9 Essential Digital Marketing Predictions for 2023

By the end of 2023, your competitors will be delivering unforgettable predictive, personalized experiences to customers and prospects, based on each individual’s pain points, needs, goals and values, ascertained via the smart collection, management and use of data. That’s one prediction, and I’ve got more.

Don’t codify your 2023 digital marketing strategy or budget before reading this.

Prediction 1: Personalizing the Customer Experience Will No Longer Cut It

“Personalization” was the Association of National Advertisers ‘marketing word of the year’ in 2019. Last year, nearly seven in 10 respondents to the Customer Engagement Insider martech study said “personalization” remained their top marketing tech priority. But personalization is not enough. Consumer expectations have changed, and investing in marketing automation software merely to insert your contacts’ names into email salutations simply won’t cut it any longer. In other words, while your customers and prospects still want personalization, they don’t always feel like they’re getting it — and when they do, it’s often too frequent or too “creepy.” 

To keep up, you need to better understand your target audience(s) so you can anticipate and solve for future needs and intentions.

Prediction 2: Privacy and Compliance Will Take Priority

One need that seems pretty universal: privacy. As media studies lecturer and author Nolan Higdon told me, “the political economy of the internet incentivizes Big Tech platforms… to collect, analyze, and share user data with powerful institutions that operate against the interests of users.” This is why nine in 10 consumers are “concerned” or “very concerned” about the privacy of their data online, and just as many said they’ll disengage with a company that breaks their trust. It’s also why, for years now, the vast majority of tracking cookies have been rejected by browsers, and Google committed to retiring third-party cookies in mid-2023. 

In 2022, consumer concerns about online data privacy as well as misinformation reached an all-time high, and the only way to position your organization as customer centric and forward thinking is to act now — before it’s too late. 

To meet privacy regulations and prepare for future requirements from Google, Apple and other browser, platform and app providers, all you have to do is think like a consumer. Ask yourself: How would I want my data treated? And then:

• Honor and manage user consent
• Honor and manage user deletion and data suppression requests
• Track all data collection, storage and uses
• Implement identity resolution tools to streamline data subject access requests
• Implement Personally Identifiable Information (PII) detection tools to identify and fix customer data errors
• Implement automation solutions to streamline your customer data operations

Prediction 3: Data Will (Finally) Take the Throne

Speaking of data, they say data is king, but let’s be honest: there’s nothing sexy about collecting, managing or analyzing data. No one even mentioned it when I got my start in marketing two decades ago — and, even with Google retiring cookies, most businesses still undervalued what they knew and could learn about their customers in 2022.

In the congested digital spaces of the future, data will be more important than ever. And the future is now. With 83% of brands still relying on third-party cookies, you have a lucrative opportunity to distinguish yourself simply by listening — and embracing the alternatives to third-party tracking: 

• First-party data, or customer information obtained via first-party cookies, or codes generated and stored on your website visitors’ computers by default when they visit your site
• Zero-party data, or customer information intentionally and proactively provided by the user, considered the most trustworthy as it contains key information on the individual and how they want to be recognized by the brand

If you do, and do so in 2023, you might not only survive ‘the end of digital advertising as we know it,’ you might revolutionize your customer experience. First- and zero-party data is the data your customers want you to have, as well as the data that will best inform the messages, moments, products and services you provide. 

So, what’s the best way to show that data is your king? The CDP, or customer data platform.

Prediction 4: Brands Will Invest in Digital Marketing Tech

The customer data platform (CDP)

A CDP is a sales, CX and marketing technology designed to unify your data across online and offline sources; it allows marketers, salespeople and CX professionals to use data for modeling, segmentation, targeting, testing and more, improving the performance and efficiency of your lead generation, nurturing and conversion efforts. 

