2023 State of Marketing Report

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 46

The State of

Marketing
Marketing Trends in 2023, from AI to Z

State of Marketing Trends 2023 1


Introduction
Foreword
2023 is shaping up to be a transformational
year for marketers.

One of the marketing industry trends I’m most


excited about is AI: this year, we introduced
HubSpot's New AI Tools, including Content Assistant
and ChatSpot. By its nature, the internet is constantly
changing and evolving, but this shift is huge — and the
most successful companies and people will be the ones
who take action and learn to embrace this change.

We’re also seeing the tension between short-term growth


and long-term brand investment. With the current economic
pressures, many teams will want to veer hard into CRO in
an attempt to boost revenue quickly. But I advise a more
balanced approach: continue to invest in brand marketing
while doing what you can to improve CRO. Brand work, from
content marketing to social media to big swings like events
or TV spots, helps audiences connect with your company
and what you stand for — and it’s worth the investment.

Thanks for being part of the HubSpot community.


We’re so excited to see what you create this year.

KIPP BODNAR
Chief Marketing Officer, HubSpot

State of Marketing Trends 2023 2


There seem to be signs of
artificial intelligence — everywhere.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere — and AI tools
have officially joined the everyday marketing tech stack.
In 2023, marketers are doing everything they can to
reach their target audiences, with demand for innovative,
dynamic content at an all-time high. Resources, however, are
stretched. AI is helping to ease some of this pressure, with AI
features to help with outline generation, video creation, and
more. Content creators and marketers now have a new skill
to learn — getting good at using AI.

We surveyed marketing leaders around the globe to find


out what’s top of mind for them this year, and what they’re
focusing their energy (and budgets) toward. The biggest
topics of conversation are around AI and automation,
data privacy, the continued success of video content
for engagement, and economic concerns.

Brands are trying new media formats, experimenting with


AI tools, and optimizing existing assets, like their website
and content strategy, to meet their goals, and leaning into
values-based content.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 3


Look through some of this year’s top marketing trends, based on the latest data:

Top Marketing Channels

#1 90% 56%
highest ROI of any marketing channel of marketers using short-form of marketers plan to
are blogs, social media shopping video will increase or maintain increase their investment
tools, and influencer marketing. their investment this year. in TikTok this year.

Effective Marketing Strategies

46% 88% Video


how much more likely effective marketers of marketers who already do SEO is the most popular and
are to use automation versus marketers work plan to increase or maintain effective media format for
who reported having an ineffective strategy. their investment this year. the fourth year in a row.

What’s New in Marketing?


Read on to explore the digital

25% 86% marketing trends, data, and


insights from leaders at top
of marketers plan to of marketers report that data privacy
brands that will help you grow
use interviews for the changes have impacted their overall
your business in 2023.
first time this year. marketing strategy over the past year.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 4


Table of Contents
Introduction 2 SECTION 06 33
Video Marketing Trends from Wistia
SECTION 01 7
The Biggest Changes for Marketing in 2023 SECTION 07 38

SECTION 02 13 Email Marketing Trends from Litmus

Emerging Marketing Trends and Plans for 2023 SECTION 08 43


Leaders Weigh in on Future
SECTION 03 18
Marketing Predictions
2023 Marketing Benchmarks
Closing 45
SECTION 04 20
Methodology 46
Content Marketing Trends from Rock Content

SECTION 05 25
Social Media Marketing Trends and Influencer Trends

State of Marketing Trends 2023 5


Attract and convert more leads
with a smarter marketing
platform by your side.
Turn creative ideas into revenue-generating content marketing
campaigns with HubSpot. Launch more campaigns with intuitive
tools, templates, and integrations designed for growth.

Publish content your audience is looking for,


and get discovered online.

Outrank competitors with tools that


help optimize your content.

Engage your audiences at any phase of


their experience with video.

Monitor and triage social media mentions


and build your community.

Get started for free

State of Marketing Trends 2023 6


SECTION 01

The Biggest Changes for Marketing in 2023


AI and Automation
Though AI and automation have long been powering 9 campaigns
marketers’ favorite tools and processes, this year,
the average per quarter
AI has been at the forefront of many industry
marketers plan to launch in 2023.
conversations. From ChatGPT to automated email flows
powered by HubSpot, time-saving tools have become
increasingly important as workloads have skyrocketed.

Marketers are busier than ever, so it makes sense that a


6 hours
variety of marketing automation trends have emerged. how long the average marketer
Automation and AI save them significant time and spends each day on manual,
effort. The average marketer works on five campaigns administrative, or operational tasks.
at a time, and a total of seven campaigns per quarter.
That often means managing competing priorities and
— worse — working outside of work hours. 46%
More than four in 10 marketers (42%) say the how much more likely effective
number of campaigns they work on each quarter marketers are to use automation
increased from 2021 to 2022, and this increasing versus marketers who reported having
load shows no sign of slowing: their workload will an ineffective strategy.
increase again in 2023.

By leveraging automation, they have more time to focus on the impactful, creative work that
AI can’t replace. Learn more about how marketing teams can make use of this tech with this
guide to Using Generative AI to Scale Your Content Operations.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 01 The Biggest Changes for Marketing in 2023 7
Economic Concerns and Marketing Budgets
Today, global inflation and economic instability have led to shifting company budgets.

Economic concerns are impacting how marketers plan to attract and retain customers. If a recession were to happen this
year, 24% of marketers expect to have to reduce their marketing budget, 20% expect to have to adjust their marketing
goals, 20% believe they’d have to reduce their scope, and 19% report they’d have to pivot their tactics completely.

