6 Recommendations to Step Up Your 2023 Marketing Strategy

Are you trying to plan your business marketing strategy for 2023? How do you know what to plan for if you can’t control–or even know–how social media will change in the new year? That’s exactly what I’m going to help you with in this post. I’m going to cover the latest trends in social media, my predictions for the new year, and my top 6 recommendations to step up your 2023 marketing strategy. Let’s dive in!

 

 

Have you noticed the latest changes with Instagram? I know, it feels like it’s constantly changing (mostly because it is), but we don’t need to see these as roadblocks to growing our businesses. Since I am a marketing strategist, I pay attention to social media trends and the constant updates that are being announced across all of the different platforms. (If you want in on these updates, sign up for my email newsletter HERE.)

I talked to two different clients this past week, each at different stages of their growth and business, but both struggling with the same thing. Both of them asked me why they weren’t able to grow on Instagram like they had before which left them feeling confused and exhausted. Can you relate? 

The reason why they weren’t growing anymore with their normal strategies was that the app had changed. Instagram made some updates that made it harder for them to grow like they normally did. This is why we need to stay up-to-date with social media trends and be willing to pivot our strategy in order to keep our growth momentum going. And this is totally doable. 

 

 

Want to Step Up Your 2023 Marketing Strategy? Read This First.

Social media is no longer just a matter of following your friends. It has turned into this empire of influencers and business owners who can turn their influence into hard-earned money. Since social media platforms are vying for your attention and time, they’re doing everything they can to make sure that the content you see is making you want to stay on the app. With that being said, these are the fundamental things you need to know for your 2023 marketing strategy.

 

Social Media Marketing Fundamental #1: The future of social media is in recommendations.

When I say recommendations, I’m referring to the algorithm that was first seen on TikTok. It’s known as their “For You” feed. This is where you see a collection of videos that TikTok will think you will like, posted by those you may or may not follow.

You’ll notice that other social media platforms are following suit and are creating a feed where you can see content that’s curated strictly to the type of content you will react well to, rather than only having the option to scroll through posts your friends make. 

The purpose of this strategy is to make you want to stay on the app. If you are enjoying the content you’re watching you’re more likely to stay on the app longer, which is a huge plus for them. 

Since users have shown they prefer this type of content, as creators, we need to make sure the content we’re creating will get boosted to the top of the “For You” feeds. How can we do this?

It comes down to making your content searchable and shareable. Making it searchable helps with the algorithm, which makes it easier for your content to get in front of the right person’s eyes. The best way to do this is to niche down and market to one specific type of person. I have everything you need to know about this marketing strategy HERE. (I use this strategy for my own biz and all of my clients and it works wonders!)

Making your content shareable will help increase your chances of getting seen by more people who will become your potential buyers. So, think funny, trendy, or meaningful. Click HERE for more ideas on what type of content is share-friendly. 

 

Social Media Marketing Fundamental #2: The diversity of social media use will continue to grow. 

The way we view social media has changed. It used to be that people were either on Facebook or Instagram. Now, people are spending time on all sorts of social media. Some are searching for things on Google that lead them to blog posts, they’re saving content on Pinterest, listening to podcasts, scrolling TikTok, watching YouTube videos, etc. 

People are all over spending a fraction of their time on several different apps. This means we need to diversify our content. Think of social media as a content pie. If every slice of the pie represents a different platform where people consume content, how much of the pie are you actually taking advantage of?

If you are putting all of your efforts only on Instagram (one slice of the pie) then you are leaving ⅞ of the pie to be controlled by someone else. So we have to find the smartest ways to get on the most platforms that we can. (And if you’re feeling overwhelmed by that, don’t be. There are ways for you to repurpose your content that will easily spread across different platforms. You can learn more about that HERE.)

 

 

Social Media Marketing Fundamental #3: In 2023, Instagram will not be enough.

This prediction kind of goes along with #2, but I think it deserves its own section because it’s super important. I’ve met people over and over again who are spending the majority, if not all of their time and effort, on Instagram to grow their businesses. And I will preach on this topic forever and ever because I do not want your business to fail when Instagram fails you. 

Engagement rates on Instagram are at an all-time low and I don’t see them rising back up any time soon. This is only natural–the longer an app is around the harder it is to grow because more and more people are joining. Plus, people are constantly evolving and the algorithm is trying to keep up with that evolution as fast as it can. We can battle this by taking our fair share of that content pie. 

A time will come when Instagram may cause your business to face a setback in your growth, sales, or whatever it may be, and if/when that time comes you can be prepared for it. You do this by having an email list, a website, and spending time growing your business on multiple social media platforms. To get a solid foundation set up for your business, read my step-by-step guide HERE to help you get started. 

 

Top 6 Recommendations to Step Up Your 2023 Marketing Strategy

 

 

Marketing Strategy Recommendation #1: Niche down.

I know niching down is something you’ve heard before, but are you really implementing this into your business? Niching down looks like making sure every single piece of content you create (posts, podcast episodes, YouTube videos, reels, etc.) is marketing to one specific person with one specific problem. (Learn more about how to become a niche master HERE.)