CDPs have four core functions:

1. Data collection and unification: gathering, standardizing, validating, deduplicating and consolidating data from all sources
2. Profiling: producing and updating a single profile for each and every customer and prospect
3. Segmentation: creating custom groupings of customers/prospects to enable smarter targeting and personalization
4. Implementation and optimization: integrating CDP data with end channels, like email marketing or digital advertising platforms, and developing and deploying the best experiences online and off

The best customer data platforms allow you to combine these capabilities within a single, easily accessible digital hub, expediting progress from idea to execution, from execution to measurement, from measurement to iteration and optimization, and from one successful campaign to even more successful future campaigns. 

Other digital marketing tools

I told you nearly a year ago that implementing a 360-degree digital marketing strategy without the right tools is like a doctor (or an orchestra) performing without their instruments. In 2023, it’s time to listen — not only to me, but to your digital marketers and support agents, who most likely know more than the C-suite about the latest and greatest tech.

So, if they haven’t already, ask your department heads to survey their teams and create one list of their most significant hurdles and gaps and another of their top martech priorities and preferred software. Then, based on last year’s performance and reporting, invest in the most lucrative opportunities first. 

Is your team having trouble hitting deadlines? Try project management software. Remote workers miscommunicating? Try a collaboration app. Content not showing up in search? You need an SEO tool. Not sure what you need? No problem.

Prediction 5: Everybody will Automate

When considering your martech budget for 2023 (and beyond), start with the tools that enhance your efficiency and/or improve the lives of your employees; as they say, employee experience is the new customer experience. In addition to your data collection and management (solved with your CDP), what else needs streamlining? 

Whatever it is, chances are there’s an app that automates at least part of the process — and 63% of companies that use marketing automation outperform their competitors.

By automating your employees’ more mundane responsibilities, you can free them up to focus on the message, the big picture, and developing a true understanding of your customers so they can deliver the most personalized, empathic and relevant content and solutions.

Automation can help you with:

• Lead generation, including targeting, personalizing and capturing customer data from content marketing, digital ads, organic social posts and landing pages. Companies can save more than six hours per week simply by automating social media.
• Lead nurturing, including A/B tests, targeted drip campaigns and triggered and scheduled emails. Automated emails have a 70.5% higher open rate and a 152% higher click-through rate than generic email newsletters.
• Upselling, like sending automated post-purchase emails to customers recommending additional products based on purchase history, interests and/or how they’ve used your website.
• Productivity, by enabling campaign autopilot, which allows employees to measure, iterate and optimize in real time.
• Campaign measurability, by providing deeper insights on what inspires different user personas to take various actions.
• Customer engagement/success, by providing auto responses when applicable, guiding agents through conversations, and maintaining comprehensive customer databases. Using chatbots alone can save 30% of customer support costs and speed up response times by up to 80% for routine questions.
• Sales, including lead scoring, pipeline customization, trigger emails and scheduling.

By reducing human intervention and streamlining repetitive processes and tasks, automation provides the following benefits to businesses: 

• Time savings and improved productivity. When you automate your marketing, sales and customer service processes, you free yourself to focus on strategic tasks and boost productivity. With the right automation solution, you can put your strategy to work and let it run, collecting data to improve future campaigns while you focus on other initiatives (like fine-tuning your email messaging or developing an influencer marketing strategy).
• Cost savings and higher ROI. Automation can enable staffing cuts, which can lower business expenses. More importantly, though, automation reduces human error and the costs associated with correcting mistakes by limiting human intervention in repetitive, mundane technical tasks, while allowing employees to focus on delivering the human connection customers have come to expect from their favorite brands. 
• Better internal relationships. 97% of employees and executives believe that a lack of alignment impacts the outcome of a task or project. By simplifying processes and integrations, automation improves the working relationships among marketing, sales and customer service employees. Instead of staying in silos, these three historically disparate departments can brainstorm cross-departmental strategies, share customer information and integrate funnels, as well as coordinate with IT to implement the right 360-degree automation solution. 

As a result, nearly eight in 10 brands are increasing their automation budgets in 2023, up 7% from the previous year.