Here’s where marketers expect they’d


have to make strategic budget cuts:
92%
• Paid social media content • Email marketing
of marketers expect their budget to
• Print ads • Physical ads stay the same or increase in 2023.
• In-person events

On the other hand, the channels they’d expect to keep


running even in the face of an economic downturn How do marketers expect their
are those that generate the strongest returns. budget to change in 2023?
I expect my
I expect my
These are the channels that marketers will marketing budget
marketing budget
to decrease in 2023
continue using in a leaner economic climate: to stay about the 7%
same in 2023
• Content — blog and SEO • Direct mail 45%

I expect my
• Podcasts • Long-form video marketing budget
to increase in 2023
• Virtual events • Organic social 47%

• SMS marketing

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 01 The Biggest Changes for Marketing in 2023 8
Data Privacy Concerns
As consumers have become increasingly aware — and impassioned — about online
data privacy, government regulations have started creating new restrictions on data
use. Major changes like Europe’s GDPR rules have influenced other countries all over the
world to take action. As a result, it’s expected that the third-party cookie will be phased
out completely, replacing it with “privacy-preserving APIs which prevent individual
tracking while still delivering results for advertisers and publishers," says Google.

This increased privacy-consciousness has meant that companies (and their


marketing teams) have begun changing course when it comes to user browsing
data and cookie use.

86%
of marketers told us that data privacy changes have impacted
their overall marketing strategy over the past year.

And 85% of marketers say their marketing activities are slightly to


completely reliant on third-party cookies, which certainly poses a problem
and requires marketing teams everywhere to embrace radical change. Only
77%
of marketers say they are
8% say their marketing activities are not at all reliant on third-party cookies.
prepared to lose access to
Forty-five percent of marketers say the phasing out of third-party cookies is third-party cookies, while
impacting their company’s marketing strategy or planning for 2023. Seeing 16% said they are not.
as Google initially announced this major change in 2020, forward-looking
companies have long been preparing alternate strategies.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 01 The Biggest Changes for Marketing in 2023 9
The question remains: How can marketers continue creating
personalized ads that work and reach the right people
while still respecting the privacy of their communities?

More than half (54%) of marketers are investing


in exploring alternate targeting solutions.

Here’s how marketers are planning to reach


specific audiences without third-party cookies:

29% are exploring using social


media for targeted ads.

28% are collecting first-party data from


their customers (data handed from
customers directly to their company).

27% are exploring Google Topics API


(part of Google's Privacy Sandbox).

19% are exploring


universal identifiers.

19% are exploring


contextual advertising.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 01 The Biggest Changes for Marketing in 2023 10
Video Continues to Dominate and Drive Business
From Instagram Reels to YouTube Shorts and the ever-growing power of TikTok,
short-form video has continued its meteoric rise.

Short-form video allows companies to show off a more casual, entertaining side
of their business, their team, and their mission at work. And people simply love
watching. That’s why video has the highest ROI of any media format by far,
followed by images, blog posts, and podcasts or other audio content.

Which media formats have Which media formats are


the highest ROI (top 6)? marketers leveraging in their
Videos marketing strategy (top 6)?
25% Videos

Images 50%

12% Images

Blog posts 47%

9% Blog posts

Case studies 33%

8% Infographics

Podcasts or other audio content 30%

7% Podcasts or other audio content

Infographics 28%

7% Case studies

28%

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 01 The Biggest Changes for Marketing in 2023 11
As far as content creation goes, video is not only the most powerful, but
it’s also the most popular media format — for the fourth year running.

Here's what marketers are doing: It’s not slowing down, either: Use of video will grow significantly in
2023, with 24% of marketers planning to invest more in video than

50% any other media format.

are creating and And because of its popularity and unbeatable ROI, even the most
sharing video content. hesitant marketing teams are giving video a shot this year. Video
will grow the most among first-time users in 2023, with one in three
marketers planning to try to leverage video over the next year.

47% Images (29%), blog posts (26%), interviews (25%), and podcasts
(24%) will also see high first-time use among marketers in 2023.
are sharing images.
We’ll get into more details about social media
video marketing in Section 6.

33%
are posting blogs
and articles.

30%
are sharing infographics.

28%
are investing in podcasts
or other audio content.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 01 The Biggest Changes for Marketing in 2023 12
SECTION 02

Emerging Marketing Trends and Plans for 2023


Consumers and decision makers expect brands to keep up
with technology and consistently optimize the customer What trends are marketers leveraging
experience, or they can easily upgrade to a better option. in their marketing strategy (top 9)?
Short-form video content (TikTok, Reels, Youtube Shorts, etc.)
Some of the past two years’ major marketing trends turned
33%
out to be short-lived: One in three marketers plan to stop using
Mobile-friendly website design
NFTs this year, and 29% plan to cut out trying to market in the
32%
metaverse or in audio chat rooms.
Creating content that reflects your brand's values
So what trends will marketers be embracing in 2023? (e.g. social responsibility)
30%

Using social media DMs (direct messages) for customer service


Which marketing trend has the highest ROI (top 5)?
29%
Short-form video content (TikTok, Reels, Youtube Shorts, etc.)
SEO (search engine optimization, visual search optimization)
10%
29%
Influencer marketing
Mobile messaging (SMS, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp etc.)
7% 28%
Using social media DMs (direct messages) for customer service Influencer marketing
6% 26%

SEO (search engine optimization, visual search optimization) Selling products directly in social media apps
(e.g. Instagram Shops)
6%
25%
Creating content that reflects your brand's values (e.g. social responsibility)
Virtual events, webinars, and conferences
4%
23%

