2022 was a fascinating year for digital marketing. Some trends consolidated, the social media landscape’s shift to short video content deepened, and Google began teasing a new era of SEO. And that’s just a small sample of everything that appeared in our radar in 2022.
We asked 7 members of the Postdigitalist team for their predictions and tips for the year ahead.
And their answers cover:
- The future of AI
- AI & copywriting
- Google’s role in online search
- Content-first design
- Outbound sales
- Prospect segmentation
- ContentOps
Let’s dive in!
The AI Hype Will Run Its Course
The rise of generative AI (basically, tools that allow you to create content automatically) has been fast and astonishing. For instance, in just 5 days OpenAI’s ChatGPT surpassed one million users. And new AI-powered SaaS companies are appearing every day. Especially, those that use GPT-3 to help teams create visual & written content.
The idea that “AI will replace copywriters”, combined with SEOs’ usage of AI-powered tools to create programmatic pages, has led to some interesting questions:
- Will content writers become “obsolete”?
- Can you fully automate your content production with AI?
When we asked Circe, our SEO leader, for a 2023 prediction, here’s what she said:
“My prediction is that although AI is going to be talked about during Q1, it’s not going to perform. Nothing is going to beat a human-made article, although we’ll be able to get an advantage from AI for creating drafts & generic text for automated landing pages, for example.”
How to Prepare
- Leverage AI for repetitive content tasks
- Use AI for writing first drafts & “filler” content snippets, not full pieces
- Differentiate your content by adding first-hand experiences and unique insights
AI as a Helper, not a Replacement
AI’s role in content marketing is one of the niche’s current hot topics.
Victoria, our content production manager, predicts that:
“We’ll start seeing really interesting things in AI surrounding tools that help refine human writing, instead of generating new content from prompts. Basically, I see a better future for tools like Wordtune or Grammarly, than I see for AI copywriters.”
How to Prepare
- Review your content workflow and look for weak spots, either operational or quality-related
- Look for tools that can bring agility and certainty to your content production processes
- Don’t be afraid to try out new tools, approach trying out new tools as an experiment and a conversation
Is Google’s Search Leadership Being Challenged?
It’s not uncommon for both users and SEOs to perceive that the Google algorithm is broken. Overly-optimized, “skyscraper” content became a menace to users’ SERP experience. And bulk-generated AI material may only make things worse. So much so that Gen-Zs now tend to use TikTok as a search engine.
A couple of months ago, Google launched its Helpful Content Update. This update aims to fortify its quality standards and prevent AI-generated content from ranking. Additionally, the company added an extra “E” to their E-A-T acronym.
Basically, Google’s goal is to show its users the most valuable and trustworthy results. These results must show:
- Expertise
- Authoritativeness
- Trustworthiness
Now, “experience” is also a requirement. But, what does “experience” mean? Easy: First-hand experience with the topic at hand. For instance, if this new criterion is implemented correctly, Google will prefer product reviews that show that the author has actually tried the product vs generic reviews.
Sasha, our Head Strategist predicts that: “Either Google will change the way people search and find things, or it will be replaced by TikTok for mundane questions (‘which are the top italian restaurants in my city?’)”
How to Prepare
- Don’t be afraid to add a personal twist to your content, let your brand be opinionated (as far as it’s reasonable)
- Optimize for helpfulness
- Include insights that can’t be easily replicated by competitors
Content-First Design
How will UX design change in 2023? Aside from aesthetic trends, Julieta, our UX leader predicts that: “2023 will be the year of content-first design. Teams across organizations will become more involved in the UX research stage, with the aim of presenting key insights that can assist throughout the design process.”
This organization-wide involvement in UX processes will have a little to do with another key shift that Julieta foresees:
“We’ll see a lot more content-first design. Content ideation will be put at the same level as design. Content will be tackled in parallel with design, taking into account how users interact with the interface. That is, bye lorem ipsum.”
But, why will content-first design be so important for teams in 2023? Easy: Because it’ll be a challenging and hyper-competitive year. It’ll be challenging due to a certain degree of economic instability that has permeated startup ecosystems. And it’ll be hyper-competitive due to the unprecedented availability of accessible tools that challengers have at their disposal.
