Since consumer behavior has been perceived as a count of multiple changes after others, it is normal within the advertising world to understand consumers as beings whose behaviors, tastes, pleasures, needs and interests transcend according to their times, contexts and environments. That is why you cannot miss the 4 trends that will mark the direction of consumers in 2023.
The arrival of the Internet and new technologies into our lives, although they have marked a before and after in the way in which brands have sought to connect with consumers, every day we find new advances, projects and ideas whose objectives The main ones are aimed at innovation and the positioning of new solutions within our era.
In contrast to classic theories, which stated that the media were a threat to critical thinking and that we were increasingly going to encounter passive consumers, the behavior of people on the Internet and social networks has shown us the opposite. .
Today we find educated users who know what they want, who are not afraid to express their opinion and who use all the digital platforms at their disposal to express themselves. If the year 2018 was a year where this behavior was observed at its maximum expression and was evidenced by the growth of personal brands, influencers and drastic changes in multiple industries due to social requests, undoubtedly the year 2023 will be a year where we will see much more of this. That is why in this installment we will learn about the 4 trends that will mark the direction of consumers in 2023. Becoming an alert for those brands that need a guide on how to act and carry out their strategies for this important coming year.
1. Building socially responsible brands
Inbound marketing has been a marketing philosophy that has had a strong impact in recent times and therefore, its foundations have influenced multiple digital marketing strategies. These foundations propose placing the consumer at the center of the strategy and creating valuable content that educates them rather than selling to them. In some way, these principles created a kind of empowerment in consumers in which they increasingly want to consume content that makes them know more about a discipline or technique.
This entire relationship and dynamic between brands and consumers not only sought to create a cultured consumer but at the same time, also a critical consumer. Social networks became that space par excellence in which consumers began to give their opinions and put pressure on these companies to carry out better practices for society and the environment. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram specifically, were those spaces where users began to audit and demand responsible practices from both companies and governments, such as: equal salaries and conditions, respect for the environment, inclusion, reliable content, etc.
By virtue of this, it is said that for the year 2023, one of the trends is associated with the fact that it will no longer be only consumers who will become aware of what is best for societies, but that brands, under the pressure of these audiences, They will also begin to use their power and their voices to promote the good management of public policies.
In the United States, since Trump became president, this trend has widely influenced the public agenda, where both brands and consumers have used social networks to protest and show their discontent with certain government decisions. Which shows that both companies and their clients know exactly what they want their social environment to be and create awareness about it.
2. Technological solutions to promote healthy lifestyles
In addition to this context of empowerment and awareness about what is good for society and what is not, consumers throughout 2018 have had a strong interest in improving their nutritional and eating practices, that is, in leading a healthy lifestyle. healthy, especially with the help of applications that are dedicated to offering these services to users.
Apps such as Fitbit, Strava, MyFitnessPal, Apple Health, among others, have promoted this trend in today’s consumers and it is estimated that by 2023, this practice will continue. It should be noted that the origin of this trend is found in Silicon Valley, a space where technological solutions of this type constantly emerge, which are launched on the market if not for free, at least at an affordable cost.
In this sense, if you are a company that is dedicated to the marketing of food and products, both perishable and non-perishable, gastronomy, nutrition or sports, we recommend that you take full advantage of the benefits of this trend, creating marketing campaigns and opportunities. for your consumers to educate themselves on how to eat correctly, how to carry out an appropriate exercise routine and how to use technology and social networks to achieve this. Brands such as Nestlé, TimesHifter and Kolibri have promoted products and/or services whose main objective is to improve the well-being of their consumers. These are even free products in order to offer users the opportunity to educate themselves and lead a better lifestyle.
3. Collaborative work, “open source” solutions and impact creation
Since the Internet became a solution to access multiple types of information and content for free, users from all over the world have wanted to participate in this exchange of knowledge. At some point, we have all downloaded content on Ares, read some information on Wikipedia, taken Uber and heard about how the blockchain and its money transaction system work. These ideas, which materialized thanks to the advancement of communication technologies, are nothing more than some examples of how working collectively has become a business model and the power we have to help others and even make money. as is the case of cryptocurrencies.
Now let’s imagine a scenario where brands and consumers work together under this “open source” principle but creating projects that promote sustainability and promote actions that generate a positive impact on cities. This, beyond being something fictitious and at the same time being a reality, became one of the trends for 2023 where more and more, both brands and users are developing business models whose value propositions are closely related to the UN sustainable development goals and therefore, they are inclusive ideas, accessible to everyone and built collectively and in groups.
4. Artificial intelligence in digital marketing
In 2018, obtaining data, providing quality customer service and using virtual assistants on websites became the central core of multiple digital marketing strategies. Measuring and quantifying each of the objectives was an important challenge for companies, especially when they had the purpose of improving by using automated, practical, easy-to-use and innovative tools.
It turns out that artificial intelligence provides marketing with all of these benefits and much more. That is why its use as another trend should not surprise us. This trend also derives from the new demands that consumers demand in terms of speed of attention and personalized information, which makes it necessary to use external aids that allow these requirements to be processed, such as artificial intelligence and the use of programmed algorithms ( chatbots)
This is why it is estimated that by 2023 the use of algorithms in social networks and artificial intelligence in customer service will continue to grow exponentially. Especially when this helps companies obtain important data about their audiences and followers. Consumers rather expect brands to support these technologies more because they recognize how efficient they are and the benefits they bring to them.
In short, all these trends that will mark the direction of consumers in 2023 arise because consumers, instead of being passive agents of the mass media as many authors of communication theories (including Antonio Pascuali and Marcelino Bisbal) stated in their theories. On the contrary, we have encountered active and critical consumers of the bad actions that governments and companies may carry out.