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 02 Emerging Marketing Trends and Plans for 2023 13
Short-form Video “In late 2022, YouTube surpassed Netflix as the top
Changing consumer behaviors have made video streaming platform in the US — and as of early 2023,
marketing absolutely essential for brands. With the there are about 2B Instagram users and 1B TikTok users
highest ROI of any marketing activity, we’re not globally. User engagement with video content is core
surprised to see that short-form video will see the most to these platforms, making it crucial for businesses to
growth of any trend in 2023. One in five (21%) marketers invest in video marketing to engage, attract, and convert
plan to leverage short-form video for the first time this potential customers.
year, the highest of any trend. To see a substantial return on video investments, define
the purpose of your content and the business objectives.
Is it to raise market awareness? Educate? Turn viewers
90% into buyers? A sound strategy also dramatically reduces
overall production costs and improves ROI.”
of marketers using short-form
video will increase or maintain
KYLE DENHOFF
their investment this year.
Director of New Media, HubSpot

Mobile-friendly Web Design


As of early 2023, Similarweb reports that 40%
64.97% of web traffic is via a mobile device,
of marketers say that mobile-
vs. 32.86% on desktop, and only 2.16% on
friendly website design and mobile
tablet. According to Google, a mobile-
messaging through SMS, Facebook
optimized web experience can result in
Messenger, WhatsApp, and other
better ranking on mobile — and important
platforms is the most effective trend
ranking factors include mobile page load
they’re currently leveraging.
speed, button sizes, and more.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 02 Emerging Marketing Trends and Plans for 2023 14
Values-based Content
Gone are the days when companies simply But how should a company show off its values? Well, 30% of
made a product or provided a service marketers are currently creating content that reflects their
and moved through the world without brand’s values, like creating and sharing blog posts, getting executive
much thought to current events and interviews in the press, creating podcasts about the company and its
social challenges. Consumers, especially values, or sharing regularly on social media.
Millennials and Gen Z, want to buy from
companies that display values and a
purpose that resonate with them — and
marketing teams have caught on.

Today, 69% of marketers agree that


taking a stand on social issues like
environmentalism and racial justice is an
effective marketing strategy.

43%
is the likelihood of effective HubSpot on LinkedIn

marketers to have addressed social


issues in a marketing campaign
versus ineffective marketers. HubSpot on LinkedIn

Sixteen percent of marketers plan to get their company talking about


values this year for the first time, and 89% of those who already do it
plan to increase or maintain their investment in this approach.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 02 Emerging Marketing Trends and Plans for 2023 15
Social Media DMs for Customer Service and Sales
Customer service has become an increasingly important,
and increasingly public, aspect of running any successful
company. For nearly a decade, consumers have been evading
traditional customer service channels and going straight to
a company’s social media page in order to get help with a
persistent problem. More than one in five Gen Zers and nearly
25% of Millennials report having directly contacted a brand on
social media for customer service.

This has created a new challenge for social media managers


who now also must deal with routing customer service
inquiries to the correct employee — and it’s created the risk
of angry customers negatively impacting a company’s brand
perception with repeated public posts.

In order to better manage social media customer service


inquiries, companies like JZD have started taking it to the
DMs and proactively creating a workflow that encourages
customers to reach out in a private, more organized channel.

Social media DMs for customer service are relatively new,


but 29% of marketers are already using this channel. Fifteen
percent of marketers plan to implement it for the first time 30%
this year. of Gen Z and Millennials
But it’s not just about customer service: DMs are also a have bought a product
powerful (and relatively new) sales channel. Companies have directly on social media in
started selling products directly in social apps with social the past three months.
media shopping tools on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 02 Emerging Marketing Trends and Plans for 2023 16
Mobile Messaging SEO
Contacting customers and prospects via SMS, Twenty-nine percent of marketers use a search-optimized
Facebook messenger, and WhatsApp is also website and blog to attract and convert leads. SEO work is
growing in popularity. With more and more a long game, so some marketing teams looking for quicker
customers shopping from their phone, delivering wins sometimes overlook how powerful it can be. But once
ads, promotions, and discounts via text or a company sets up a blog and optimizes its webpages for
messenger increases the chance that you’re search, it lays a foundation to significantly increase web
delivering the right message at the right time. traffic and inbound leads.
In fact, automated marketing campaign workflows
Though it’s time-consuming, SEO work requires a relatively
with SMS can increase conversions by 21%.
low financial investment, especially when compared to
strategies like paid ads, events, and out-of-home ads. The
low upfront costs and high success rate makes it one of the
highest ROI channels used by marketers. And once it’s up
and running, the sky's the limit.

When it comes to the trend marketers will invest the most


money in for 2023, SEO ranks third behind short-form
video and influencer marketing.

88%
of those who already do SEO
work plan to increase or maintain
their investment this year.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 02 Emerging Marketing Trends and Plans for 2023 17
SECTION 03

2023 Marketing Benchmarks


Marketing benchmarks help teams track their success.
If you don’t have a baseline, it’s hard to determine what
worked, what didn't, and how your successes impacted
the company as a whole.

Exact numbers vary by company type, industry, and


objective, but it can be helpful to benchmark against
global data averages to help provide context for your
marketing activities.

Web traffic was overall down over 6% in


1 2022 compared to 2021.

Email open rates went down across the


2 board by over 12%.

Marketing teams were still able to capture


3 leads and influence closed deals: Web
conversions saw a nearly 11% increase, and
inbound leads increased by 6.66%.

To learn more about the overall metrics trends we


saw across industries last year, check out our summary
of 2022 Marketing Benchmarks.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 18


The Most Important Marketing
Metrics and KPIs
Though many teams are tempted to do so, it’s impossible (and Advanced
marketing
unhelpful!) to try and track every single metric under the sun.
Choosing the most important metrics and KPIs for your business
is a critical part of measuring marketing performance.