I promise niching down is going to make all the difference in how fast your business grows. If you aren’t niching down then it’s going to be really hard for people to know what kind of content you create–and super hard for the algorithm to recommend you to other people. So, niche, baby, niche!

 

Marketing Strategy Recommendation #2: Make your content searchable and shareable. 

We spoke of this one earlier, but I wanted to reemphasize it because this one will be crucial for growth in 2023. Take a look at your content and see which posts and videos are being shared the most right now. You can do this by going to your analytics and finding which posts are being shared and saved the most out of all of your most recent published content. 

Doing this will tell you the type of content your audience wants to receive from you right now. So, use that as your guide when making your content marketing plan for 2023. 

Regarding making your content more searchable, no matter what social media platform you are on all of their SEO ability is getting better. So, we need to do our part by giving increased clues in our content to help the platform know how to categorize it. You do this by having keywords (words people would search for) in your headlines, captions, alt text, and hashtags. You can learn more about how to do this HERE. 

 

Marketing Strategy Recommendation #3: Produce more video content.

Listen, I know you don’t want to be on video, but video content is king right now. We’ve seen how much video has taken over the past couple of years and it’s only increasing. I know it’s probably frustrating to see videos get pushed above other types of content, but it is because that’s what people want, so you have to be willing to pivot if you really want your business to thrive. 

It is totally fine if you are scared of producing video content. BUT it’s not something you can stay afraid of. I’ve learned to do videos only because I keep doing it. That’s it. It’s not because I’m this unicorn in a world of all these people trying to be seen on social media, but because I do it all the time. 

If you’re nervous about starting video, I recommend starting with your stories. This is a great place to start and get more comfortable being in front of a camera. Then, move on to reels. This will not only help you use more video, but it also gets your face out there and people want to see who the person is behind the brand. So, try it out! And you can check out my tips for producing simple and effective video content HERE. 

 

 

Marketing Strategy Recommendation #4: Build a community. 

In the history of business, bigger-name brands have been the ones leading the pack in the business scene. However, there has been a major shift thanks to creators. Brands are preferring creators to now sell their products because creators come with a built-in community to sell products to. 

If you invest in building a community this creates a huge opportunity for selling products to a group of loyal customers. You invest in building a community by getting to know your people–get in their dms, send them a voice message, etc. Be as personal as you can and help them the best that you can because that is what will build personal relationships with them. 

 

Marketing Strategy Recommendation #5: Diversify your content.

Content is going to be king going forward, 100 percent. I recommend having at least one type of long-form content when you’re just starting out and slowly adding in more as you keep growing. Types of long-form content include blogging, YouTube videos, or a podcast. 

If I were starting my business over again, I would dive headfirst into YouTube. YouTube is an amazing place to have your core piece of content because you can so easily repurpose your content from that one YouTube video. For example, you can pull the audio and create a podcast episode, turn it into a blog post, take shorter clips and make reels and TikTok videos, carousel posts, and more. 

You cover all three major search engines (Google, Pinterest, and YouTube) and more just from creating that one video and repurposing it across multiple platforms. I know I’ve been talking about stretching your content for years now, but we still aren’t getting it. Once you nail down the Core Content Code, you will make massive strides in your business and growth. 

 

Marketing Strategy Recommendation #6: Get an email list.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I am a HUGE advocate for having an email list and talk about it often. The biggest and most important reason why you need an email list is that it’s something you own. You do not own any of your followers or control the algorithms on the social media platforms you use. 

Getting an email list now (and maybe a blog and/or text list too because you also own those) will be huge going forward. This is because engagement rates will continue to decrease as more people flood the apps. Having that email list and continually growing it is how you will still cultivate and communicate with your community of loyal followers and buyers. Click HERE to learn how to set up your email list. 

By the way, Twitter is a prime example of what could happen when it comes to stunting your social media influence. Did you hear that Elon Musk took over Twitter and fired the top executives? He’s taken Twitter in a whole new direction, so the face of Twitter changed in an instant. And there are people there who have spent years growing a Twitter following and now it’s compromised. While it’s frustrating, it’s totally fair because they do not own Twitter. This can totally happen to Instagram or TikTok too. Get an email list. 

 

2023 Social Media Predictions

1. YouTube is going to emerge as the best platform to be on. 
2. Instagram will ramp up its ability to pay creators for posting content. 
3. Social media content (mainly on TikTok and Instagram) will become more informative and searchable and less silly and random.
4. Pinterest will become more social. (It recently introduced an added feature to its idea pins and I think it will only continue from there!) 

 

 

6 Recommendations to Step Up Your 2023 Marketing Strategy

Alright, my friends, those are my top 6 recommendations to step up your 2023 marketing strategy! I hope you got some insight into how you want to move forward for the new year. If you have some big goals in mind but feel overwhelmed by them, don’t do business alone. You can join my coaching community or hire my team to help you do the work. Invest in your business and the rewards will be unimaginable!

If you liked what you learned here, make sure to follow me on Instagram @iammichellegifford. And sign up for my email list HERE, so you never have to miss a marketing update again! I’m so glad you’re here and I hope we can chat soon!