting as 2022 for digital marketers, designers, and content creators. While some trends will be improved, many newer trends will enter the industry to test the waters.
Before wasting any time, let’s get to the list of digital marketing trends in India and what can you expect to change!
FYI, if you don’t know what digital marketing is, chances are that you won’t understand any of the trends. Hence, I recommend that you watch Karan Shah’s 45-minute masterclass on digital marketing basics to get started.
Here are the 20 Latest Digital Marketing Trends in India of 2023
Want to strengthen your marketing game in 2023, these are the trends that you should be knowing about:
1. Google is changing & so should your SEO
In 2023, what the user wants is what will show up on the SERP. It’s all about providing an answer to the user’s query and adding value to their knowledge instead of selling a product/service.
If you are handling SEO for a brand or freelancing, my suggestion would be to sell an experience of searching instead of advertising the product. When users love your content, they will automatically engage with your brand and start trusting your brand.
Last year, Google rolled out multiple algorithms updates to rank user-friendly content and healthy off-page SEO strategies much higher than those that purely optimize for search engines.
There is no guarantee that Google will slow down with its update in 2023 as its ultimate goal is value to the user. So if you want to safeguard yourself from this volatility, you have to change your approach today and stand in the user’s shoes.
Learn SEO from scratch to create an SEO strategy that gives you returns.
2. Purpose-Driven Content
The new generation you are going to market to in 2023 is more aware of their surroundings and issues than any other generation. They won’t let any taboos/stigmas slip under the carpet and in fact, motivate others to join them.
In 2023, think one step ahead and create purpose-driven content. Show your audience that you care about the environment and are driven to make a change, and you will definitely win their hearts.
In purpose-driven content, you can either communicate your purpose like IKEA. They are dedicated to making fast and affordable furniture that anyone can buy at any age.
On the other hand, you can also work towards a greater purpose. For example, Mama Earth plants one tree for each order received and aims to plant 1 million trees by 2025.
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3. Quick Commerce
When I say, quick commerce, it is difficult to understand but when I say Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, Dunzo, Rapido, etc, it requires no understanding.
Quick commerce is a faster version of e-commerce where delivery is done within a few minutes. If you have a product that can be stocked and sold via quick commerce, I say jump at the opportunity right today.
Get your product listed on of the quick commerce apps in 2023 and you will see more visibility and desire to buy your product.
If you want to test your product, here’s a bonus strategy that will work.
Get your product listed on any of the quick commerce apps and then add it as a free sample in the user’s cart. This way, you can test your product and also create awareness. But make sure to track those who test your product as it will help you remarket.
4. AI in Digital Marketing – ChatGPT Revolution
As discussed in the introduction itself, Artificial Intelligence is dangerously growing in digital marketing. We discussed this in 2022 as well but who knew that creativity can be programmed into artificial intelligence?
ChatGPT is the biggest talk of the town today but very few know how to deliver prompts or in simpler language, talk to it.
In 2023, the AI in Digital Marketing trend is going to be all about how you talk to it and get your work done.
The easiest way is to talk to it like a baby. Just as you have to teach the baby to walk or talk, you have to teach ChatGPT to work on your command and make your command the easiest words to understand.
Secondly, you can download various Chrome extensions that add prompts to your ChatGPT. For example, I have downloaded the AIPRM for SEO extension and these are the prompts I received:
These are just 2 out of the 69 prompts available that can make an SEO Associate’s life much easier.
5. Push Notifications
2022 is when push notifications were being tested and 2023 is when brands will or should use it to their fullest advantage.
Push notifications are a way of becoming a part of a customer’s ecosystem and keep nudging them with offers and clickable content.
Some brands don’t value an aggressive marketing strategy and hence end up not going for the push notifications strategy.
6. Web3 is Coming
Now, this is more of a digital marketing trend that you must look out for and also track because it is going to be the next big thing in the world of the internet. What Google is trying to achieve via algorithm updates, is what Web3 is developing keeping in mind only and only user.
It is based on blockchain technology, the same that supports cryptocurrency, NFTs, and other digital commodities. It is a decentralized form of technology, making you and me in the full authority of our actions on the internet.
When will Web3 go mainstream?
It will take another 5-10 years. However, since it is the future of marketing, you should keep reading and talking about it since it is going to become one of the most powerful platforms for marketing.
7. Personalization
If you want to outperform your competitors and want to stand out in the market, you must focus on personalizing content, products, emails, etc. Personalization is the next big trend that will soon become an industry standard.
According to research by Instapage,
- 63% of consumers are annoyed with the fact that brands repeatedly keep blasting generic advertising messages.
- 80% of consumers say they are more likely to do business with a company if it offers them personalized experiences.
- 90% of consumers claim that they find personalization appealing.