Prediction 6: Automation Won’t Make Us Obsolete

Of course, automation isn’t everything. When your home needs a more thorough cleaning, the robot vacuum can’t do it alone, so you use a broom and a duster to fill in where the vacuum can’t reach. Likewise, when you have a more complicated question or concern for customer service, a chatbot can only get you so far, so you turn to an agent, hoping they’re an experienced CX professional who’ll demonstrate empathy and personalize solutions. 

Plus, some things should simply be left up to human beings. Take my job, for instance; Ryan Stewart, a “fractional CMO” who’s developed performance marketing campaigns for Target and Shopify, used Facebook Ad campaigns to test an OpenAI tool designed to optimize language models for dialogue and found that human-written copy outperformed bot-generated copy by: 

• More than 450% for “high-ticket B2B”
• Nearly 130% for eCommerce apparel

Oh, and even the smartest AI requires human beings to work effectively. 

• Machine learning uses data and algorithms to imitate the way humans learn. Humans train the algorithms to make classifications and predictions, and uncover insights through data mining, improving accuracy over time.
• Robotic process automation (RPA) uses business logic and structured inputs to automate business processes. Humans configure the software to emulate human actions in processing transactions, manipulating data, triggering actions, and communicating with other systems.
• Natural language processing (NLP) uses tokenization, stemming and lemmatization to identify named entities and word patterns and convert unstructured data to a structured data format. Humans leverage computer science, AI, linguistics and data science to enable computers to understand verbal and written human language.

Just look at those log-jammed self-checkout aisles and the stores’ flustered employees chasing blinking lights from one customer to the next.

Prediction 7: Organizations Will Invest More in Recruitment Marketing

The Great Resignation began in 2021, and it “isn’t over yet,” according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. After tens of millions of US workers left their jobs two years ago, another 50 million or so quit in 2022. We’ve seen more than four million voluntary departures per month for 18-plus months — and employers aren’t filling the roles. 

“Many workers are no longer willing to put up with the pay and/or working conditions they (perhaps grudgingly) accepted prior to the pandemic,” and “the high number of job openings has shifted the balance of power in favor of workers, who have the chance to get paid significantly more by changing jobs.”

As a result, smart employers are increasing salaries more than they have in the last decade and a half, but for many workers their engagement depends on a lot more than money, including:

• Work flexibility
• Diversity, equity and inclusion
• Modern, comprehensive, even personalized benefits
• Advancement and training opportunities
• Company culture

Plus, in 2023, it won’t be enough to outperform your competitors in meeting the needs of today’s increasingly young, diverse, politically engaged and tech-savvy workforce; in this competitive marketplace, you’ll also have to better promote your company culture, as follows:

1. Develop and evangelize the employee value proposition 

While most company websites have an “about us” page, they don’t often highlight the value of working for the company. Likewise, though most companies post on social media and some have Glassdoor, LinkedIn or Indeed profiles, many don’t follow clearly defined strategies for attracting top talent. So, before you even consider posting a position online, assign your HR and digital marketing teams the task of collaborating on a strategy, supporting content and promotional tactics to demonstrate to potential employees what it’s like to be a part of your organization.

To create rich, engaging content:

• Use your employees. Sixty-one percent of job candidates are more skeptical of employers now than before the pandemic; likewise, employee-generated content is 200% more effective than traditional corporate HR messaging and recruitment marketing. Ask your executive team, your managers and your employees to serve as brand ambassadors, sharing their stories of career transformation with your organization. Offer incentives, if necessary.
• Use your competitors. Research what your top competitors are doing on their websites and social media accounts — and do your version of it, better.
• Use video. Nothing expresses a feeling or emotion better than sight and sound together, so create videos to tell your story. This could include employee testimonials, interviews with senior leaders, behind-the-scenes office snapshots, animated company overviews, or whatever else you can think of that is fun, unique and true to your brand and company culture.

