The digital world is constantly adapting so, to keep up with the changing trends, we’ve rounded up some key factors to look out for, and implement into your strategies in the new year.
Video content
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, the use of video on social media platforms has increased rapidly over the past few years, and that’s not likely to change any time soon.
Platforms like TikTok have enhanced the way consumers respond to content online. Short-form content, under one minute long, is more likely to convince someone to stop scrolling and watch, compared to longer pieces of content and static images.
For manufacturing companies, video content opens up opportunities such as product demonstrations. With companies requiring the journey lifecycle to be as simple and smooth as possible, product demos are perfect for showing rather than telling.
Video content also allows for conversational-type content, which is more positively received by consumers. We don’t want to be ‘sold’ to; we want to hear and see stories that resonate with us.
Check out some of the video content we have produced for clients such as Godiva and IDEX Fire and Safety, which visually promotes SAMFlows, establishes authority and educates their audience.
And with brands' personalities showing more clearly through video content, that leads us smoothly into another trend that is going to continue to grow in 2023.
Personalisation
You may have seen companies like Duolingo and Ryanair making their mark on social media platforms over the past year, with their witty video content - receiving a great response from consumers. There’s no reason that manufacturing companies shouldn’t take note of this.
Audiences are becoming aware of the way social media and online marketing works. Authority and credibility are extremely important to consumers. Producing content that aligns with them is a great tactic for a 2023 strategy.
Personalisation is the ideal way to do this. A human-to-human approach based on data (understanding exactly what your audience is looking for and accommodating to that) is something that manufacturing companies can excel at. Especially as younger generations are stepping into decision-making roles.
Gen-Z are on the rise
Move over Millennials, there’s a new boss in town! Gen-Zers, those born between 1997-2012, are becoming the decision-makers for businesses and they’re changing the way they want to be marketed to.
Growing up with the Internet, the younger generation finds it easier to hop onto trends, use ever-advancing technology, and get on board with new ideas. They’re more aware of marketing messaging, and want the B2B buying journey to reflect that of the B2C journey.
New platforms are constantly being developed and released to the public. This is changing the way that the younger generation consumes content online. For many, this means a shift towards short-form video content, researching the product and brand via word-of-mouth and user generated content (UGC) to inform their decision, and conducting their own competitor research.
It’s important that manufacturers understand this and align their strategies with their new audience and stakeholders. This could mean making a shift in the way you write your messages or the platforms you are promoting on to ensure that your brand resonates with your audience and adds value to them.Augmented Reality
Augmented reality, or AR, is a computer generated interactive experience that has picked up popularity over the last few years.
AR allows companies to create experiences specifically for its audience, which follows perfectly from adding personalisation into marketing strategies. These experiences could be product demos, warehouse tours, training scenarios, or can be developed for anything - the (virtual) world is your oyster.
Immersive experiences are still pretty new to the marketing world, but have the opportunity to be something BIG, especially for manufacturing companies.
At Red-Fern, AR is something we specialise in, as well as bespoke design, development, and marketing. Check out the SAMFlows AR experience we created for Godiva and IDEX Fire and Safety European launch, or the Apex AR experience for their new product launch in 2021.
Red-Fern can help build your marketing strategies for 2023
Not sure where to start? Let Red-Fern guide you into the world of B2B manufacturing marketing trends in 2023.
If you’re in the discovery stage of developing your online strategies, why not give us a call and see what we can do to help?