The Marketing Goodie Bag For 2023

With the passage of every year, some things change, and some don't. Finding out what has continued to fill me with the enthusiasm of an excited child joyously rummaging through all the gifts tucked away in the goodie bag. So here is the list of my top 5 favorite goodies that promise to rise and dominate conversations above all else in 2023. 

Influencer marketing will continue to get hotter by the day. Especially micro-influencers, as they are still considered 'normal, everyday people like you and me.' While their circles of influence may have smaller diameters, the quality of their soft power leads their followers to trust their opinions and recommendations much more than claims made by your typical Bollywood celebrities. Hence their role in driving brand engagement and converting leads across all funnel stages is becoming more pivotal with every passing day.

Video will continue to rule content. Especially snackable shorter-length ones, unlike the long format 'director, 's cut' akin to a multi-course gourmet spread. Moreover, shorter-length videos align better with diminishing attention spans, where the intent is to get to the point (read 'information I need') faster and more humorously. No surprise, then, that Snapchat, TikTok, and Reels have become the preferred media for effective content delivery worldwide.

SEO is finally coming of age. From an attention-seeking pesky teenager at a party, SEO is now an adult capable of holding its court. With everyone, and rightly so, chasing content discoverability, the role and import of SEO have never been better realized. Moreover, with Google's algorithms maturing every day, the emphasis on multimedia optimization driving traffic to owned digital assets like websites ought to be pushing the marketeer's agenda much more than ever before.

Return of experiential marketing. While cocktail conversations have abounded around the subject, over the last couple of years, the actual act of creating a truly wow immersive experience ran into glaring issues of execution, mediocre technology, and high costs. However, with Meta throwing its hat into the ring, expect 2023 to revolutionize AR/VR, making it more attractive and accessible to brands of varying sizes and outlays. From being fun, vanity-led experiments, immersive experiences will finally become a serious part of the marketeer's arsenal.

Social commerce. While it has been around for a while, with Facebook Shops, Instagram Shopping, and TikTok trying new e-commerce features, it is picking up good speed now. This phenomenon will further feed into the Millennials and Gen Z preferring to shop from social platforms vis a vis only pure play e-commerce platforms. Also driving this phenomenon is compelling native advertising, which makes advertiser-led content feel more natural and organic rather than intrusive banner ads. And the best examples of native advertising powering social commerce are on Instagram Story and Shops - proof of the effectiveness of this partnership. 

And pulling it all together is Artificial Intelligence - the neural network that drives personalized and contextually relevant content. Only now are we beginning to realize the true power of self-learning, ever-improving algorithms that continue to mature with your every passing click.

What stays the same, as it always should, is the need for the brand to remain committed to its real Purpose - why does it exist, and what problem does it attempt to solve in the busy life of its audience? Staying committed to Purpose makes a brand remain relevant and earn preference. And when that happens across years and decades, brands are on their way to earning Trust - the holy grail that makes them immortal. And immortal brands are uniquely placed to transcend not just years but centuries - not just riding trends but setting them, creating new toolkits and goodie bags for others to discover and enjoy. 

Karan Kumar is the Group Chief Marketing and Growth Officer of Art Fertility Clinics