Then, to further stand out from your competitors:

• Expand the “about us” and “careers” sections of your website to include the content you’ve created
• Include links on all your own properties (e.g., your corporate website) to your Glassdoor, LinkedIn, Indeed and social media accounts
• Enhance your profile on these third-party sites using iterations of the same branded content to support your messaging

2. Make your job posts and ads stand out

There are more than a million employers on Glassdoor. Ten jobs are added to Indeed per second. So, separating yourself, your job listings and even your application process from the very crowded field is critically important to attracting top talent. Here are the top three tips for standing out: 

1. Shed the corporate veneer and get personal. Speak to potential hires and, whenever possible, let your employees do the talking. 
2. Get creative in telling your brand story ​​— whether you’re detailing an open position, defining an ideal candidate or soliciting applications. Use videos, gifs and graphics, share anecdotes and testimonials, ask unique questions, and encourage atypical responses. 
3. Highlight your company culture and employee experience. Show potential hires what it’s like to not only work for your organization but to be part of your team. Show them not only what would be expected of them but also what they could expect from you (and their coworkers). This will demonstrate your commitment to your team as well as help you filter out potential candidates who would not excel in your work environment. 

Prediction 8: Forward-Thinking Brands Will Begin Prepping for and Marketing to Generation Alpha

It may seem excessive to expect any company to consider the future working (or shopping) habits of children. But it’s not. 

Right now, there are Gen Alphas who will be 18 — prime working and shopping age — in less than seven years. By 2030, at least one in every 10 people in your office will be part of Generation Alpha. So what does that mean for brands looking for staying power? 

Gen Alpha is the first generation born entirely during the 21st century, the COVID babies who took classes on Zoom and grew up alongside Alexa and Siri. Gen Alpha will be the most diverse, with the most members born and/or raised in “non-traditional” households. They’ll be terrified, angered and empowered by a dying earth, and they’ll expect the brands they shop and support to share their concern and even take action.

But what’s most critical to understanding your next-gen customers? The parents who raise them. And that’s a good thing, because it means that to know your future customers all you have to do is learn the customers you already have. 

Unlike Gen Zers, raised by Gen Xers who grew up without cell phones, video conferencing, streaming or telemedicine, the “mini-millennials” of Gen Alpha will follow in the footsteps of the actual millennials, who are themselves “chronically” online (and paradoxical). 

What you need to know about millennials:

• Millennials are the most educated generation in history, with 34% earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
• Millennials are more diverse and liberal than any of the previous generations

What you need to know about millennial workers:

• Millennials are the largest and fastest growing segment of the workforce
• More than a quarter of millennials expect to have six or more employers in their lifetime
• More than half of millennial workers say their top priority is professional advancement, ahead of competitive salary (at 44%)
• More than 95% of millennials say work/life balance is important to them
• Nearly three quarters (73%) of millennials say they would like to be able to customize their benefits

What you need to know about millennial consumers:

• Nearly nine in 10 millennials say it’s crucial for brands they support to be aligned with their values
• Millennials spend less on discretionary items than their counterparts from the prior two generations
• Millennials spend more on experiences than things
• Four in five millennials do most of their shopping online, up 20% from 2019
• More than half (56%) of millennials do most of their shopping on their mobile devices, up 20% from 2019
• 90% of millennials (and Gen Zers) initially learn about things they want to purchase on social media 
• More than half (56%) of millennials (and Gen Zers) have bought a product after seeing a post from someone they follow
• Nearly four in five (78%) millennials follow their favorite brands on social media, up 21% from 2017

Prediction 9: Influencer Marketing Will Get Even More Influential, and Transparent

It’s not merely millennials who shop brands they follow on TikTok and Instagram; 40% of teens actually trust social media influencers more than their friends!

Influencer marketing leverages endorsements, reviews and product/service mentions from celebrities, trendsetters and social media stars as social proof to increase sales, brand awareness and online engagement. And when done correctly, it works: businesses earn $6.50 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.