Surveyed marketers said that sales, web traffic, and social


engagement are the most important metrics, followed by conversion
analytics
rate, follower and subscriber growth, and lead generation. Set up dashboards for your most
important goals, and try out tons
What are the most important metrics for measuring the of built-in reporting tools.
effectiveness of your content marketing strategy? (Top 6)
Sales
Get started for free
40%

Web traffic

32%

Social engagement
30%

Conversion rate

29%

Follow / subscriber growth on social media


27%

Lead generation
27%

State of Marketing Trends 2023 19


SECTION 04

Content Marketing Trends from Rock Content


Marketing in a Time of Recession
It looks increasingly certain that the unprecedented energy
costs, the surging inflation, a war in Europe, and a second
brutal wave of layoffs could bring the world to a recession
in 2023 and could force us — marketers and content
marketers — to reevaluate spending strategies.

Despite the situation and while no two downturns are


exactly the same, many of the lessons about marketing,
content and advertising from previous recessions still apply.

As renowned marketer and advertiser Peter Field stated,


commenting on the recession that followed the Covid
pandemic crisis, “The coming months will test everyone —
we are in uncharted territory. But this was much the same
in 2008, and it was the brands that held their nerve that
bounced back when recovery came.”

Take a look below for advice on the best way for content
and brand owners to manage marketing and promotional
budgets while navigating this challenging period.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 04 Content Marketing Trends from Rock Content 20
Don’t Go Dark —
1 If You Can Keep Spending.

A general marketing principle dictates that market share Based on the trend report, in fact, at least 55% of
(SOM) tends to strongly correlate with share of voice (SOV marketers say the potential for recession has affected
— the percentage of promotional expenditure spent by the their marketing activities this year:
brand). Specifically where a brand SOV is higher than SOM,
the brand market share tends to grow, and the opposite is
valid. If SOV falls below the brand’s SOM, then market share 25%
is likely to fall over the year following. The principle is valid in
both B2C and B2B. 20% of all marketers already had to
change their marketing goals due
In times of recession, just keeping promotional spend flat to the potential for recession.
will put your brand in a dominant position. As an example,
if all the companies in your category cut their promotional
spend in half, suddenly your budget that was 10% of the
total share of voice now doubles to 20% as a result.
20%
Therefore, cutting the marketing budget during a recession 20% of all marketers had to pivot from
their established plan due to the
is a risky strategy. It may provide some short-term relief, potential for recession.
but the subsequent loss of market share that follows will
be extremely difficult to regain when the crisis is over and
during the recovery. And, as expected, 51% of marketers confirm that if an
Yet, it’s increasingly clear that for many brands this advice is economic downturn or recession were to occur in 2023,
academic and quite unrealistic. Maintaining spending is not it would affect their marketing activities. In fact, 24%
an option if your sector has been hit hard. Brands hardest of all marketers expect they will have to reduce their
hit by the economic situation will focus on saving jobs and marketing budget if a recession occurs in 2023.
business continuity rather than marketing investments.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 04 Content Marketing Trends from Rock Content 21
Organic Content Experiences Brand Awareness,
2 Are on the Rise.
3 Not Just Lead Gen.

During every crisis, organic content consumption As we have mentioned, brand associations created
tends to grow. Despite the decline of media costs, now are likely to bring the greatest sales benefit
media spend has fallen sharply across all channels as during the recovery period. Brands that can still invest
many categories turn off ad spend. should resist the pressure to switch promotional
spend from brand awareness to activation.
In fact, based on the State of Marketing Trends data,
if an economic downturn were to occur, marketers This is even more valid for B2B. Because the sales funnel in
must expect to see budget cuts in paid social media B2B purchasing is generally longer than in B2C, arguments in
content, print ads, physical events, email marketing, favor of supporting long-term growth through brand building
and physical ads. and top of the funnel content are likely to be even stronger.

Events are declining too, and so are meetings and In addition, for those B2B businesses whose customers
large gatherings. Organic content, video content, and prospects are unable to buy due to budget cuts,
social media content, interactive content, webinars, pursuing short-term lead gen activities makes little sense.
and digital events are typically on the rise. Brands For these brands, it is suggested to invest in long-term
are turning to digital content, always looking at relationship-building.
where their audience keeps conversations and
Les Binet, G
​ roup Head of Effectiveness at adam&eveDDB, is
consumes content.
not wrong when he writes that “Brand promotion is not about
Just because consumers are not purchasing right profiting in recession, it is about capitalizing on recovery.”
now, it doesn’t mean they’re not researching.
Finally, brands forced to cut marketing investment should still
Releasing interesting or useful content that targets
focus on brand visibility by maximizing content marketing and
upper funnel consumers will increase brand
SEO tactics, and they should prioritize customer and prospect
awareness and trust. Winning hearts and minds now
relationships via owned digital properties (eg., blogs) and social
will put you in a good position once recovery has
platforms. PR and co-marketing partnerships could represent
begun and users are ready to purchase again.
another way to run marketing activities at no extra cost.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 04 Content Marketing Trends from Rock Content 22
Prioritize Emotions Over On-Demand Creative Talent Can
4 Logic, But Be Distinctive.
5 Help Scale Your Content Ops.

If you’re not already, prioritize featuring humanity, humor, Finally, a few words about layoffs and budget cuts and
warmth, and generosity in messages and promotion. the implications of properly staffing your content team.
Demonstrating humanity and generosity through behavior
As the recent multiple layoff waves have clearly
is advised, too: Brands should ask themselves the question,
demonstrated, freelancers are often more appealing to
‘How can we help?’.
employers during a recession. Companies are realizing
Lead with empathy, humor, and emotion. The most there is a competitive advantage to have a robust
successful content out of previous recessions leveraged strategy for using independent talent.
emotion over logic; emotional creative strategies help
Content marketers should take advantage of those
to evoke warmth and humanity and have been the most
content marketing-focused marketplaces, like
effective in times of recessions.
WriterAccess for example, that offer creative talent
Yet, be distinctive. When you communicate like on-demand and the possibility for the content teams to
everyone else – without any differentiation, with exactly easily scale their content creation effort.
the same message as those around you – you can
disappear completely.