The best example to understand the power of personalization is Amazon and Netflix, which have personalized recommended movies for each user. Here are some other examples of brands that are progressively using personalization at present:
Starbucks: Starbucks introduced a gamified mobile app that keeps track of the number of times a customer visited, the purchase history of the customer, and their location. This personalized app allowed customers to customize their drinks, and it enabled them to receive rewards. The feature ‘reward system’ on the app itself spiked the revenue to $2.56 billion.
8. Augmented Reality
By the definition of Wikipedia, Augmented Reality is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information.
It consists of 3 basic features
- a combination of real and virtual worlds
- real-time interaction
- accurate 3D registration of virtual and real objects
While virtual reality makes buzz and gets everyone excited with grand sci-fi ideas, Augmented Reality is much more plausible from a marketing point of view. Experts foresee that AR will continue to outperform VR in terms of market share.
Brands are progressively using this AR technology to elevate the consumer experience and increase sales.
One such example is IKEA, which has its own app that allows users to click a picture of their room on their smartphones (iOS 11.0.1 for now) to test drive IKEA’s furniture in it. The users can move the furniture around to check out how the furniture looks different from different angles.
Another example would be Gucci, which is the latest luxury brand that newly added an Augmented Reality feature to its app to let users ‘try on’ sneakers’.
The user can choose to see 19 different sneakers on their own by pointing their smartphone camera downwards. It enabled users to swipe left or right to change to another pair. The app also lets users take photos, which can afterwards be shared on social media or in messaging apps.
9. Metaverse
A world within our world is what the Metaverse is popularly known as. The Metaverse is currently owned by Meta (Facebook). The idea of a digital space where virtual and augmented realities co-exist to create a universal experience is both new and potentially untapped.
A digital avatar of yourself in a futuristic world where all possible actions can be taken seems a lot to do with gaming. So how does it become a Digital Marketing Trend in 2023?
Metaverse has made social commerce possible with a network of realities/virtual universes where space exists almost everywhere. Well, digital marketers have found an opportunity for their brands to fill that space and create a whole new medium of digital marketing.
Although we haven’t reached the prime of marketing in such a space, the potential is immense!
10. NFTs
Non-Fungible Tokens are digital assets that you can trade. Each NFT has a unique token that says that this is the original NFT and is owned by you. NFTs have disrupted the art and technology world but it has started penetrating the marketing world as well.
Free NFTs are offered in a raffle as brands for their main marketing goals. For example, Marriott Bonvoy created a raffle where the winners would receive their own NFT and 200,000 Bonvoy points.
These kinds of digital marketing campaigns have been targeted by high-end brands like Adidas, Marriott, etc only. Once more and more brands utilize NFTs as a marketing tool, the growth and opportunities are unlimited.
11. Crypto
Cryptocurrency can be called the INSTAGRAM of the Finance World. It entered the industry and slowly conquered while everyone never saw any potential in it. There are 10-12 million active crypto investors in India and have been increasing since the returns are massive.
Cryptocurrencies have become one of the cooler things for millennials and therefore everyone wants to invest. Crypto investing platforms are using this need of the new generation and offering them FREE parts of 1 cryptocurrency to create awareness and also give investors a glimpse of this investment avenue.
No surprise if like Google Pay, we use Cryptocurrencies for our groceries and daily needs. Digital Marketing Trends 2023 has truly reached the greatest heights.
12. Livestream Commerce
Livestream Commerce is quite new to India but China has already made a billion-dollar market over it. Brands choose their social media platforms to showcase their products live and the audience is able to buy the product live itself.
Even on Instagram, the Shop feature has enabled brands to put up the Show Now button on live video content which cuts the chase for the customer. Livestream commerce has reduced the time taken by the customer from advertisement to purchase and therefore is one of the best digital marketing trends in 2023.
Bonus: If you want to learn how to choose the right social media platform for marketing your products and services online, check out this blog to know more.
13. Voice Search Optimization
According to research by Review42 on voice search, they found that 55% of teenagers use voice search every day. This massive adoption by the entire generation shows how popular voice search is going to get in the future.
There are a couple of reasons why Voice Search, a feature we all received with our smartphones around 2014, is taking off in a big way this year. Firstly, the increasing adoption of smart speakers. 20% of households have bought a smart speaker such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home. The adoption of devices that are fully voice search controlled is a big indicator of how people have started to get accustomed to this new behaviour.
Secondly, Google claims that they have achieved 95% accuracy with their Voice Search. With higher precision of search, the ease of use factor for voice search has jumped up. Now with better accuracy to match what you ask for, and the ease of using your voice to get results makes the process personalized and attractive.