That’s why the influencer marketing market grew more than 150% in the five-year period from 2016 to 2021, and reached 16.4 billion in 2022. And that’s why 89% of marketers who leverage influencers are increasing their influencer marketing budgets in 2023. 

Unfortunately, that’s also why two thirds of brands are right to be concerned about influencer fraud: more than a billion dollars is spent annually on influencers with fake followings and nearly four in 10 influencers artificially inflate their follower counts. 

Not only that, when an influencer is caught promoting a product or service they don’t actually use or that doesn’t live up to its promises, the influencer’s reputation (and trust) is damaged. Likewise, when a brand chooses the wrong influencer (or even the right influencer at the wrong time), the brand can easily ruin its brand reputation and alienate its core audience.

Here’s how to get the most out of influencer marketing, with the least amount of risk:

• Avoid “influencers” who contact your company offering to help; often, they take your money or free product, and don’t produce promised results
• Invest in an influencer marketing platform to aid in attracting, retaining and nurturing effective influencers and/or influencer communities; influencer marketing platforms provide influencer discovery tools, searchable databases, influencer vetting, and relationship and campaign management tools
• Do your research and only build relationships with verified influencers with actively engaged audiences
• Measure performance using the first-ever official Association of National Advertisers guidelines for measuring organic influencer marketing, “reflect[ing] the current state of organic influencer measurement,” “designed to facilitate more consistency in measurement and reporting industrywide,” and subject to updates “to reflect industry changes, marketers' input after their implementation, and greater platform transparency and access to data.”
• Provide your influencers campaign guidance and offer post-campaign feedback and optimization techniques
• Nurture your influencers and build influencer communities and networks

Bonus Prediction: Even Traditional Content Creators Will Ease Off Evergreen

In case you missed it, this article isn’t evergreen. Meaning, no matter how true any of my prior nine predictions may prove in five to 10 years, I’ve written this article for 2023 — about digital marketing, CX and employee experience in 2023.

So? 

Well, everything is changing — from how we communicate to where we work, and from the things we buy to what we do for leisure. Unfortunately for traditional content creators like me, this also includes how we tell stories. Michael Stelzner, founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner, was “quite vocal” about it back in 2017. What was once the holy grail of content marketing, the “evergreen” post that transcends time and trends, is no longer the preferred type of written content. 

According to Stelzner, evergreen content’s been dead, but most of us have been debating its efficacy for a half decade now. If you ask me, there’s still no disputing the benefits of a thoroughly researched, well written, correctly formatted and search-optimized article. (I’ve written many for Customer Engagement Insider.) But there’s also no sense in denying that the majority of digital marketing leaders are shifting strategy to a more frequent cadence of shorter, timely, trend-, news- or brand-focused (and typically not long-lasting) posts. 

Here’s why: More than six-million blog posts are published every day, all competing for the same search terms (SEO keywords); and, as evidenced by your own search results for just about anything, Google’s algorithm favors websites, web pages and articles that not only have the highest quality but are also most current. 

Thus, in 2023 and beyond, it makes the most sense to intersperse a strategic number of long-form pillar-type posts amid numerous shorter posts of narrower focus. This is also an easier ask of your newer, younger content creators who are more accustomed to short bursts like tweets and texts.

Need Help With Your Content?

Evergreen or otherwise, CEI can help. It’s what we do best! Want to learn more?

Download our media kit >>>

Image Credits (in order of appearance)

1. Photo by Unsplash+ in collaboration with Vinicius "amnx" Amano on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/6zZgwygBSNQ
2. Photo by William Krause on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/IkYuzPneQWs
3. Photo by Lenny Kuhne on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/jHZ70nRk7Ns
4. Photo by Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/H0Khx2VDH_E
5. Photo by Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/vvSxIMDKP94
6. Photo by Manuel Will on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/PHWf-l5cVXQ