e are the 13 best marketing strategies for small businesses in 2023
Two things are important for small businesses entering the new year:
1. The broad digital marketing trends that you can expect in the entire industry. These are the smaller, more mainstream tactical strategies that are already in full swing.
The first is for long-term readiness and results, while the second is for now relevancy and results.
Nevertheless, keep reading to find the best marketing strategies for small business in 2023.
Table of Contents
Here are the top PPC marketing strategies in 2023
An cross-channel strategy works best for paid media in general, but these strategies are primarily focused on social and search.
1. Facebook is a great place to go…
Marketing is impacted by privacy measures. However, for Facebook Advertising, we are seeing a reduction in audience sizes. This includes both the audiences you can choose within the platform as well as your remarketing audiences based on website traffic. You need to give the algorithm enough data so that you can run campaigns as normal or scale up your Facebook ads. This can be done by:
- Stacking interests
- You can target interested people based on pages that have large followings within your niche.
- You can increase your number of lookalikes by 1% to 5%
Find more strategies and tips in our 2023 Facebook advertising trends article.
2. But not on search
ICYMI, search advertisement cost per lead has increased significantly in the past year. The full report is . You can download the PDF. There are many trends behind this increase in search advertising cost per lead. However, one of the most important is broad match growing wider than ever.
Google is encouraging advertisers to use broad matches, as well as showing ads wider across SERPs with no commercial intent. The strategy is to stick with exact and phrase matches and not include negative keywords.
Michelle Morgan provides great advice about whether or not to use Smart Bidding here.
3. Click-to-Messenger ads are available
Andrew Hutchinson’s Social Media Today Article states that people are moving away from their whole social media following and posting to smaller groups via DMs. Andrew doesn’t believe people will be as eager to message brands. However, Hootsuite has a lot to say about social chatbots in its 2023 social trends report. To reach your audience on a more frequent channel, click-to -Messenger or click-to -WhatsApp ads might be worth a try.
These tips from Brett McHale will help you turn Messenger campaigns into lead-generating chatbots that work for your business.
4. Lean into automation
This mindset of anti-automation is easy to get into, especially with Google continuing to push its pushes. However, automation can help us in many ways. But not if we depend on them all. It is important to be able to distinguish between the features you want to use and those that you don’t.
- Smart campaigns? Don’t do em.
- Smart bidding + Broad match Stay away.
- Responsive Search Ads They are highly effective and your only choice if you know how to use them correctly.
- Useful for the right strategy. Automated bidding.
- Performance Max Great for the right business.
As we work to deprecate third-party cookies, it is important that you keep in mind automation and machine learning.
Automation and machine learning will only become more important. It’s therefore crucial to spend the time to learn how to make them work for you.
The top SEO and website strategies for 2023
SEO remains the same marketing channel, regardless of how much the SERP changes. Google’s job it to make useful content, and our job is to create that content. There are some changes for this year that you should keep in mind.
5. Your SEO & CRO should be more closely aligned
Google Analytics 4(GA4) will replace Universal Analytics [UA] in July. First, ensure that you set up your GA4 property as soon as possible. Your UA data won’t be available in GA4 because it uses a different model.
This is a huge bummer but this model has a lot of benefits, including customer-centric reporting, measurement, and measurement. Take this example:
- You can see visitor journeys across multiple devices from one property.
- Customer lifecycle reports.
- Machine learning insights and predictions about purchases, revenue, and churn.
This will allow us to concentrate on quality and not quantity. GA4 will require you to review your SEO metrics, and KPIs in order to better tie them to both your CRO’s and revenue goals.
You’ll need to be able to assign conversion values even if you are not an ecommerce business. Learn more about UA vs. GA4 here.
6. Concentrate on niche expertise
FirstPageSage has reported that there have been some changes in the weights given to different Google ranking elements. Particularly, niche expertise is increasing and trustworthiness has been added to the ranking factors.
This isn’t a scientific method, so even factors that have “decreased” their weight are important. Google also updated its search quality rating guidelines in July. This redefined low-quality pages and launched its new helpful content updating system in August.
All of this points to an increasing emphasis on building expertise in your niche. How does this look?
- Quality content is not only about your industry but also on key topics that are relevant to your core offerings.
- Optimize your author bios by recruiting subject matter experts from your industry and company.
- Encourage influencers to share your posts on social media, and encourage them to do the same for social signal.
- For topic authority and higher ranking, use pillar pages and inner linking.
7. Optimize your SEO content
Similar to the previous point, don’t confuse detailed content on niche topics with complicated content. Two things are important here:
Keep your pages in focus. Take the following example of a Google Ads Ultimate Guide pillar page and its Cluster pages.
Your pillar page should have a Google Ads cost section. However, your Google Ads cluster page does not need to include “what is Google Ads” or “why are Google Ads so important?” H2S. Cluster pages should be closely aligned with the main keyword.
Keep your sections clean. Over the past year of editing, I have found that I do a lot more cleaning up. The writer submits pieces with a lot of useful information but too many overlaps. A 101 beginner’s guide post would be a good example.
- There is a lot of information about “what is” in the intro
- There are too many benefits that are discussed in the “what-is” section, even though there is a benefits section just below.
- There are many great tips in the section “how to”, which should also be in the section “tips”.
