New Year. New opportunities!

There’s no doubt that 2023 is a year of uncertainty, with thoughts turning to ‘what happens next?’. However every new year brings new opportunities and prospects for every business, in every industry. With those opportunities, also comes challenges, and this year with the pandemic recovery, geopolitical tensions, and uncertainty for the economy, it could be a year like no other.

Marketing, and more importantly digital marketing, has a huge part to play in helping businesses overcome these challenges, giving companies the chance to grow and seemingly thrive where others may struggle. 2023 is therefore not the time to press pause, but instead press play. There are a wealth of new insights on the next big digital marketing trend to look out for, one of which is particularly prevalent for local retailers.

During and post pandemic there was a real shift to online shopping, it was in many cases, the only option. As consumers, we are now so used to shopping online, it has the potential to render the in-person, ‘offline’ shopping experience redundant. Brands need to endeavour to ensure the customer experience provided in-store adds unique value to the consumer, encouraging physical footfall whilst complimenting their online shopping experience. But how?

Augmented reality (AR) and many other immersive experience options have become a great way to achieving this. With the increase in usage of AR tech, it means consumer demand for immersive experiences will surely be mainstream by the end of this year.

Some brands have already capitalised on this opportunity both in and out of store, such as Ray-Ban and IKEA who both use AR-powered experiences, giving consumers the opportunity to test out multiple pairs of glasses via their smartphone, or allowing ‘would be DIYers’ to test out if that new bookcase really will suit their living room.

The opportunities for AR experiences to enhance a consumer’s in and out of stores’ shopping experience really are endless and we haven’t even seen the peak yet. Now is the time to look to the future and start planning where your digital marketing can take your business.

The team at We Are Acuity would be delighted to chat, to hear your plans for 2023 discuss ideas or share ours! Get in touch with us today to discuss growing your local business. You can book a FREE 30 minute chat here.

Or if you'd like to read more about Local Marketing have a look at our blog page "Local Thinking': https://www.weareacuity.com/local-thinking-our-blog

#localmarketing #digitalamarketing #ar #nextbigthing