Nothing is stagnant in the digital business landscape, with new trends and technologies always arising. To stay relevant and effectively reach consumers where they want to be contacted, businesses need to stay aware of these popular trends and incorporate them into their marketing and operational strategies.
Here are ten trends and technologies dominating the digital business world in 2023.
1. User-Generated Content
User-generated content refers to varied content created by users on social media channels and shared on their platforms. A trend that we’ve seen emerge in the past couple of years is the rise in brands opting to share user-generated content on their own pages. There are a few distinct benefits to this strategy: It most accurately reflects what’s trending at the moment, it aligns with what users like, it saves brands time and money on constantly creating their own content, and it builds trust, as Shelley Hancock, Chief Beauty Officer at Shelley Hancock Consulting describes:
“A trend that has really taken off is brands using their audiences’ content on their social pages. Studies have shown that buyers trust user-created content more than brand-created content because of its stamp of reality. Consumers can see unedited photos and videos on real bodies in real homes.”
When brands share user-generated content with permission from the creators, both parties benefit, and the brand can effectively reach their audience with the content they connect with. Brands just need to remember to keep their pages shoppable with a mixture of brand and user-created content.
2. Inclusive Marketing
A long-overdue trend that is here to stay is the push for inclusive marketing. Today, a brand’s promotion of inclusivity in their marketing is the bare minimum it can do to stay relevant. Consumers want to see themselves reflected in the type of advertising they’re constantly fed as members of the social and digital worlds. Sadly, for a long time, only select demographics could see themselves portrayed in marketing materials.
“For any company to stay relevant today, they’re going to have to get on board with inclusive and diverse marketing,” explains Derek Flanzraich, Founder and CEO of Ness. “In 2019, Adobe found that the majority of consumers want to see diversity in marketing. Not only does inclusive advertising lead to greater trust, but it also creates satisfied audiences who know their values are being heard.”
The big question is: Why wouldn’t a brand adopt this approach? Most everyone is now more accepting of the fact that the world is beautiful and exciting in its diversity, so there’s a genuine desire to see this displayed in ads and promotional materials.
3. Digital Points Programs
An emerging technology businesses should utilize is digital points programs. When users can accumulate points through certain actions, they’ll be drawn to keep interacting with that brand. While points programs often occur through a company’s app, actions can be completed across multiple sites and platforms, like offering rewards when users share brand content on their social media.
“Digital rewards incentivize customer purchases and cause them to connect with your company more consistently,” says Susan Kim Shaffer, President and Co-Founder of Pneuma Nitric Oxide.
By offering actions that reward users with points and offers, brands create more customer loyalty through such “loyalty programs.”
4. Chatbots for Customer Service
When contacting a company’s customer service, most people interact with “conversational agents” (AKA chatbots). This is a prime technological shift that the business landscape has adopted, and your business shouldn’t fall behind.
“Customer service looks really different today than it did even five years ago,” states Alexandre Robicquet, Co-Founder and CEO of Crossing Minds. “Chatbots can save human customer service agents a lot of time by handling the easy questions, directing consumers to the right channels, and helping them define their needs. Considering this advanced AI technology frees humans to focus on the bigger issues, it’s not going anywhere any time soon.”
As useful as chatbots are, people prefer to know a real human is reachable when necessary. Companies are wise to keep human customer service agents employed in addition to using chatbots for their 24/7 helpfulness. Of course, chatbots are always going to remain beneficial, considering that most customer service is conducted online.
5. Emphasis on Visual Content
Visual content refers to photos and videos, but marketers in the modern age understand that video content is the most effective marketing approach. Simply put, users (especially younger people in the 18 to 29 range) are watching videos when they use the internet. A few years ago, when there wasn’t as much video marketing as there is now, consumers were requesting to see more — and its popularity has stayed consistent ever since.
“There are seemingly endless options for how brands can utilize video content. Videos come across as trustworthy and authentic for the genuine way they showcase products, answer questions, or give customer testimonials,” shares John Berry, CEO and Managing Partner at Berry Law. “One thing is clear: Video marketing is the wave of the future, and companies must hop on board.”