GIUSEPPE CALTABIANO
VP of Marketing,
Rock Content

State of Marketing Trends 2023 23


On-Demand Creative Talent Can
5 Help Scale Your Content Ops.

Finally, a few words about layoffs and budget


cuts and the implications of properly staffing
your content team.
Hire the best freelancers
As the recent multiple layoff waves have
and streamline your
clearly demonstrated, freelancers are often
more appealing to employers during a
workflow.
recession. Companies are realizing there is Get the talent, the tools, and the training
a competitive advantage to have a robust
you need to scale content marketing, grow
strategy for using independent talent.
your business or agency, and master content
Content marketers should take advantage
marketing to win online.
of those content marketing-focused
marketplaces, like WriterAccess for example,
that offer creative talent on-demand and the Start Free Trial
possibility for the content teams to easily
scale their content creation effort.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 24


SECTION 05

Social Media Marketing Trends


and Influencer Trends
Social media has become one of the most
important (and most popular) marketing
channels for companies across industries.
It’s relatively low-cost and it has near-infinite
reach. Even companies with products or
services that may not have broad consumer
appeal can go viral and be seen by millions if
they’re willing to get creative, like Canva.

Certain social media platforms work


better for different types of companies
in different industries. But virtually every
company benefits from building its online
presence through social media — and
30% of marketing leaders say that social
engagement is how they measure the
effectiveness of their content.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 25


Which social media platforms did marketers leverage in 2022?
Facebook was still the most leveraged social media
platform in 2022, used by 64% of marketers, followed Facebook is the most popular social media
by Instagram (58%), YouTube (57%), Twitter (43%), platform marketers are using in 2023, and it has
TikTok (42%), and LinkedIn (33%). the best ROI compared to every other platform.

When asked which platforms have the best ROI, 22%


What social media platforms are
marketers leveraging (top 6)? of marketers said Facebook first. YouTube, Instagram,
and TikTok were tied for second place, with 16% of
Facebook
marketers reporting that they had the best results with
64%
these platforms.
Instagram
58%
Youtube What social media platform has
57% the best ROI (top 5)?
Twitter
Facebook
43% 22%
TikTok Youtube
42% 16%
LinkedIn Instagram
33% 16%
Snapchat TikTok
25% 16%
LinkedIn

7%

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 05 Social Media Marketing Trends and Influencer Trends 26
What’s been challenging?
Even though it’s a relatively easy type of content strategy
to stand up, social media marketing isn’t always a straight What are the biggest challenges
path to growing sales and reaching new audiences. social media marketers face (top 7)?
Especially with organic social media, companies are at the Creating engaging content
mercy of each platform’s algorithm, so two similar posts 22%
may perform very differently on different days. Gaining and keeping followers
22%
Surveyed marketers reported that their biggest social
Reaching your target audience
media challenges are consistently creating engaging
21%
content, gaining and keeping followers, reaching their
Finding ideas for new content
target audience, finding ideas for new content, generating
leads, keeping up with trends, and measuring ROI. 21%
Creating content that generates leads

20%
Keeping up with new trends
To learn more about the nuances
19%
between each social platform and
Measuring ROI
how to overcome some of the
challenges of social media marketing, 19%

check out The 2023 Global Social


Media Trends Report.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 05 Social Media Marketing Trends and Influencer Trends 27
TikTok is Trending, But For How Long?
The biggest trend in marketing right now is undoubtedly
short-form video. And though Instagram Reels are trying
to replicate its success, TikTok is the reigning leader in
short-form video (for now). With its highly-accurate
algorithm and laser-sharp targeting, it keeps viewers
watching and watching — making it an excellent advertising
platform for companies everywhere. It’s tied with YouTube
and Instagram for the second-highest ROI, behind Facebook.

But, there are growing data privacy concerns surrounding the


use of TikTok in the U.S. Active discussions between the TikTok
CEO and the U.S. government have touched on businesses
using the app and consumer privacy fears.

No matter what — maintain your own company media


channels and create content that can be repurposed for
different purposes and platforms.

Our surveyed marketers see the platform’s power and are


embracing it: 42% of marketers use TikTok already, and
more than half of them (56%) plan to increase their
investment in TikTok this year, which is the highest of
any platform.

Twenty-six percent of marketers plan to use TikTok for the


first time this year, and 16% of marketers plan to invest
more in TikTok than any other social media app.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 05 Social Media Marketing Trends and Influencer Trends 28
The debate: repurpose social content or tailor by platform?
Especially when companies are just getting started with social media, However, when comparing marketers
many marketing teams post the same image, video, or text across every who say their marketing strategy was
social app. But this approach has its drawbacks: Each platform requires effective in 2022 with those who say it
different image sizes and word counts — plus, audiences vary across was ineffective, effective marketers are
platforms. Posting a letter from a CEO might do very well on LinkedIn, 27% more likely to tailor content to
but it would likely flop on Instagram. the platform they’re sharing it on.

The takeaway? Tailoring content for each


How do marketers share content across social platform is worth it, so invest in
different social media platforms? growing your social media team beyond
one or two social media managers.
I usually re-purpose I usually tailor content to the
the same marketing platform I'm sharing it on
content across various 35%
social media platforms
46%

I do both about equally


19%

35%
of marketers tailor their content for each social platform — but those
who are most effective create custom content for every channel.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 05 Social Media Marketing Trends and Influencer Trends 29
Which new social media
features are marketers using?
In line with the trends we’re seeing about short-form video,
social media companies are doing everything they can
to replicate the success of TikTok. As a result, marketing
teams are frequently trying these new features out.

