HubSpot’s 2023 State of Marketing Report Reveals Essential Insights and Actionable Strategies for Business Owners
As a business owner, it’s essential to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to marketing trends and strategies. In an ever-evolving landscape, implementing actionable marketing strategies can be the key to driving growth, improving engagement, and achieving better results for your business.
HubSpot, a leading customer relationship management (CRM) platform, recently released its 2023 State of Marketing Report. The annual report includes original data from over 1,200 marketers across the globe, and features expert insight from organizations representing different marketing verticals.
Forecast Sunny has reviewed the entire report, condensing it into one actionable list of learnings business owners and marketers alike can use and begin to implement immediately.
Challenges and Concerns Business Owners Face
Economy
Trends are intricately connected to the events and circumstances happening around us, and in 2023, the current economic conditions have a significant impact on business goals, efforts, and budgets. Fortunately, most businesses expect their budget to stay the same or increase in 2023.
Data Privacy
Other trends are influenced by consumer behavior. When consumer behavior changes, businesses are expected to adapt and meet those new expectations. In 2020, Google announced that they’re phasing out third-party cookies as a result of data privacy concerns. Consumers have become increasingly aware — and impassioned — about online data privacy. This means businesses will have to rely less on cookies, and instead on their audience to voluntarily provide their data and information.
Business Owner Responsibilities
As a business owner, you understand the multitude of roles you consistently fulfill. It’s not uncommon to find yourself working more than 40 hours a week, striving to handle all the responsibilities. Ironically, many business owners initially envision themselves working fewer hours, not more. However, achieving sustainable business growth requires the establishment of efficient systems and processes. This is where automation comes into play, particularly artificial intelligence (AI). By now, you’ve likely encountered the buzz surrounding AI. Automation has long played a vital role in powering our preferred tools and processes, and now time-saving solutions like ChatGPT have become increasingly indispensable.
Where Business Owners Should Prioritize Efforts for High ROI
This “30k foot view” will guide you in determining where to allocate your time, financial resources, and efforts, considering the constraints you may face.
Don’t Go Dark – If You Can Keep Spending
It may be tempting to cut back on spending with the current economy, but in times of recession, keeping promotional spend flat will put your brand in a dominant position. As an example, if all the companies in your category cut their promotional spend in half, suddenly your budget that was 10% of the total share of voice now doubles to 20% as a result.
“Brand promotion is not about profiting in recession, it is about capitalizing on recovery.” – Les Binet, Group Head of Effectiveness at adam&eveDDB
Prioritize Your Website & Blog
As a business owner, it is crucial to prioritize your website, which serves as one of the few platforms you own and control completely. Your website is the digital face of your business and plays a pivotal role in establishing your online presence. Investing in a well-designed, user-friendly website can yield significant returns.
Focus on maintaining an active blog, as blogs have been proven to offer one of the highest returns on investment (ROI). Not only do blogs provide valuable information and insights to your target audience, but they also contribute to search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. SEO, when effectively implemented, can enhance your website’s visibility in search engine results, driving organic traffic and attracting potential customers.
By prioritizing your website and incorporating a robust blogging strategy, you can leverage the power of SEO to maximize your online presence, engage your audience, and ultimately achieve higher returns for your business.
Video Creation
If there’s one type of content you want to create, it’s video. Video is the most popular and effective media format for the fourth year in a row. Short-form video, in particular, has gained immense popularity thanks to social media. By focusing on creating compelling videos, business owners can effectively communicate their brand message, showcase their products or services, and connect with their target audience in a captivating manner.
Moreover, utilizing YouTube as a video-sharing platform offers significant returns on investment (ROI) due to its vast user base and advertising opportunities. With YouTube’s extensive reach, businesses can tap into a global audience and drive brand awareness, generate leads, and increase conversions. Prioritizing video content creation, especially short-form video, provides business owners with a powerful tool to engage their audience, enhance brand visibility, and achieve measurable results.
Social Media Shopping
Business owners should prioritize social media as a key component of their marketing strategy. Apart from organic social media which will continue to be important, especially during a leaner economic climate, the biggest social media platforms offer shopping tools that can yield high returns on investment (ROI).
With the rise of mobile shopping, customers are frequently exposed to ads, promotions, and discounts delivered through text messages or messenger platforms, thanks to automated marketing campaign workflows. By actively engaging with social media, business owners can tap into this trend and leverage these platforms to reach their target audience effectively.
Social media allows businesses to create brand awareness, engage with customers, and drive conversions through targeted advertising and personalized messaging. By integrating shopping tools and utilizing automated marketing workflows, businesses can streamline their customer journey, deliver relevant offers, and ultimately boost sales. Prioritizing social media enables business owners to capitalize on the power of social commerce and establish a strong online presence in a digitally-driven marketplace.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has emerged as one of the highest ROI generating marketing efforts that businesses can leverage. By collaborating with relevant influencers who have established credibility and a loyal following in their respective niches, businesses can tap into their influence and effectively reach their target audience. Influencer marketing offers a unique opportunity to authentically promote products or services, generate brand awareness, and drive conversions.
The trust and engagement that influencers have built with their audience can translate into higher levels of trust and interest in the brands they endorse. This leads to increased customer engagement, improved brand perception, and ultimately, a higher return on investment. By strategically partnering with influencers and measuring the impact of these collaborations, businesses can unlock the potential of influencer marketing and achieve significant results for their marketing efforts.
Make Strategic Budget Cuts
If a business needs to cut their marketing budget, business owners should have backup plans in place for each aspect they plan to reduce or eliminate. For instance, if you plan to scale back on in-person events, consider putting on virtual events or recorded webinars as a replacement
If budget cuts are necessary, most marketers plan to cut spending on:
- Paid social media content
- Print ads
- In-person events
- Email marketing
- Physical ads
It is essential to assess the cost vs ROI ratio beforehand to ensure that cutting certain marketing activities is indeed a viable decision. By carefully evaluating the effectiveness and impact of each marketing initiative, business owners can make informed choices and allocate resources to areas that deliver the highest returns and align with their overall business goals.
Maximize Your Marketing Success in 2023 and Beyond
By implementing these actionable marketing tips and staying informed about emerging trends, you can optimize your marketing efforts, improve engagement, and drive better results for your business in 2023 and beyond. Stay proactive and adapt your strategies to ensure your business continues to grow and thrive.
You can read the full report here: 2023 State of Marketing Report.
Are you interested in learning how a robust CRM and marketing automation tool like HubSpot can streamline your sales and marketing processes? With HubSpot, you can gain valuable insights into customer behavior and make data-driven decisions to drive growth and improve your overall business performance.
It’s the ideal solution for business owners looking to optimize their operations, enhance customer experiences, and achieve long-term success.