Thirdly and most importantly, it is projected that by 2023, 50% of all online shopping will be conducted through voice results. This is a whopping $40 billion opportunity for digital marketers to exploit. With so many growth factors indicating the rise of voice search, making your website ready for voice search will be very essential for the future.
We found a guide by SEM Rush during our research. This article will teach you how to optimize your website for voice search in simple 7 steps.
14. Programmatic Advertising
Programmatic Ad Buying is the use of software to purchase digital advertising. While the traditional method includes human negotiation, requests for proposals, and quotes, programmatic buying makes use of algorithms and machines to buy ads.
Programmatic Advertising is when AI is used to automate so that advertisers can target more specific audiences.
The automation is quick, and efficient which ultimately increases conversions and lowers the customer acquisition cost.
Real-time bidding is a type of programmatic ad buying, it allows better and fast targeting, qualifying ads to be bought and sold on a per-case basis, which means visitors who are your targeted audience will be exposed to the ad.
Here’s how Programmatic Advertising works:
Programmatic Advertising is rapidly increasing every year and is predicted to be used for a huge majority of display advertising in the next couple of years.
One of the best examples of the same would be ‘The Economist’, a digital and print publication, which started a programmatic advertising campaign with the aim of persuading curious readers to try the publication.
The same campaign generated 6,50,000 new prospects, an additional return on investment (ROI) of 10:1. Brand Awareness for “The Economist” also elevated by 65%.
15. Chatbots
Chatbots are considered one of the top digital marketing trends in 2023, the AI-based technology makes use of instant messaging to chat with customers, and with site visitors. It is designed to communicate with customers by textual or auditory methods.
Businesses can leverage the use of chatbots to engage with customers. Since there are plenty of users visiting the website at once, it is advantageous to have a technology that answers hundreds of users at once. The benefits of having chatbots are 24/7 customer service, instant responses to inquiries, and answers to simple questions.
63% of people prefer messaging on chatbots to communicate with businesses or brands. This virtual support provides excellent customer service, this means a business gets rid of repetitive tasks and can focus on important work.
Starbucks has introduced a chatbot that operates via the MyBarista app where you can order by auditory message through Amazon Alexa or messaging.
Another amazing example of chatbot systems is the recently launched project LaMDA by Google. It is going to revolutionize the coming generations of chatbot systems. Here’s a bonus read on everything you need to know about Google’s LaMDA.
Besides allowing customers to remain in the comfort of their homes right up until their coffee is ready the chatbot messages the customer when the order is ready for pickup, the chatbot also allows payment and tipping.
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16. Email Marketing- Less is more
As the name implies, automated email marketing is sending emails to your customers automatically based on triggers or schedules you set.
Emails have always been the most reliable channel of digital marketing. Promotional emails are an amazing way to reach out to your customers and let them know what your organization has achieved or any sale you have coming up.
But, the time of essay-long emails is done. In 2023, emails that are simple to understand and take less time of the user are going to work and lead to higher conversions.
Have a look at Neil Patel’s emails for inspiration:
According to the research of Backlinko:
- You are 6x more likely to get a click from an email than from a tweet
- Adding a call-to-action button in your emails instead of simply a text link can lead to a 28% increase in click-throughs
- 78% of marketers have seen an increase in engagements (including CTR) in the last 12 months
But to up these statistics for your company, ensure that the copy is simple and easy to understand.
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17. Marketing Automation
Automation drastically uplifted the industry in the last year and is going to be one of the major digital marketing trends in 2023. Marketing automation is all about streamlining the processes and automating them to make them more smooth, effective, and faster. One of the best uses of marketing automation is going to be under lead collection and nurturing.
If you manage to bring a lot of traffic to your website but do not collect effective leads at the right time, then the traffic makes no sense. With the help of marketing automation, you can integrate various CRM tools and lead nurturing software that assist you in collecting leads at any time of the day and making the process personalized.
After these leads are collected, you can also nurture them stage by stage systematically. This ensures a higher qualitative conversion rate.
Check out this blog to know the top 10 Marketing Automation Tools of 2023.
18. Short form Video Content
Video Marketing is also one of the top digital marketing trends in 2023 and is likely to be at the top for more years to come. Here are some stats that will demonstrate the importance of including a video in your digital marketing current trends list.
According to the research by Impactplus:
- 72% of businesses say videos have improved their conversion rate
- 70% of consumers say they have shared brands video
- 52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions
- Video content is 50 times more likely to drive users than plain text.
According to Seotribunal, if your website includes a video, it’s 50 times more likely to bring organic search results as compared to plain text. Why does this happen? Because people find video content more captivating, hence google brings such sites on the top results.
But to bring better results, short-form videos are your go-to. The recent addition by the popular platform YouTube is called “Shorts”. It is similar to Instagram Reels, where you can create short-form video content for 15 seconds or under.
