online shopping Archives

Trends to Integrate Into Your 2023 Marketing Strategy

Morgan Moresco on December 12, 2022

Written by: Danielle Gazda

At the beginning of 2022, the digital marketing community prepared for the start of a massive digital expansion. This expansion was the true start of a more integrated and accessible metaverse. It includes the increasing use of AI/AR/VR and other new tools in social media and advertising. In social media specifically, video content would be king in 2022, which was proved to be true. We saw this with the rise in TikTok’s popularity as Meta and Twitter declined.

2023 presents opportunities for continued digital expansion across social media, marketing, and everyday life.

Here’s what we’re expecting to see in 2023.

Social Media Content

AI Algorithms

Social media platforms, especially Facebook and Instagram, will continue to push AI algorithms. These algorithms are supposed to show consumers content that relates to them. While individuals may not relish the idea of seeing fewer posts from family and friends, this opens up more opportunities for brands to reach a wider audience that is more likely to convert.

Digital Representations

Avatars, NFTs, and AI-generated art are all becoming more prominent across social media. While there is a juxtaposition between wanting more original content with NFTs and opportunities for digitally generated content with AI, both show that digital art is the future. More brands may find themselves generating NFTs as a form of revenue for themselves or as fundraisers. They will also likely begin using AI-generated art to create the promotional content they need.

E-Commerce

Livestream Shopping

Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest are looking to livestream shopping as the next way for brands to sell on their platforms. While these platforms are testing and having success with this feature in other countries, it hasn’t quite made it to the U.S. yet. Expect to see more announcements about this from social media apps in 2023.

Customer Service

Mobile/in-app shopping and online shopping overall have continued to increase as Gen Z reaches an independent purchasing age. The key to happy (and repeat) customers is personalized customer service. There are many options across social media, in Messenger, DMs, WhatsApp, etc., that allow businesses to automate replies to common brand questions. This is a great way for customers to have an inquiry answered or resolve an issue quickly. However, it’s important still to have real people available on the back end to intervene with more complicated requests.

General Marketing

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing continues to be a superior way for brands to gain exposure and bring in revenue. Partnering with influencers whose audiences intersect with your own can boost sales. And influencers perform a variety of services, whether it’s posting on their own social media or creating video content for you to share on your own platforms.

Advertising

Social media advertising remains the best way to gain reach, conversions, and more for your business. As the space becomes more crowded with businesses, it can be hard to find your footing. The holiday season, a time when spending increases greatly, is the best example of this. Refined targeting to reach audiences that meet your business goals is the best way forward. SEO, tagging, and defining your audience will get you to your goals.

What are some of your digital marketing predictions for 2023?

The Evolution of Black Friday

Morgan Moresco on October 26, 2022

Written By: Danielle Gazda

While the phenomenon known as Black Friday has questionable origins, potentially going back to the 1800s, the retail holiday as we know it today started in Philadelphia in the 1950s. This is when people from the suburbs flooded the city for an annual Army-Navy football game and a round of discount shopping. However, the use of the term “Black Friday” for the post-Thanksgiving shopping spree didn’t become a nationwide trend until the 1980s. Read more about the history of Black Friday and the myths surrounding its origin on the History Channel website.

In its 40 years of being an official retail holiday, Black Friday has evolved greatly. A significant development was the first-ever e-commerce transaction, which happened in 1994. As e-commerce has taken off in the past two decades, first with websites and now through social media, how people purchase what they want and need has transitioned away from physical retail locations. Black Friday is no longer the physical fight it used to be (well, it usually isn’t), but brands are still finding ways to entice people to shop online and in stores.

Here are some Black Friday best practices all retail businesses should know:

Month-Long Sales

Black Friday is no longer confined to just a single day or even the following weekend, which includes Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. In the past few years, many brands have opted to create pockets of sales throughout the month of November. These sales sometimes even start in late October.

You don’t have to discount items during this entire time, but it’s good to get a leg up on holiday shoppers who don’t want to leave things to the last minute or hate feeling limited to a single day, especially if they need to go in person.

These discounts can start small — for example, with free shipping — and ramp up throughout the month as it gets closer to Black Friday.

In-Store Exclusives

If you have physical locations and you’d prefer to have at least part of your customer base shop in person, then offering exclusive in-store discounts is a great option. It may be worth staggering your online and in-store deals, so you can draw more people into your stores. Start with limited discounts online and add further offerings in-store to reach that initial wave of holiday shoppers in your area.

It’s a great idea to advertise in-store deals in marketing newsletters or on paid social media ads with proximity location targeting.

Special Discounts for Loyal Customers

If your brand has a rewards program, VIP group, or even a newsletter, you can target loyal customers with exclusive deals just for them. Repeat customers are more likely to actually make a purchase and to purchase a large number of items. They may be interested in buying for themselves or giving gifts to loved ones and friends who may, in turn, also become loyal customers. People often have more trust in brands that are recommended to them by people they’re close to.

Holiday Marketing

Competitive holiday marketing is key to making Black Friday sales work for your company. As with most things, it takes money to make money. Investing in ads across social media and Google is your best bet for reaching a wider audience or an audience that is most likely to complete a purchase. Other brands will be doing the same thing, so bids for display space may be higher than you would usually be comfortable with. Finding the right balance of creative assets, copy, landing page, and other elements may be difficult, but in the end, it should be worth it.

Newsletters, as mentioned earlier, are a great way to reach already interested customers. If they’ve signed up for emails from your brand, then they have probably made a purchase in the past, or, with the right deal, are likely to make a purchase in the future. Utilize newsletters to share sales, exclusive discount codes, promote best-selling or low-selling items, and inform customers about restocks and product availability.

The last part of holiday marketing is promoting your business on social media. Aside from paid advertising, social media is how many people now find products and services they’re interested in buying. Don’t forget to keep up with your social media posting. Share your products, share online and in-store promotions, and run a few giveaways. Giveaways during the holiday season can get people excited about your products — and even if audience members don’t win, they may be more likely to look at your website and make a purchase anyway.

If you’re interested in stepping up your holiday marketing strategy, check out some of our other holiday marketing blogs. You can also contact us through our website, or email us at info@thisis270m.com, for help in working on your digital marketing strategy.