Guide
Five marketing trends that could shape 2023
As the advertising industry evolves and the economy remains uncertain, marketing trends are also changing in 2023. Discover five trends, from media sustainability to interactive ads, to keep in mind.
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As marketers know, nothing stays new for long. The marketing trends that shape the advertising industry are shifting year to year as consumer interest, ad tech, and the economy evolve. The marketing trends shaping the industry are largely at the cross section of where the economy is and where the industry is going. From media sustainability and stretching ad dollars to interactive ads and retail media networks, ad trends for 2023 are all about progress and responsibility.
Staying ahead of this year’s big trends is more important than ever as brands consider how to most effectively place their ad dollars. Here are five advertising trends that are expected to impact marketers and their brands.
1. Media sustainability
In 2023, sustainability will be one of the most top-of-mind themes across the industry, according to industry experts.1 Even more importantly, customers will have their eyes open for brands merely discussing sustainability versus those that prioritise sustainability in all parts of the business. ‘The Rise of Sustainable Media’, a March 2022 global study from Microsoft and dentsu international, surveyed more than 24,000 consumers from 19 different countries about their awareness and behaviour as it applies to sustainable consumption and media usage.1 On a global scale, an overwhelming 86% of those surveyed said they’re concerned about climate change, 91% agreed that companies can positively impact efforts to curb climate change through business operations and 81% of North American respondents say they’d stop using a product if they discovered it hurt the environment.2
2. Making ad dollars stretch further
As consumers across the world are more budget-conscious, advertisers will also look at how to make their ad spend work better for them in 2023. For example, an Advertiser Perceptions study looking at the advertising industry as a whole reports that about 49% of advertisers in the US have already pulled or paused ad budgets for this year.3 The industry is already seeing a “flight to performance” in advertisers’ remaining spend. During a time when brands are particularly focused on getting more from their investments, actionable insights and measurement are critical in developing campaigns that effectively resonate with audiences. From brand building and demand generation to omnichannel outreach, brands will be searching for ways to maximise their ad spend and supporting those decisions with measurable insights.
Amazon Ads has leaned into finding those efficiencies in how to reach, buy and measure through solutions that help brands understand the impact of their total investment. For example, from a connected TV advertising perspective, campaigns that combine both display and video see, on average, a 320% increase in detail page views and a 150% increase in purchase rate compared to display-only campaigns.4
3. Streaming TV
Streaming TV will continue to be a highlight when it comes to advertising trends in 2023. As more consumers continue to move from linear TV to streaming TV, video marketing opportunities open up for advertisers to reach new audiences. In 2021, Amazon Streaming TV campaigns reached an average of 10.5% incremental viewers to linear TV, which is up 59% compared to 2020. On average, nearly three in four viewers (71%) reached by Amazon Streaming TV were not reached by linear TV.5
Along with growing metrics, streaming TV is also predicted to continue expanding the types of ad opportunities available to brands. In 2023, brands should anticipate more opportunities with interactive marketing and “streamfluencers”, influencers who stream on social media. Jeff Malmad, who leads commerce at media agency Mindshare, told Amazon Ads in March 2022, “As many social networking sites and retailers continue to experiment in this space, the success in China with livestreaming will eventually begin to take hold here [US]. Recently the Lipstick Brother, a beauty influencer in China, sold $1.9 billion in goods in one day.6 There is so much upside with the power of influencers, scale of livestreaming services and ease of purchase: The emergence of ‘streamfluencers’ will take hold.’
4. Retail media networks
Expect more retail media networks to form in the coming year as the landscape continues to expand. A retail media network is an advertising infrastructure that comprises a collection of digital channels (e.g. websites, apps) that are offered by a retail company to third-party brands for their various advertising purposes. Purchasing ad space on a retail media network can help brands of all sizes further build their digital marketing strategies. The retail media landscape is growing. According to management consulting firm Bain & Company, businesses are expected to increase their ad spend in the retail media space to $25 billion from 2018 to 2023.7
As other companies look at the retail media network structure to help bolster core businesses, expect to see players entering the industry and begin launching retail marketing strategies.
5. Relevancy
Though this seems like a given, it’s less that relevancy is on the rise and more so how advertisers will be seeking relevance. In an increasingly cookie-less world, advertisers must find ways to reach their audiences in a meaningful, bespoke way. That is largely going to come down to the combined use of first-party brand insights, as well as retailers’ first-party insights. Combining those two sets of insights is key in trying to make sure that audiences are seeing ads that are relevant and feel authentic to their shopping experiences. Early testers across all verticals are seeing a 20% to 30% increase in advertising addressability on browsers and operating systems like Safari, Firefox and iOS, when using a combination of expanded Amazon Audiences and contextual targeting.8 On average, brands that reach audiences based on our first-party behavioural and demographic signals resulted in a 38% increase in consideration compared to demographics alone.9
Looking ahead to digital marketing trends in 2023
When it comes to advertising trends in 2023, the mix is a bit of new with a revamp of the familiar current trends that have defined the past couple of years. But the key component with all five marketing trends is intention: What changes and improvements will most help reach audiences in a meaningful and convenient way? Read more about marketing trends for 2024.
If you have limited experience, contact us to request services managed by Amazon Ads. Budget minimums apply.
1 ‘Why a sustainability strategy is critical’, Business Insider, November 2022
2 "The Rise of Sustainable Media,” Microsoft and dentsu international, March 2022
3 Advertiser Perceptions study, July 2022
4 Amazon internal data, Global, September 2021
5 Amazon internal data, US, 2022
6 Bloomberg, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-21/china-s-lipstick-brother-livestream-has-record-2-billion-day
7 “Retail Media Networks,” Bain & Company, US, 2022
8 Amazon internal data, US, 2022
9 Amazon internal data, US, 2022