The marketing experts at emfluence are basically time travelers. As we help our clients reach their marketing objectives, we’ve got to look to the future, learn from the past, and live in the moment. Before you know it, another year has passed. And what a year 2023 was.
It could be argued that 2023 represented the most significant shift in digital marketing trends since Google emerged from the chaos of the dot.com bubble burst 25 years ago and, in my humble opinion, saved the internet.
So, what happened to make 2023 such an eventful year? Luckily, we documented much of the story as it relates to online marketing here on the emfluence blog.
Artificial Intelligence
For many marketers, 2023 was the year that artificial intelligence (AI) jumped out of the pages of science fiction and into their campaign activities. Throughout the year, we’ve focused on how AI can be harnessed to influence SEO, its impact on content marketing, and how it will potentially change the face of marketing departments in the short and long term.
While it would be foolish to dismiss the potential of AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, we believe that rather than replacing marketing talent, these tools can effectively be used to enhance your marketing output. If any marketers are still worried about AI, consider this: You will not be replaced by AI, but you might be replaced by someone using AI. If you haven’t done so already, 2024 really is the year you need to embrace this exciting new technology and learn how it can make you a better, more efficient marketer.
Social Media
Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly known as Twitter) all fell under the shadow of the new kid on the block – TikTok. Young people don’t want to be YouTubers anymore. They want to be TikTok famous. But if you still think that TikTok is for the kids, think again. TikTok hasn’t only grabbed the world’s imagination and made us all dance along to the latest TikTok trends but also changed the face of eCommerce. No other social media channel has harnessed the potential of social commerce like TikTok, and they are all desperately playing catch-up. But it’s even bigger than that. In many territories, TikTok shop is considered a tier-one online marketplace, giving the likes of eBay and Amazon a run for their money.
Analytics in the Post-Cookie Era
Google Analytics is dead. Long live Google Analytics 4. 2023 saw Google sunset its old analytics platform and replace it with a totally new product. GA4 was designed to help marketers better understand the customer journey across all digital assets (online, mobile, etc.) while respecting the consumers’ desire for greater levels of privacy. GA4 relies on machine learning (AI) to model trends without the need for cookies and other outdated tracking mechanisms. At emfluence, we’ve long believed that analytics is as important as any other marketing channel you build your business on. The launch of a new platform made 2023 a great year to fully embrace analytics. If you didn’t get to grips with GA4 in 2023, you should prioritize it in 2024.
US Privacy Laws
GA4 wasn’t the only thing that emerged from 2023’s ever-evolving privacy regulations. In fact, even the privacy regulations saw a shake-up, with a raft of privacy regulations mirroring the European Union’s GDPR being rolled out and becoming enforceable across multiple states. While many marketers fear rules, we believe they can help make us more honest, trustworthy, and transparent business partners. We’re never going to game the system for a short-term win. Instead, we will always focus on delivering marketing solutions that create long-term, sustainable opportunities for our clients based on solid best practices.
Best Practices
As the digital marketing landscape evolves, so do we. However, there’s one thing that never changes: our focus on delivering the latest best practices.
A big focus for the emfluence team in 2023 was helping our clients understand the customer journey. Only by taking the time to understand how, why, when, and where clients engage with your business can you set your objectives and deploy your marketing strategies with any degree of confidence.
And because emfluence is fully engaged across the entire digital marketing eco-system, including paid search, SEO, social media, email marketing and marketing automation, we know all about delivering the right marketing message to the right person at the right time.
Learn More in 2024
As we kick off 2024, we can be sure of one thing—change is the only constant. To learn more about how the marketing experts at emfluence can help you prepare for success in 2024 with our unique time-traveling digital marketing skills, contact us today at expert@emfluence.com.
