Digital Predictions 2023

Every year Digital experts share their predictions for the next year. Mostly it’s really helpful, but I often feel like I read the same thing… personalisation, storytelling, user at the heart of everything. We all try and aim for this, but often it’s hard without really specific things to get in place.

So here’s what I want you to be thinking about and implementing in 2023.

First party data capture. Why? Because Google are sunsetting third party cookies in 2024 and you need to get ready. I don’t want to make this sound too dramatic because safari did this awhile ago and it doesn’t mean the end to Google targeting, but it does have an impact. It means problems if you are relying on a third party cookie targeting strategy. So build this into your plans, maximising the opportunities of first party data and increasing this over time, whilst remembering GDPR and PECR principles.

Google Analytics 4. If you haven’t already, get it set up and running in the background. You’ll want a bit of time playing with the new interface, reports and terminology before July.

Don’t treat digital channels like print. If you’re using the same static images and copy in your print ads as you are online, then you’re missing out on so much. Use different formats to tell different parts of the story, think video cut downs, behind the scenes, user generated content. Leverage the formats in creative ways. You only have to look at the Meta awards from 2017 to see the majority of organisations still haven’t grasped digital content production.

Don’t measure YouTube or display in the same way as paid search or email. What I mean is, when you build out a funnel of top, middle and bottom, you need different metrics to measure each channel, stage and creative performance. I want you to think about view rate for YouTube and CTR for display, not sign ups or CPA.

If none of this made sense and you want some help untangling it all, drop me a message - info@danihughes.co.uk