From the Metaverse to traditional advertising, here are 14 answers to the question, “What surprising trends or strategies you will not be focusing on in 2023 marketing campaigns?”
- The Metaverse
- Creating Snackable, Short-form Content
- Pay-Per-Click Advertising
- Viral Content
- Influencer Marketing
- Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
- Long-form Videos On Social Media
- Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
- Over-Optimizing Anchor Text
- TikTok
- Organic Social Media
- Voice Search Optimization
- AI Content Tools
- Traditional Advertising
The Metaverse
One of the future opportunities that we won’t be focusing on is the Metaverse and the potential opportunities that are there. While it is something that may be a focus in the future, in 2023 I think we will be aware of marketing in the Metaverse, and read more about what’s happening and what that looks like, but won’t focus too much on it..yet.
Gresham Harkless Jr., Founder, Blue16 Media
Creating Snackable, Short-form Content
There’s no denying that short-form content does have a certain appeal – it helps you convey a message in a succinct yet impactful way. But today’s audience places a lot more importance on gaining in-depth information through immersive storytelling. And you just can’t achieve any of this through snackable videos or content. Better put, while short-form content is a great short-term strategy to gain eyeballs, long-form content is what will help you build a credible reputation for the long haul.
Harry Morton, Founder, Lower Street
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-click advertising (PPC) is one of those things that used to work, so people think it still does. But as audiences wise up to advertising tactics, they become advert-blind, meaning they don’t even see your ad as they scroll through their feeds. I’m willing to bet plenty of businesses have started to see the numbers dip on their PPC ad clicks. As a marketing agency, it’s something we hear from prospects all the time.
In my book, you’d be better off spending that money (and time) on writing fantastic, informative content. This will get the attention of your social media audience and rank highly on search engines, so basically, it’s free advertising. There are times when PPC is the right choice, but for my money, I’d rather use inbound marketing campaigns to engage my audience.
Matthew Stibbe, CEO, Articulate Marketing
Viral Content
My focus in 2023 will not be on “viral” content campaigns. While this approach has been a popular trend in recent years, I believe it is not sustainable in the long term. It relies on luck and can often be unpredictable, leading to a lot of unnecessary spending and effort. Additionally, it’s often difficult to measure the success of such campaigns, which makes it hard to justify the costs.
Instead, I will be focusing more on creating content that builds an authentic and honest connection with customers, as well as developing strategies to keep them engaged with our brand.
Arkadiusz Terpilowski, Head of Growth and Co-founder, Primetric
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has grown to become a $13.8 billion industry. There’s no doubt that it’s an effective way to market your product or service to a wide audience. However, we won’t utilize influencer marketing in 2023 as it’s high-risk.
Top-level influencers charge hundreds of thousands of dollars, and there’s no way to know if your investment will pay off. In fact, most of the time, these investments don’t pay off because, according to BigCommerce, 61% of marketers fail to find the correct influencer. This is why, as a marketing agency partnering with small businesses, our clients cannot afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and potentially not see a return.
We’ll stick to traditional SEO, pay-per-click, and social media marketing.
Scott Lieberman, Owner, Touchdown Money
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are a trend I would not be concentrating on in 2023 campaigns because of its slow development in the marketing industry.
In the beginning, we had high expectations for VR and AR in the marketing sector. However, I do not believe investing heavily in it in 2023 will be profitable, mostly because it is quite expensive and out of budget. 35% of marketers included AR or VR in their strategies back in 2021, and of those marketers, almost half intended to raise their spending the following year. However, because fewer marketers want to spend money on it in 2023, it might rank lower.
Over a quarter (27%) of marketers said they won’t be employing VR and AR in the upcoming year. Due to expensive equipment and large headsets, marketers have generally been slower to adopt this trend. However, this might change as more people have access to VR headsets and AR applications.
Joe Li, Managing Director, CheckYa
Long-form Videos On Social Media
I’ll be avoiding long-form videos for social media in 2023. I think marketers may need to avoid the trend of long-form videos for social media too because it may not be the most effective way to engage with their target audience. Social media platforms are designed for short, attention-grabbing content, and users may not have the time or patience to watch long-form videos. Also, long-form videos may not be as easily shareable as shorter videos or other types of content, which can limit their reach and impact.
Tiffany Homan, Marketing Manager and Coordinator, Rental Property Calculator
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
As a marketing leader for a startup, one trend that I will not be focusing on in 2023 campaigns is the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in art marketing, despite the growing popularity of this trend in the art world.