31%
of marketers are using YouTube
Shorts and Instagram Reels

In line with the trends we’re seeing about short-form video, social
media companies are doing everything they can to replicate the
success of TikTok. As a result, marketing teams are frequently
trying these new features out.

Facebook and Instagram have also both rolled out shopping


tools that let users buy products right in the apps, which has
opened up a new sales channel for marketers to leverage. 25% are
using Facebook Shopping Tools, and 24% are using Instagram
Shopping Tools.

Benchmark your social performance against analytics from 37M


Instagram posts in the latest Instagram Engagement Report.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 05 Social Media Marketing Trends and Influencer Trends 30
Influencer Marketing Trends
Influencer marketing has been an increasingly
89%
important marketing strategy for many businesses of marketers who already use influencer
— and it’s picking up steam thanks to the growth marketing plan to keep up or increase
we’ve seen in TikTok and other short-form video their investment in 2023.
content. In 2022, the influencer marketing
ballooned to a $16.4 billion industry.

You may associate influencer sales with products 17%


like cosmetics or clothes, but for virtually every of marketers plan to try out influencer
industry there are online experts who are willing to marketing for the first time this year, which
partner with a company to promote their product. is also the second-highest of any trend.
Influencers almost always operate on social media,
but do occasionally partner with companies for TV
commercials or at live company events like panels. Of the companies that worked with influencers last year, the
Fifty-seven percent of surveyed marketers said influencers they worked with had varying audience sizes.
their company worked with creators or influencers
in 2022. But influencers don’t all have millions of 27% Nano-influencers,
with 1,000-9,999 followers or subscribers
followers — and you certainly don’t need to partner
with a celebrity-level influencer to see results. 33%
of Gen Zers have bought a product based on an 64% Micro-influencers,
with 10,000-99,999 followers or subscribers
influencer’s recommendation in the past three
months. More than one in four marketers currently 57% Macro-influencers,
with 100,000-999,999 followers or subscribers
leverage influencer marketing, and it offers the
second-highest ROI of any trend.
24% Mega-influencers,
with over 1,000,000 followers or subscribers

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 05 Social Media Marketing Trends and Influencer Trends 31
Interestingly enough, companies saw the This year, 21% of companies plan to work with nano-influencers, while
most success with macro- and micro- 53% plan to work with micro-influencers. 65% plan to work with macro
influencers. Likely due to the exorbitant influencers, and 42% want to try their luck with mega-influencers.
costs required to work with mega-
For the companies that work with both smaller creators (with under
influencers, ROI was easier to achieve
100K subscribers or followers) and those with a bigger following, 44%
with influencers with more modest
said they appreciated the more reasonable cost of doing business
audience sizes.
together. They also called out that it’s easier to make long-term
partnerships with smaller creators, and that they give companies
What kind of influencer was the access to more niche, tighter-knit communities.
most successful for your company?
Thirty-five percent reported that smaller creators are more trusted by
Nano their audiences, which makes sense — a luxury pillow brand might have
11%
Mega more success working with an interior design influencer than with a
18%
celebrity whose brand has nothing to do with sleep or decor.
Micro
33%

Macro
38% Tip for working with influencers or creators
Creators say that they reach their audiences primarily
through social media, blogging, and email newsletters.
Think of the most valuable content that influencers can
share with your target audience for the best results.

Get even more insights on successfully working


with creators in the Business of Creators report.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 05 Social Media Marketing Trends and Influencer Trends 32
SECTION 06

Video Marketing Trends from Wistia


People are watching more videos now than they ever
have before, and in response, brands are continuing to
increase their investments in video to engage audiences.

The top six media formats marketers


plan to invest the most in this year
Videos
24%
Podcasts or other audio content
10%
Images
9%
Blog posts

8%
NFTs

7%
Case studies

7%

Here’s a snapshot of data and insights from 80 million videos


uploaded to the Wistia platform and 1,500 marketers surveyed
that you can only find in our 2023 State of Video Report.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 06 Video Marketing Trends from Wistia 33
Video Marketing Budget Planning for 2023
When it comes to spending, brands revealed that they upped their
investment in video in 2022. Compared to 2021, more businesses
allocated at least 10% of their overall marketing budget to video.

The top five media formats marketers


will leverage for the first time in 2023
Videos
33%
Images
29%
Blog posts
26%
Interviews

25%
Podcasts or other audio content

24%

What are brands planning for 2023? Even with economists predicting a likely recession ahead, only 3% of
companies plan to reduce their video budget. One in seven companies plan to make a heavier investment
in video, upping their video spend by more than 10%.

But economic uncertainty is having a clear impact — 20% of businesses are making no changes to their
video spend, and at the start of 2023, 42% feel unsure of their moves.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 06 Video Marketing Trends from Wistia 34
The Types of Videos Businesses are Creating
Out of the 15 million videos uploaded to Wistia in 2022, most of the videos created —
4.7 million — were short-form videos under 60 seconds. Short-form videos and videos
between five and 30 minutes remain the most popular to create year-over-year.
Short-form videos also consistently receive the highest average engagement.

New Wistia benchmarks: Short-form video


For videos up to 5 minutes, audiences will watch about 50% of the content.