I was often compelled to move the content so that it would fit in its appropriate section. Sometimes, I had to remove it because it was repeated in its correct section.
SEO is about thinking like a person searching for answers. The person searches for the answer to their question. They then look at the article for the answer. They are less inclined to consume and absorb, and they want to find the answer quickly.
Keep your sections clear and distinct. Make your post easy to navigate by using a table and clear headings. This will satisfy your readers and make it easier for Google search to return specific answers in rich results or featured snippets. This will give each piece of content and every section of your content the best ranking in the SERP, and deliver value to your target audience.
8. Popups can be used to collect data from the first party
It has been a slow, painful process of removing third-party cookies. We’ve been telling people for two years to create your first party data. You’re probably glad you took the plunge because eventually, there will not be any third-party cookies. But what, tactically and practically speaking, does this look like?
Quality email list building is one of the best ways you can collect first-party information. There are many ways to do this on your site, but here’s one:
- Create gated content (useful tools and guides) that aligns with your main categories.
- Popups are available for each blog category to promote them.
- You will need to require users to complete a form that contains enough information to be able to use your lead scoring system.
You now have a list of leads you can nurture via email and upload to seed audiences for lookalikes. How can I be sure it works? Popups are the main driver of qualified leads on our site. Find out how to create conversion-boosting popups that aren’t annoying here.
Here are the top 2023 email and social media marketing strategies
Email and social media are still the best ways to connect with customers and prospects. Let’s look at some.
9. Emails titled “Choose Your Own Adventure”
Interactive emails are a common feature of any 2023 email marketing trends list. The email allows the user to take an action without having to go to a landing page. Although this is more practical for larger brands, it is possible to send an email that encourages users to “choose their own adventure”.
It is possible to have a central call-to-action, but tailor it to different users or offer different approaches. Hootsuite is an example.
It says: To get key insights into next year’s top priorities and take clear, immediate actions, tap on
This makes the email more personal and inclusive.
10. Every platform should be treated as TikTok
The legacy social media platforms are experiencing an identity crisis after TikTok’s takeover of the world. Although it’s not clear if they will find ways to differentiate themselves or evolve to look more like TikTok at the moment, we are seeing more of the former.
This means that even though your top channels are Instagram and Facebook, you need to create content that is TIkTok-like for your audience. This means that you should be focusing on:
- Engaging, short-form video content. Our Instagram Story templates are available!
- Keep it real.
- From the very beginning, hooking users.
- Engaging in entertainment is important (you can still provide entertainment while being educational).
Talking head TikTok Influencer style is the best way to use all social media platforms.
You can find more tips in our How to Increase Engagement on Instagram post or these YouTube video suggestions.
11. Optimization of social engines
This Tech Crunch article states that 40% of Gen Z prefers using TikTok or Instagram to search for information, which is according to Google. It’s still only 40% and that’s Gen Z. But the wheels are moving. Before you know it, Gen Z will make up the largest percentage of the consumer market.
Social platforms should be treated as search engines, both for local and social search. This means categorizing everything properly and classifying it with location tags and user tags. You will be able to save ranking signals for future reference.
The top overall marketing strategies in 2023
As we have already mentioned, search advertising prices have increased due to Google Ads platform changes but also because consumers are more aware of their spending which has likely led to lower conversion rates. This is an important theme to think about for your marketing strategy in 2023. These are two ways you can adapt.
12. Create a complete-funnel strategy
This is not a new marketing strategy. It’s more important than ever. Although consumers are more aware of their spending habits and may be less likely to convert, this doesn’t mean that they won’t be able or capable to convert, even if your products aren’t essential. GWI’s 2023 Consumer Trends Report explains that consumers will not treat themselves if they are experiencing a cost of living crisis.
Despite all that, if you are too focused on bottom-funnel sales, you may run into problems. A full-funnel strategy allows you to capture leads and customers, then nurture them through your funnel. It doesn’t have to be about coaxing them into signing up. It means showing your value and earning their trust over time, so they feel more confident in making a good investment. This is perceived value .
You might also be able benefit from advertising upper funnel offers such as ebooks with more ads appearing in non-commercial SERPs.
13. Illuminate identity and expression
The importance of identity is in the spotlight right now, with Gen Z making up a larger percentage of the consumer market, diversity increasing and inclusion efforts increasing within brands, and the individual nature of social media having such an impact on our lives,
People want to feel valued, heard, and seen. This concept will be essential to your brand’s identity in 2023 and beyond. Make sure you:
- Your imagery should represent a range of identities (gender, sexuality and ethnicity, religion or physical ability).
- You can run customer feedback and customer appreciation programs.
- Encourage your audience members to be proud of their individuality, take control of their lives, and tell their stories.
Recap: The top marketing strategies for 2023
Search engines, social media, email and a mixture of organic and paid strategies are still the best options. Here’s a list of the top marketing strategies for 2023.
- Facebook is a global platform.
- Search is not the answer
- Click-to-Messenger ads are available
- Lean into automation
- Your SEO and CRO should be aligned
- Concentrate on niche expertise
- Optimize your SEO content
- Popups are a great way to create first-party data
- You can choose your adventure email
- Every platform should be treated as TikTok
- Optimization of social engines
- Strategy for full funnel
- Illuminate identity, expression
The post The Best Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses in 2023 was first published on WordStream.