We have entered a new year with new opportunities, and new TRENDS to look forward to! These are 23 trends we, at Future Females, expect to take off in 2023.
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- The rise of TikTok ads. In terms of growth and engagement, TikTok (which is the world’s fastest-growing social network) is outpacing other platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. According to AdAge, “TikTok is ranked as the most valuable platform for direct-to-consumer advertisers, surpassing Facebook, according to a new report from Triple Whale.” Then, according to Statista, “TikTok generated $4.0 billion in advertising revenue in 2021, a figure that is expected to double by 2024 and triple by 2026.”
- Interactive and gamified marketing. If you want to increase and improve user engagement, grow brand awareness and loyalty, increase conversion rate, and interact with your customers on a more regular basis, then it is time to pay attention to gamification in marketing. According to The Drum, “Gamification can be used in playable ads as a way of combining your ad units with an interactive game or incorporating gaming elements in a non-gaming context. Providing an immersive, engaging, and fun experience with your brand will help customers to remember your name and this is the biggest advantage of a gamified campaign.”
- The rise of “CX” – a focus on all-around customer experience, rather than isolated silos like marketing, product, and customer service.
- Experience over sales discounts. As new technologies emerge, the demand for excellent customer experience increases. The customer wants to feel more valued (what do they get out of the whole “sales” experience?).
- Mobile conversations and giving customers immediate answers and/or feedback. According to HubSpot, “customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable than companies that aren’t.” Because customers expect companies to understand their needs, this trend will continue to rise in 2023.
- Improved personalisation. Customers increasingly want a tailored experience. In fact, “70% of consumers say that they’re highly likely to purchase exclusively from brands that understand them and their needs, so practicing personalisation will pay off for your business, according to HubSpot.
- How consumers are shopping from the most accessible platforms. We know that the Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly changed the way consumers do shopping and e-commerce will continue to rise in the next couple of years. In fact, research shows that “in 2021, global e-commerce sales totaled $5.2 trillion and that number is expected to grow 56% over the next four years, reaching $8.1 trillion by 2026.”
- Remote working. #DidYouKnow? The number of people working from home tripled between 2019 and 2021, and a 2022 survey from the Pew Research Center reported that 78% of those who currently work remotely want to continue with that setup in the coming years, according to explodingtopics.com. Building a balanced lifestyle for employees will be crucial in 2023.
- Corporate influencers and employees on LinkedIn. Influencers and brand ambassadors are well-known on social media, but CEOs, HR, and marketing personnel are focusing more on corporate influencers. We couldn’t agree more with this statement from a LinkedIn article: “The very best ‘influencers’ for a business are its employees, because after all, what better brand advocates could there be than the people that work there?”
- On-the-go content. Video and podcast content will continue to reign supreme in the coming year.
- Getting the balance right between personal posts, and professional posts (especially on LinkedIn). Sharing personal content such as photos, videos and testimonials are important to showcase who you are, but sharing professional content is equally important so that your customers will know that you are trustworthy and relevant.
- YouTube is introducing new products that will allow learners to go deeper into subjects they are passionate about, and for creators to provide structured learning content.
- Focusing on people-centric organisations, prioritising overall well-being and employee experience.
- Employee-manager relationships, humanised. “Emotionally distant management is a thing of the past. Employees want and need managers who are authentic and empathetic.”
- Developing (female) leaders to achieve high performance and positively influence the work culture. According to the latest Women in the Workplace report from McKinsey, “women leaders are switching jobs at the highest rates we’ve ever seen, and ambitious young women are prepared to do the same. To make meaningful and sustainable progress toward gender equality, companies need to go beyond table stakes.”
- Increased importance for women leaders to work for companies that prioritise flexibility, employee well-being, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
- Technology and smart devices aimed at helping people to manage their health and well-being.
- Renewable energy. It will become even more environmentally sound for businesses to start adding renewables into their power mix, provided by solar and wind.
- Virtual and Augmented Reality in the education sector has the potential to completely revolutionise the way teachers teach and students learn. According to a report by Market Research Future (MRFR), AR and VR in the Education Market are anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 18.2% from the year 2022 to 2027.
- The rise of freelancers and entrepreneurs. According to Intuit’s New Business Insights report, the number of new businesses will surge to 5.6 million in the coming year.
- Going local to scale globally. According to Forbes, “thoughtful testing of localised approaches can empower any strategy. In addition, best-performing approaches can be further cross-pollinated to other markets, which can help scale your global posture even more effectively.”
- AI content. If used correctly, AI can help creators and businesses to develop better and more engaging content. OpenAI (a new technology) is a research laboratory dedicated to creating artificial general intelligence (AGI) that can benefit humanity.
- Green businesses. Green businesses are more than only green products. Many young professionals can go into green services. “For example, data analysts can provide their services for green transformation. The same goes for architects, accountants, engineers, and many more. Professionals have many chances to go into eco-friendly ventures”, as outlined here.
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