Under 1 minute 1-3 minutes 3-5 minutes


100% 100% 100%

75% 75% 75%

50% 50% 50%

25% 25% 25%


0:00 1:00 0:00 3:00 0:00 5:00
0 0 0
50% average engagement 47% average engagement 46% average engagement

In 2021, there was a significant rise in the production of long-form content, or videos that lasted over 30 minutes.
In 2022, businesses continued investing in long-form videos, like webinars and live events, making it the fastest-
growing video segment. Videos above 30 minutes saw over 11,000% growth over the past decade compared to
36% growth for videos under 30 minutes.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 06 Video Marketing Trends from Wistia 35
New Wistia benchmarks: Long-form video
Sixteen percent of viewers will stick with you to consume more than an hour of your company's video.

5-30 minutes 30-60 minutes Over 60 minutes


100% 100% 100%

75% 75% 75%

50% 50% 50%

25% 25% 25%


0:00 10:00 0:00 59:00 0:00 1:10:00
0 0 0
38% average engagement 26% average engagement 16% average engagement

How are Companies Using Video Strategically?


Most companies focused on product education Of those folks, 60% said they hosted webinars, and 30%
and acquiring new customers with video. According said they hosted webinars at least once a month. We love
to the marketers we surveyed, videos about products, to hear this! Webinars are one of the best types of videos
educational videos, and webinars earned businesses the your business can create for marketing and increasing
most engagement and return on investment last year. product adoption. On top of that, you can repurpose your
webinar into evergreen content that’ll help you generate
2022 was also a big year for going live.
leads for your business long after you go live.

80% In 2023, we expect companies will continue creating


product videos, educational videos, and webinars.
of marketers held live One in three businesses also said they want to invest
events in 2022. more in videos for social media this year.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 06 Video Marketing Trends from Wistia 36
Strengthen Your Video
Marketing Strategy in 2023
Budgets aside, 69% of businesses said they were most likely or Ready for a video
very likely to make more videos this year than in 2022. But only
about half (43%) of the companies we surveyed feel as though
marketing platform
they have a video strategy. What about your business? that can integrate with
This year, we see an opportunity for more businesses to start
A/B testing their video content, as it is one of our favorite ways
your tech stack?
to impact video performance and see what’s resonating with
Made for marketers, Wistia has
our audience!
everything you need to create, host,
Companies should also make sure to use video conversion tools market, and measure the impact of
to turn viewers into prospects. We found that businesses are your videos — all in one place.
using fewer lead capture forms in their videos, but conversion
rates are on the rise. Customers are willing to give you their
contact info for great video content. Get started

If you want to make the most out of your videos this year,
we encourage you to repurpose new and existing content
into engaging snippets that you can use across your other
marketing channels like social media and your blog.

If you’re wondering what you can do to improve your video


marketing strategy this year, dive into our full 2023 State of
Video Report to uncover more data and insights about video
strategy, creation, distribution, and audience engagement
and conversion that’ll help your business thrive with video.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 37


SECTION 07

Email Marketing Trends from Litmus


Email marketing is an unmatched investment for connecting with customers — brands
get back $36 for every $1 spent on the channel on average. However, you must evolve
to create relevant, high-quality emails that stand out. 41.1% of subscribers ‘skim’
emails, which means they spend between two and eight seconds on your message.

Data-driven Ways to Boost Email Marketing Performance this Year


Here are the four trends that will put your email marketing performance ahead this year.

Prioritize Accessibility
1 — Always.
The World Health Organization estimates there are around
2.2 billion people with visual impairments.

Everyone deserves to have a


There are an estimated 300 million people globally with color blindness,
positive experience in their inbox
affecting approximately 1 in 12 men (8%) and 1 in 200 women (0.5%).
— period. You don’t know what
disabilities your subscribers may
Up to 20% of the population deals with some level of dyslexia.
live with, whether permanent
or temporary. The adoption of
accessible email tactics has Between 2018 and 2060 in the United States, the 65-and-older age group’s
increased over the past few years, share of the total population will rise from 16 percent to 23 percent.
and it’s something we hope to see
more of in 2023. Situational disabilities — like a broken arm or occupied hands
— also contribute to people’s ability to use email.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 07 Email Marketing Trends from Litmus 38
While 77% of brands say that making their emails more accessible is a
priority, only 8% say they follow best practices for email accessibility in
all of their campaigns. If you struggle to put best practices into action,
here are some tips:

Concise copy is accessible

• Use shorter sentences.

• Avoid jargon.

Design for easy skimming

• Create a strong hierarchy with text size, color,


and placement.

• Left justify your copy if it’s more than two lines long.

• Use a minimum font size of 14px.

• Keep contrast high.

Use screen-reader-friendly email code


Email accessibility tip:
• Use real text (no more all-image emails, please).
Not everyone sees colors the same
way, so combining colors with icons • Create accessible tables with role attributes .
and text is best to ensure everyone • Include semantic HTML to identify headers, paragraphs,
understands your intended message. and buttons.
For example, a green check mark
• Pair live text with alt text for images to
and a red X are more accessible
replicate the look and feel of the design.
than a green and red button.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 07 Email Marketing Trends from Litmus 39
Use Hyper-Personalization
2 to Engage Subscribers. Hyper-personalization ideas by email goal

Eighty-three percent of customers are willing to Increase sales


share their data to create a more personalized
Dynamically update new products based
experience, but creating hyper-personalized
on past purchases
experiences sometimes feels easier said than done.
The effort is well worth it, though, since brands that Use countdown timers for sales
use dynamic content generate an ROI of 42:1. For Include dynamic social proof in
reference, that’s 100% better than the 21:1 ROI for abandoned cart messages
brands that don’t use dynamic content.