The Instagram Reels were great news for marketers & content creators. Especially since TikTok was banned in a few countries, reels have served as the best replacement.
The great news for digital marketers is that Reels are providing more than double engagement rates when compared to posting a normal video.
And now with the newly launched insights features on Instagram Reels, you can even track your performance and analyze your work!
As a marketer, you can use this feature to showcase many kinds of content such as informative content, behind the scenes of the organization, product reviews, etc.
An excellent example of this is Louis Vuitton’s Instagram reels, they are of high quality, stunning, and very innovative. Every single reel of Lois Vuitton has gone viral with an average of 5M views!
An effective Reel and video content strategy is necessary to grab and retain your customer’s attention in 2023.
Related Post: 8 Low Budget Video Marketing Tips For Your Business
19. Shoppable Content
Shoppable Content is any content- picture, video, or article, that includes a direct link to a buyout portal.
This makes the process of a customer getting aware of a product through content marketing and making a decision to buy the product on an eCommerce platform far simpler and direct.
A product on the eCommerce website has a very standard layout- description, details, pictures, and price. With the introduction of Shoppable content, the way eCommerce operates and markets its product is going to change. Instead of dreary and boring product descriptions, each product can be marketed as a story in the form of interactive content.
Instagram has introduced a shoppable content feature, where users can buy a product directly from a story or a post. Even Pinterest has introduced this feature for its audiences.
Brands such as H&M have stepped up their marketing game with their shoppable content, by turning their Instagram profile into shoppable posts.
They tag products into their Instagram posts so that users from their huge following of 36+ million followers can get inspiration and discover new products, and make purchases using Instagram only.
Modern consumers appreciate smooth user experience and engaging storytelling for their products. With shoppable content, the entire experience of eCommerce will get a face-lift. A consumer now expects fast-loading visuals and rewards from companies who put in the effort to create attractive content.
20. User-Generated Content
People like to participate in activities, especially activities relating to their favourite products or services. User-Generated Content or UGC harnesses this excitement of the customer and prompts them to create something of their own with the concerned product and share it with the world.
UGC campaigns run on the creative submissions by the customers of a product or service, as per the challenge or prompt given by the company. This strategy is so effective that UGC posts enjoy a 4 times higher click-through rate in comparison to normal promotional campaigns.
UGC is a great strategy for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it massively reduces the time, effort, and resources required to run a campaign. UGC campaigns gather a pool of high-quality promotional materials, all submitted from the customer at no cost to the organization. Secondly, UGC receives 28% more engagement rates when compared to a normal post, as the trust factor of a post that is coming from an unpaid customer is far higher.
Despite these wonderful benefits, it was noted that only 16% of brands have any form of UGC strategy in place. Of the brands that have harnessed the power of this digital marketing trend, GoPro has been a crowd favourite. By giving prompts to their customers to make videos using the GoPro equipment, they have succeeded in creating a craze in people around the world to post their adrenaline-filled life with these cameras with their campaign “Video of the Day”.
How Can You Keep Up with These Digital Marketing Trends?
The world of digital marketing is highly dynamic, new trends keep on coming and changing the way marketing is done. As the pace of technology keeps on rising, every year we will see newer and more exciting trends changing how we as digital marketers communicate our products.
Keeping up with these trends helps digital marketers stay relevant in the market and deliver the best value to their clients. One way to do that is to sign up for comprehensive digital marketing courses which equip you with current industry-relevant knowledge and skills.
Opt for this best MBA in Digital Marketing in India to stay updated with the industry-relevant trends and land your dream job. Take this free masterclass by Karan Shah, Founder, and CEO of IIDE, and explore the learning methodology at IIDE before you enrol.
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Here are some common questions that might cross your mind.
Q. What are the latest digital marketing trends?
The latest digital marketing trends are AI, AR, Voice Search Optimization, Programmatic Advertising, Chatbots, Personalization, Automated Email Marketing, Video Marketing, Instagram Reels, Shoppable Content, Influencer Marketing & Geofencing to name a few.
Q. What are the top trends in digital marketing for 2023?
The top trends in digital marketing for 2023 are Google Algorithm Updates, ChatGPT, Web3, NFTs, Metaverse, Purpose-Driven Content, Quick Commerce, etc.
Q. What is the future of digital marketing?
The future of digital marketing is very promising and full of opportunities. With the constant developments in the technology space, digital marketing is evolving by leaps and bounds. Thus, anyone looking to make a career in digital marketing is on the right track. Even for someone who is a business owner and wants to integrate digital marketing, the future will demand digital marketing as a necessity, and thus right now is the right time.
We hope this blog on the 20 latest digital marketing trends in 2023 has been an interesting read for you! Let us know about your views in the comments section below.