Any type of visual content — not just videos — is eye-catching, relevant, and has better user engagement. Brands should ensure their visual content is interesting and answers questions consumers have about their products or mission.
6. Influencer Marketing
Photo Source: Pexels
Influencer marketing is its own strategy that has proven highly effective amongst today’s consumers, especially younger audiences. Sometimes influencer marketing looks like real people using the products, which appeals to many users. Other times, it portrays an inspired image of what a life with that product can look like, and aspirational marketing is also effective.
Maria Shriver, Co-Founder and CEO of MOSH explains, “It’s important for brands to stay relevant by being on various social media platforms. They can utilize influencers if they want to keep advertising costs low and still reach their target audience, probably even better than they would with brand marketing alone.”
Brands should think carefully about the influencers they want to work with, keeping inclusivity and diversity at the forefront of their decision. Who will their target audience relate to? This will help them truly reach their users.
7. Activity on a Range of Digital Marketing Platforms
Speaking of brands needing to be active on various digital platforms, this is another trend proving to be imperative. While this certainly includes social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest, digital marketing platforms span further to include podcasts, presence in online articles or interviews, digital networking events, and beyond.
“Essentially, businesses need to be findable, and before users are even searching for them online, they should be found because of how present they are in the digital landscape. The more a company’s name shows up and the more places, the more their reputation will grow,” explains Nabiha Akhtar, Founder and CEO of Lil Deenies.
With much of communication, shopping, information intake, and content viewing happening online, brands that want success must also be found there.
8. Social Media Shopping
Speaking of digital shopping, this is another emerging trend and technology that brands should embrace. Social media is the new place where people are “hanging out,” viewing content and information, and connecting with others. It’s also now the go-to place for shopping, as Matthew Morein, VP, Brand & Creative at Psycho Bunny, a brand that specializes in polo shirts for men, points out:
“Shopping looks entirely different today than it ever has in the past. Never before has online shopping been so popular, but it no longer just looks like browsing an e-commerce store. Now, shopping also takes place in e-commerce apps and on social media sites where people don’t go with the purpose of shopping. Product links are so prevalent that online shopping can occur anytime and anywhere.”
Users are inundated with the option to shop when they open their favorite apps, so brands need to be advertising their products there in order to experience more sales and keep up with their competitors.
9. Apps
Apps have been around and popular for a while, but they’ve never been as widely used as they are today. Companies need to have an app and a website or e-commerce store, and they need to be present on other apps to align with this trend. Scott Chaverri, CEO of Mito Red Light addresses this:
“The COVID-19 pandemic led people to retreat into their phones, which created a demand for more apps to be created, and for all apps to be updated, more interesting, and more effective at what they do. Now, people spend less hours on apps than during lockdown, but the services and products they get from apps have become mainstream.”
When we think of all the ways we personally use apps, it’s quite diverse: ordering food and goods, shopping for products (intentionally or on a whim), connecting with customer service, looking up information, streaming videos, viewing content, and communicating with others. Such uses won’t be nullified anytime soon.
10. Personalized AI Technology Product Recommendations
With advanced technology comes some pretty exciting progress, including AI recommended products. Artificial intelligence product recommendation software has the ability to create user profiles to whom it can accurately suggest products and services.
“Online shopping is heavily customized in 2023 because AI tech is capable of generating personalized recommendations based on user actions, interactions, and consistencies,” says Gina Iovenitti, Growth Operations at Carda Health. “This is an exciting development for brands, as they can better target niche consumer bases.”
Not only can AI product recommendations revolve around user interests and search history, but this technology can also suggest products based on trends and predictive analytics.
New Technologies and Trends Are Here to Stay
The digital business landscape is always changing, so companies must stay on top of emerging trends and technologies that their competitors may already employ. These above ten examples are ways businesses can better connect with their target audiences.
It may not be long before a new set of trends takes over — for now, brands are wise to implement these strategies and stay ahead of the curve.
