Our Top 5 Marketing Trends for 2023

1. TikTok on the clock – short-form video continues to thrive

TikTok has taken over social media with 6 million active users in the UK, leaving other platforms like Instagram and Youtube to adapt to the expanding short-form video trend. Based on forecasts released in May 2021, the number of TikTok users in the UK is expected to reach a whopping 15 million users in 2025.

Smartphone users aged between 18 and 24 years old made up the largest share of TikTok users: just over a quarter of total users. TikTok is slightly more popular within the female demographic compared to male smartphone users.

The most successful UK-based TikTok influencer both in terms of followers and the number of likes is beauty influencer Abby Roberts with 17.4 million followers and 1.4 billion likes.

In Numbers:

• There are 53 million active social media users in the UK.
• The average daily time spent on TikTok is 45 minutes.

At Verse we can help you discover and define your social media marketing strategy for 2022 – get in touch with an expert here to discuss growth opportunities for your brand.

2. Social responsibility – not just a buzzword

The concept of social responsibility considers that companies should do good by balancing profitability with activities that are beneficial for society. It can be applied to a company’s marketing to attract consumers who want to spend their money in accordance with their values.

Here’s where you could be missing a trick. Does your company have a mission or purpose outside of streamlining operations to channel monetary value for shareholders? Are your actions meaningful and communicated to the wider public or prospects?

Havas Media’s Meaningful Brand study found that most people would not care if 75% of brands disappeared tomorrow, and less than 28% of brands improve our quality of life and wellbeing. This, despite meaningfulness being a more important brand driver than trust for consumers in the UK. In addition, 53% of people surveyed say they are willing to pay more for a brand that takes a stand.

Our business design experts at Verse are available to help you redefine your brand’s unique purpose to help you reach goals such as business continuation, differentiation, market penetration and talent acquisition. 

3. Mobile, mobile, mobile – the reign of mobile-first continues

Mobile-friendly sites have long been the standard in eCommerce retail, and the mobile revolution has now spread across hospitality businesses of all sizes, too. Time-saving mobile solutions help streamline processes such as check-in/out and drinks orders, without the need to interact with the front of house. 

A hotel loyalty app is ideal for allowing guests to customise their stay from managing their booking, making payments, taking virtual tours, checking in/​out and contacting hotel staff via chat. Why not use the app to reconnect with guests after their stay through push notifications? Send a text message to offer a discount code on the anniversary of their stay? The opportunities are endless.

At Verse, we have built award-winning headless mobile-optimised websites and mobile apps for some of the biggest hospitality brands in the world. Get in touch with our team to find out how we could help your business grow by making the most of mobile.

4. Social discovery and affiliates

From catching up with friends to shopping and entertainment, social media has likely changed how you go about many of your daily activities. Travel and travel planning are no exception.

Here are some recent stats that demonstrate the growing significance of social:

• According to Uswitch, UK adults spend close to two hours on socials every day. GWI found similar or even higher daily averages in other countries.

• In January 2021, GuestCentric surveyed hoteliers and 48.75% ranked social media as the second most important sales and marketing priority over the next twelve months. This marks a 4.55% increase from the 44.2% who shared this view back in December 2020.

Finding the best way to leverage mobile and social channels for your business can be tricky. Book a meeting with one of our digital marketing experts to see how we use data to optimise your RoI and how your brand could benefit from new brand touchpoints, including:

• influencer and affiliate marketing
• Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising
• social media marketing
• outsourced Business as Usual (BAU) marketing

5. Trend tracking

Combining your SEO/M keyword research with trend forecasting and tracking will help you keep up with customer expectations and stay relevant to your customer segments’ ever-changing lifestyles and aspirations.

For example, did you know that spicy, chilli-flavoured notes are turning out to be the hottest food trend of the year? The trend was forecasted last December by the Pinterest Emerging Trends Report, which listed tomatillo enchilada sauce, cajun chicken pasta and jalapeño jam as the fastest-growing queries amongst the platform’s 454 million monthly active users. We say: bring on the heat!

As for travel, road trips are picking up speed, with searches for drive-in cinemas, dog car seats and drive-in cinema date-nights doubling in 12 months. Remote workers, on the other hand, have been struck by wanderlust, with UK searches for work from anywhere accommodation, motorhome accessories and motorcycle-friendly tents skyrocketing.

Trend research can hugely benefit businesses that can then create content that speaks to the hivemind and our tribe mentality. For example, you could inspire digital nomads who want to mix business and leisure – or tempt foodies who are curious about a new mouth-watering trend recipe. 

Verse’s marketing experts can help you identify relevant trends that speak to your audiences, and help you leverage on trends to grow your following – as well as your bottom line.