From an anthropological perspective, the use of NFTs in art marketing does not align with the needs and values of the community we are trying to reach. For art to bring communities together, it must be accessible and inclusive, not exclusive, and only available to those who can afford to purchase the NFT and have the technical knowledge. Additionally, the use of NFTs in art often prioritizes financial gain over the actual art and the emotional connection it can create with its audience.
As an ArtTech startup, we focus on building genuine relationships with our target audience and creating campaigns that align with their values and desires for community and meaning. Therefore, we will not use NFTs in our art marketing campaigns in 2023.
Matt Artz, Business Anthropologist, Matt Artz
Over-Optimizing Anchor Text
As a leader in a marketing agency, one surprising trend or strategy I will not be focusing on in 2023 campaigns is over-optimizing anchor text. Over-optimizing anchor text can be a risky strategy and can lead to penalties from search engines. Additionally, it can result in low-quality content, which can be detrimental to a website’s search engine ranking.
Therefore, I will be focusing on more effective and sustainable SEO strategies, such as optimizing title tags, creating keyword-rich content, and building links from relevant and authoritative sources.
Jaya Iyer, Marketing Assistant, Teranga Digital Marketing
TikTok
As a marketing agency leader looking ahead to the next year and beyond, we have determined that TikTok is not the right platform for our clients at the moment. We believe there are more effective strategies for gaining attention and driving sales than pursuing campaigns on this platform.
We have been closely monitoring the trends and strategies of other agencies, and it is clear that TikTok is not a reliable avenue for achieving consistent success. While there may be a few isolated instances of success, the lack of clear ROI and unpredictable consumer behavior makes it a risky platform to invest in.
We are instead focusing on leveraging the power of other social networks, such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. We believe these platforms offer more reliable and consistent opportunities for our clients to reach their target audiences.
Mark McShane, Marketing Director, Leeds First Aid Courses
Organic Social Media
As a leader in the marketing agency space, organic social media campaigns are something that I will not be focusing on for 2023 campaigns. While organic social media has been a popular strategy among marketers in recent years, it is becoming increasingly difficult to reach target audiences as most platforms now prioritize paid ads over organic content. Furthermore, organic social media posts involve more time and effort than other strategies with less guaranteed return on investment, making them an ineffective option for many businesses.
Instead, I am focusing my efforts on leveraging creative content across different channels such as video, email, influencer marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO) to get maximum visibility and engagement. By utilizing these strategies rather than organic social media campaigns, I believe my clients can fully leverage their marketing budget and receive a higher return on their marketing investments.
Jose Gomez, CTO and Founder, Evinex
Voice Search Optimization
As a leader in a marketing agency, I will not be focusing on voice search optimization for 2023 campaigns. It’s becoming increasingly popular, but I don’t think it’s an effective use of our resources. Instead, I’m focusing on more creative tactics such as influencer marketing, content creation, and leveraging existing customer data to drive better customer experiences. These strategies will ensure our campaigns remain ahead of the curve and continue to deliver strong results for our clients.
Michael Chen, Growth Director, Notta
AI Content Tools
Every other post on LinkedIn or Twitter is about AI content tools: “X ways to use ChatGPT,” “Y must-try AI content tools,” etc. Practically speaking, though, AI content tools just aren’t there yet.
Sure, you can use AI tools for basic tasks like answering simple questions in the FAQ section of an article, but realistically, the tools just aren’t as good as marketers hype them up to be.
The article you generate via AI, for example, will need some serious surgery, maybe even a rewrite, from a content writer. The keywords you ask an AI to generate will be very basic, something an intern could have done better.
While AI has a lot of potential in the long run, I don’t think that AI content tools will be very useful in 2023.
Nick Zviadadze, Founder, MintSEO
Traditional Advertising
As a leader in a marketing agency, one surprising trend or strategy we will not be focusing on in 2023 campaigns is solely relying on traditional methods such as TV and print advertising.
While these methods can still be effective for certain businesses, we believe that the future of marketing lies in more innovative and data-driven approaches. Instead, we will be focusing on utilizing new technologies and platforms to reach and engage our clients’ target audiences in more personalized and impactful ways. This includes the continued growth of digital channels such as social media and mobile, as well as utilizing advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence to create more personalized and effective campaigns.
By staying ahead of the curve and embracing new technologies, we believe that we can help our clients to achieve their marketing goals and stay competitive in an ever-evolving landscape.
Saurabh Rastogi, CEO, Gods are Marketing
