Digital marketing is always in constant change. The challenges and disruptions brought by the pandemic, geopolitical tensions, and economic uncertainty will make 2023 a year like no other. Despite this,

However, companies cannot pause their planning for 2023 and see where things turn before acting. To continue to grow, business leaders need to implement their strategies now. And marketing has a crucial role in this process.

More inclusive media planning
The advertising industry has been very focused on delivering more inclusive creatives in recent years. Now this initiative also applies to media planning. It is important not only for people to see and hear others like themselves, but also to do so in settings that are familiar to them. This last aspect is crucial.

Unintended biases can be an obstacle in inclusive media planning. For advertisers to truly connect with different audiences, they need to correct these biases and adapt to the content that their audiences consume in its full expression.

Advertisers like Domino's and Diageo are critically evaluating their choice of media placements and taking steps to display their content at a greater variety of times to better connect with their entire audience. They did this by removing topic and keyword exclusions that contained potential biases and proactively investing in handpicked, reputable voices and editors.

Advertising committed to a cause
Many people have been prioritizing sustainability for some time and want brands to help make sustainable decisions easier to make. Now more than ever, they also expect organizations to have a positive impact on society and turn their promises into action. In response to these calls, brands are shifting from simply looking for ways to minimize their environmental impact to focusing on a more ambitious purpose. They are taking a more active role in highlighting important causes and encouraging people to take action.

A clear example is Sheba, a brand of cat food, which has set out to save the world's fish and, to achieve this, has used an innovative advertising campaign. His team have launched the world's largest program to restore coral reefs, which consists of a series of videos about the work they are doing. Ad revenue from videos on YouTube goes to fund the campaign.

For other brands, the cause they defend is their reason for being. French company Back Market has embraced the mantra of "reuse, reduce and recycle" in response to the amount of e-waste society generates. They created a circular economy with their online marketplace for refurbished tech devices to reduce the environmental footprint of their industry. Their ads convey this purpose very cleverly.

However, the "image laundering" of the company with the excuse of defending a cause in its advertising aligned with such a purpose is not acceptable. Commitment to causes must be authentic and long-term, and must be backed by actions, not just words.

Privacy and tranquility
Companies have no choice but to differentiate themselves. They have to demonstrate their values ​​to retain their customers and get new ones. Now that people manage their daily routine online more than ever, privacy on the Internet is of unprecedented importance.

This year they have gone a step further: they have asked 20,000 people about the consequences of their privacy experiences, both good and bad. From Google they have discovered that privacy experiences influence user trust and the damage that bad online privacy experiences can cause. For consumers, these experiences are almost as damaging as having their data stolen and are reason enough for 43% of them to switch to another brand.

Users' online experiences must have a level of privacy that meets their expectations, and the companies that provide them must be trusted by customers.

Augmented reality experiences
During the pandemic, online purchases increased. As a result, it became more important for brands to innovate in offline environments. In 2023, the customer experience in stores must provide unique value. It is about encouraging customers both to go to stores and to buy online.

Augmented reality (AR) and other immersive experiences are the key to achieving this goal. The increased use of AR technology means that consumer demand for AR experiences will be even higher in 2023. In fact, more than a third of Gen Z users are expected to shop with AR here. to 2025.

Some brands have already started testing AR campaigns. Miss Dior encouraged shoppers to use Google Lens in-store to create a blooming garden with AR. Burberry, for its part, paid tribute to its Olympia collection with a pop-up store at Harrods, where customers could bring a statue of the goddess Elpis to life with their smartphones. However, these experiences don't have to be limited to just stores. The ARCore Geospatial API allows brands to make the world their canvas by anchoring creative content to real locations.

Short videos
Viewing habits are becoming more diverse now that users seamlessly switch between screens and between videos of different lengths, and in each format have different needs and expectations. Many creators are innovating with shorter content formats to give these users what they are looking for. And they are reaping tremendous success. In fact, YouTube Shorts has 1.5 billion monthly active users and more than 30 billion daily views. This makes this product a great opportunity for advertisers.

Creators are leading the way and taking new approaches in every video format to make a true connection with their audiences. It's important to follow brand storytelling best practices to create short, highly engaged videos. For example, videos should jump right into the action. With only 10-60 seconds to advertise your brand, there's no need to state a premise or tell a story in great detail.