Here are our top three tips: Boost retention

Show customers or members what perks they


1. Create a plan before you collect data. Think
are (and aren’t!) taking advantage of
about who your subscribers are and what you
want them to do, and then figure out what data Create personalized guides based on past
points you need. purchases or actions

2. Tie personalization ideas to email goals. Create polls to promote products and
Personalization is fun, but it takes work. Carefully learn preferences
choose personalization tactics to support your
goals, so your effort moves your program Increase engagement
forward.
Create a dynamic birthday email with personalized
3. Test before you send. You should test every birthday month graphics
email you send, but it’s crucial when you add new
Send real-time updates in a dynamic email
creative elements. Brands that use an extensive
testing checklist report an ROI of 40:1. Include timers noting when dynamic content updates

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 07 Email Marketing Trends from Litmus 40
Use AI for Email Marketing Conduct Sentiment Polls
3 Planning and Development.
4 with Your Audience.

AI is a hot topic, and we expect curiosity will A sentiment poll is an interactive element that asks
draw more people to use it in 2023. Here’s how subscribers to share how they feel about an email with a
email teams can use AI to supplement their work: simple smiling, neutral, or frowning face. We recommend
using them if you’re trying a new format or want more
• Brainstorm subject lines and email copy.
engagement data beyond opens and clicks.
• Generate graphic mock-ups to include in
creative briefs.

• Personalize emails with AI-driven


product recommendations.

• Analyze large sets of data.

• List benefits of a team investment to get buy-in.

• Create project timelines or plans.

Here’s what to keep in mind


when you use a sentiment poll:
• Place sentiment polls at the end of your email.

• Make it clear what is good and bad on your scale.

• Ask subscribers to respond with why they voted that way.

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 07 Email Marketing Trends from Litmus 41
Make Every Email
Send Count
Design trends evolve, but email marketing
is a constant that every brand can rely on Email personalization
— as long as your emails work.

If you send out broken emails, you’ll


doesn't have to be hard
miss the deeper insights needed to really
Personalization shouldn’t be difficult. With the right
improve results and personalize emails at
technology in place,email personalization is achievable
scale. Plus, inaccessible and broken emails
at scale and in every email you send. No matter what your
create a negative customer experience.
business is, there’s an opportunity to use automated email
When you use Litmus to build, personalize, personalization–and benefit from it!
test, review, and analyze emails you can
get the most out of every send and build Automate and scale the creation of personalized
trust with your customers. email experiences andharness the power of AI-driven
recommendations with Litmus Personalize,
powered by Kickdynamic.

Contact us for a demo today!

State of Marketing Trends 2023 42


SECTION 08

Leaders Weigh in on Future Marketing Predictions


This year, we’ve already seen some seismic shifts, especially in the area of AI and automation. We’re also excited
to see more companies embrace short-form video, and see how it impacts their reach and conversion rates.

But what else is on the horizon for 2023 and beyond?

The data’s in — it’s time to go all The rise in AI will help


in on YouTube for business growth. brands be more creative.
“At HubSpot, our investments in YouTube channels focusing “AI is exploding, and brands are using AI tools for
on business news, education, and expert commentary has administrative, repetitive tasks. By taking advantage
led to considerable growth in demand. We’ve also started of automated tools for everyday brand content, like
co-producing videos with micro and macro YouTubers, visual CTAs, email updates, and social media images,
enabling us to reach new audiences. We plan to strengthen we predict that creative teams will be able to spend
our presence on YouTube and expand our investment in the more time on complex marketing projects and brand
current year.” storytelling campaigns.”

KYLE DENHOFF GABBY PINTO


Director of New Media, HubSpot Chief Creative Officer, CXD Studio

State of Marketing Trends 2023 SECTION 08 Leaders Weigh in on Future Marketing Predictions 43
Video drives business, and it’s not To compete with AI,
stopping anytime soon. marketers will build
“Marketers have seen the profound effect that video can have on interactive experiences.
their businesses since the pandemic began. Live video particularly “As an SEO, I’m thinking about how to make
blew up in 2022, and signs point to that continuing in the year the content on our website better than what
ahead. You can also expect to see companies creating more AI can offer our readers. Why should someone
product videos, educational videos, and investing more heavily in go to HubSpot.com and read a blog post or
video for social media.” use a free tool versus chatting with a chatbot?
My prediction is to maintain relevance to
FRANK EMANUELE
their audiences, SEOs and marketers will
Social Media Manager, Wistia
need to find new points of differentiation for
their website — whether that’s a unique take,
interactive experience, custom graphics, or all
Effective marketers will lean into of the above.”
automation and AI to drive innovation.
AJA FROST
“It’s no surprise that effective marketers are 46% more likely to Director of English Growth,
use automation in their roles. Marketers need to know how to HubSpot
reduce inefficiencies so we can spend more time doing what we
love: creating engaging content that helps our audiences grow.
Marketers who embrace AI will find powerful ways to streamline
tedious tasks and save their finite resources — such as creativity
and innovation — to become better marketers.”

CAROLINE FORSEY
Senior Content Strategist, HubSpot

State of Marketing Trends 2023 44


Closing
With data guiding every decision and smarter tools becoming more widely available, marketing teams
are as agile as ever. This year, marketers will expand their efforts in short-form video. They’ll share the
values that drive their companies. And they’ll be using AI and automation where possible to make their
very full plates feel a little more manageable.

Exceed your marketing


goals this year.
Build creative, strategic campaigns and engage
your audience with HubSpot. Attract new visitors
online, convert more leads, and access detailed
reporting and analytics that you can share with
the whole team.

Explore HubSpot plans for any sized business

State of Marketing Trends 2023 45


Methodology
We conducted several surveys with a total of
1,200+ global B2B + B2C marketers across Countries Represented
industries to gain these data points. Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, UK, US

Report created in collaboration with CXD Studio.


www.cxd.studio • [email protected]
State of Marketing Trends 2023 46

You might also like