One thing that all industry experts agree can be anticipated in the coming year is the global cost of living crisis. That implies turbulent times ahead, and entrepreneurs and marketers must plan how to get through them. What does this mean for online businesses and digital marketers in 2023?
We breakdown the biggest digital marketing challenges online businesses will face and how to navigate them.
Engaging Customers
One of the biggest challenges online businesses have faced in 2022 and will continue in the coming year is capturing and engaging consumers in the wake of changing consumer needs.
TikTok has been the most influential in terms of impact on social media audiences. Launched only in 2016 and about to hit 1.8 billion users, Tik Tok has grown in leaps and bounds, scoring a 142% year-on-year revenue increase in 2017- a report by Business of Apps compiles.
For businesses working with social media influencers, it is the most effective platform that will continue to evolve and dominate in 2023.
Now that Tik Tok is implementing targeting options for advertising and focusing on business usability, they are heading for dominance in online business marketing.
The combination of fresh, unique, and video-oriented content on the platform appeals to the changing demands of online audience content consumption.
Marketing Strategy
The era of testing strategies has come to an end. Implement an omnichannel marketing strategy.
The rise of marketing technology (Martech) software makes it possible to implement omnichannel marketing campaigns.
CRMs such as Phalera now help businesses to create, execute, and streamline the customer journey while measuring performance.
The CRM helps integrate all marketing channels in one place, creating an omnichannel.
Targeting
Learning about your customers and targeting them will be crucial in surviving digital marketing challenges in 2023.
It will be a waste of time and money to focus on broad keywords and poorly targeted audiences with the increasing competitiveness of SEO and paid ads.
Instead, find out who is interested in your product by creating a buyer persona before attempting to implement content marketing strategies.
Polls and questions on your social platforms can also help in targeting audiences.
Lead Generation
The need for leads is universal across all business models, and it will only increase in the coming year as more companies strive for targeted leads through Ads. In turn, this increases the cost of Ads.
To successfully generate leads without much money or time on paid advertising campaigns like Facebook Ads & Google Adwords, etc., savvy marketers should leverage their networking channels such as LinkedIn.
Content Marketing
Marketing has changed drastically in the past few years, with a focus on content marketing.
A lot of content being pumped out daily from brands equals noise. While most of the content is excellent, marketers have emphasized curating content for the sales funnel. At this point, consumers have marketing fatigue.
That is because customers are becoming increasingly interested and engaged by brands’ values – companies that foster connections rather than simply providing information or solutions at all stages of their sales funnel (from community building) that gain an edge.
What a small business owner/digital marketer can do:
- Use content to build communities and connections.
- Seek out online creators and influencers that align with the brand and target audience, not just sponsorships with them.
- Create content that offers value to prospects, not just sell. Think educational content.
As for the type of content, videos (short videos, stories, live streams, podcasts) will still be popular as they are interactive, even as the online world is slowly taking shape toward the metaverse and immersive virtual communication.
Businesses should start thinking about metaverse marketing opportunities and strategies.
Cash Flow Management
When the economic climate is tough, it doesn’t have to be your wallet that gets hit with the pain.
By moving part or all of your business online, you can save on expenses such as rent for space and office supplies without cutting back customer service, leading them down an inevitable path towards spending less money overall at this point.
The best way around these cash flow problems? Getting lean – make sure every penny counts while still providing quality products/services.
Working around marketing and customer service with an all-in-one automation tool can help cut back on the cost of using many operation tools.
Efficiency and Speed
The onslaught of competition for a piece of the online business market leaves little space for inefficiency in operations. Brands must execute more and faster: implement projects, campaigns, and tasks and communicate with customers adequately.
Automation offers such relief by providing a way to automate these routines and operations at a scale. Another implication of these digital marketing challenges is that marketing is shifting from technical to anticipation-based.
For better results, businesses will have to implement business intelligence (BI) by gathering data on what consumers want and executing it with automation processes.
This will lead digital marketers and businesses toward a customer-led marketing approach. One of the best ways to achieve this is to create and implement a CRM strategy.
Conclusion
As we move into 2023, the cost of living crisis will be a crucial driver of many digital marketing obstacles.
By understanding these obstacles and planning accordingly, they can set themselves up for success in spite of them. Be sure to revisit your marketing strategy early – flexibility will be key.
Additionally, use all the resources at your disposal; a CRM tool like Phalera can automate many time-consuming tasks so you can focus on what really matters. Lastly, don’t forget the power of targeted SEO and content marketing; targeting will be critical for lead generation and qualification.
Sign up for a demo of Phalera CRM today to see how our features can help streamline your processes next year – Book a Demo