Content-first design is an approach to the design process in which a website or product's written content/copy is prioritized. This means that the visual design is created around the needs of the content, rather than the other way around. The content provides structure, and the design team iterates upon that structure.
There are several reasons why content-first design can give teams an advantage in 2023's environment.
For instance:
- It can help teams to stay user-centered throughout the design process
- By prioritizing content, teams can ensure that their messaging is consistent throughout the experience, without adding operational weight
- It empowers designers & UX writers to collaborate, leading to faster turnaround times and more efficient resource allocation
Overall, content-first design can help teams create more effective and user-centered products that are better positioned to succeed in a competitive environment.
How to Prepare
- Create room for design & content teams to collaborate under unified leadership
- Develop a shared knowledge base
- Establish clear documentation processes and incentives for both your UX writing and your design team
- Encourage design & writing stakeholders to tap into other teams’ expertise
- Iterate & test
Protect Your Leads’ Time By Being Relevant
“I don’t have any predictions, but I do have a tip”, says Sol from our content strategy team.
“It’s something that all brands say they do, but very few actually succeed at. Basically, in 2023 your marketing strategy should rely on radically respecting your potential clients’ time. And, how do you do that? Through targeting. Your users are already being bombarded with irrelevant and generic messages. So, it feels incredibly refreshing to find something that answers a real question that you actually have. It’s essential for companies to communicate succinctly, focus on their ICP, and apply that precision to their outbound campaigns.”
According to a McKinsey survey:
- 71% of post-pandemic consumers expect personalization
- 76% of consumers get frustrated by generic brand experiences
- 67% of consumers appreciate relevant product & service recommendations
- 65% of consumers appreciate targetted promotions
- 58% of post-pandemic consumers expect post-purchase follow-ups
- Companies that get personalization right have a 40% higher revenue potential than their counterparts
Users find un-personalized experiences extremely frustrating. Across industries, this is both well-documented and poorly solved. Brands that get personalization right will thrive in 2023.
How to Prepare
- Tap into your data: Do you have all the information you need about your most relevant segment?
- Review your adtech stack, if your tools aren’t empowering you to personalize, start looking for alternatives
- Develop an ideal customer profile and niche-down
- Test your campaigns exhaustively
Warm Mailing Will Win the Day
Engaging users with the right offer at the right time will be a key advantage for marketing. But it will be absolutely vital for sales. Gonzalo, from our content strategy team, assesses that:
“When it comes to 'cold' outreach and outbound sales, buying intent signal detection & social listening tools will become essential. Up until now, outbound sales always had a strong ‘luck’ factor. You sent hundreds of emails and, out of sheer coincidence, found companies that were looking for what you had to offer.”
Luckily, those days of sending hundreds of emails and praying are gone. We have the tools to be better:
“Now, you don't have to rely on chance. There are lots of tools out there that can bring certainty and help you prioritize relevant prospects. Companies that implement that will never really reach out 'cold', but 'warm'. And that's an advantage in itself.”
How to Prepare
- Review your sales stack & include lead capture and intelligence tools
- Choose a prospecting tool that allows you to segment for buying signals
- Make it routine to stay on track with leads and prospects’ latest updates
- Find opportunities to create value beyond sales
Good Systems Will Be Key
“There are three key challenges for the year ahead, when it comes to digital marketing: Scale, efficiency & quality. Scale without efficient processes is wasteful. Efficiency or scale without a quality message will filter out your most ambitious prospects”, says Aaron, our creative director.
“It’s key to create systems and structures that facilitate scale while ensuring quality outputs. If I had to summarize this into three concepts, they’d be strategic automation, productization, and iterative design.”
How to Prepare
- Define clear goals and set KPIs
- Audit your internal processes and evaluate them across scalability, efficiency & output quality
- Test solutions to fix your shortcomings without jeopardizing your strengths
Your Team for Organic Growth
In this post, we shared some of our team’s predictions & tips for a successful 2023. If you’re looking for an organic growth partner in content and design, look no further.
Postdigitalist helps B2B startups to build authority and create more pipeline through inbound marketing & conversion-oriented design. Your path to steady, long-term growth starts today, tell us about your project.