How to Stay Relevant in 2023: Knowing Your Audience Could Be Key

With 2023 knocking on our doors, it is natural to look back in order to move forward. For example, who would have thought that 2022 would start with a war in Europe that would push many countries toward recession and inflation? This year has been marked by global economic uncertainty that has impacted us all. Everyone, from brands to consumers, now strategically research online and analyze each and every purchase decision.

According to data from Google Insights, 69 percent of consumers are worried by inflation. Likewise, a study published by EY showed that 84 percent of Mexican consumers are worried about their finances. This is prompting changes in their shopping habits: 68 percent are more aware of and cautious with their spending and 55 percent only buy essentials.

Meanwhile, we cannot forget two major commercial events: soccer’s World Cup and the holiday season. According to Google Insights, consumers start preparing for these events increasingly early. To fight inflation, they start shopping around for the best prices far in advance.

So what is the takeaway for brands? Data clearly shows that these are not just “distracted consumers” — brands are facing savvy consumers, who are well informed and shop strategically. Understanding this is key to brand success because to move forward, we first need to know where we are coming from.

Capturing Attention Is a Valuable Asset

As we mentioned, brands are dealing with savvy consumers who have access to more and more digital channels to research products, compare prices and look for deals. However, the overload of online information (together with the pressure of rising costs) can leave consumers saturated.

Therefore, capturing consumer attention is now a valuable goal in itself as brands fight to win the battle for relevance. This raises an obvious — yet tricky — question: How can they win? Segmenting audiences by likes and preferences is not enough. The key is to offer consumers what they need, right when they need it.

It is not just about knowing what your target audience buys, but also about knowing how they buy it. What journey leads to the much-coveted conversion? Each brand interaction along this omnichannel journey has a critical impact on a consumer’s decision.

How to Win the Brand Relevance Battle

Companies know that, to improve their relevance, they need to provide consumers with the right product at the right time. But how can brands know when is the right time to, for example, deliver an ad? This question demands a detailed analysis from your marketing team, who will be able to paint a better picture of your target audience. However, there are some general clues that could point brands in the right direction.

Consumers value meaningful interactions. Data from Google Insights shows that 48 percent of consumers value when brands advertise upcoming sales or discounts, 43 percent when brands deliver on the advertised discount and 43 percent when they are offered cheaper alternatives to the item they are looking for. Brands should also choose channels wisely. For example, Google and YouTube are usually present throughout the consumer journey.

Brands should note that they are not dealing with fixed, uniform audiences. On the contrary, users are increasingly active and dynamic. Therefore, brands need to consider this and ensure they are all set to quickly react and adapt to changing scenarios. This requires adequate metrics and a flexible budget, strategically allocated over time to maintain a strong and constant advertising presence. After all, when brands stop advertising, they lose sales.

Fortunately, traditional techniques like upselling and cross-selling are now supercharged with artificial intelligence (AI). This enables more effective and accurate segmentation, which helps to expand market share.

The Future Is Now: What to Expect in 2023

The main issue brands need to address sooner rather than later is their responsiveness and adaptability to constantly evolving scenarios and technological trends. After all, digital transformation is clearly a dynamic phenomenon. In this respect, we have identified three major trends to look out for in 2023:

• Hyper-personalization: To improve their relevance, brands should advance toward personalized advertising — that is, ads that are specifically tailored to each user’s needs, likes and interests.

There are dedicated AI-based solutions to help companies improve their advertising efforts. For example, dynamic creative optimization (DCO) technology helps create and deliver smart, dynamic online ads. As a result, advertisers can use AI to ensure banners show the right content to the right audience. This, in turn, boosts the chances that impressions lead to clicks and conversions.

• Multimedia campaigns for increasingly distracted consumers: According to Google Insights, advertisers who add product feeds to their video ads achieve a 60 percent-plus increase in conversions at a lower CPA.

• AI-enabled user experience optimization: A Statista survey published last year shows that AI helped 40 percent of companies improve their performance, accelerate revenue growth, obtain actionable insights and more.

AI also helps predict consumer behaviors. As we have mentioned, user experience increasingly drives consumer decisions. AI-enabled solutions can optimize proven marketing techniques to improve real-time segmentation and offer a better user experience. This shows that users are ultimately at the heart of any business innovation.

We are facing a challenging landscape, with ever-more connected, better-informed users with higher expectations. Brands will clearly need to redouble their efforts to win the battle for relevance. Technology will be a key ally in creating flexible brands that can be there for their users just when they are needed.