5 Marketing Trends That Might Not Survive in 2023 [HubSpot Research]

Few marketing trends last forever. In reality, they come and go at rapid speed — and marketers must adapt.

Because marketing is always evolving, your marketing playbook should, too. But if your strategy looks the same as years prior, it's time to do some housekeeping.

Here, we'll cover five marketing trends that are losing steam and how marketers can respond.

1. Celebrity endorsements on social media.

Have you ever seen a sponsored post from a celebrity on social media and thought, "Do they really use that?"

For example, Beyond Meat's collaboration with media personality Kim Kardashian became a viral moment in 2022, but not for the right reasons. After releasing a promotional video of Kardashian sampling its vegan products, viewers were quick to accuse Kardashian of "fake chewing," leading many to question the authenticity of her endorsement.

While celebrities offer more exposure, consumers need to trust the celebrity and believe the endorsement is authentic. But building that trust is getting harder.

Research shows that trust in celebrity endorsements is decreasing. Only 44% of Gen Z-ers trust endorsements from a celebrity or athlete. This number drops to 38% for Millennials.

Unsurprisingly, the same study found that influencers are more trusted as brand spokespeople. We predict social media influencers – specifically micro-influencers — will start dominating this space.

Micro-influencers have a smaller following than traditional celebrities, but their audience is highly engaged. On top of that, they are seen as "everyday" people, so their audience is more likely to trust their recommendations.

Brands seem to be catching on: more than 56% of marketers who invest in influencer marketing work with micro-influencers.

2. The heavily filtered Instagram aesthetic.

If you've scrolled through Instagram recently, you may notice the aesthetic is changing.

Gone are the days of heavily filtered photos and perfect Instagram feeds. Nowadays, influencers, brands, and everyday users are pivoting towards a more unedited, imperfect look.

What's the reason for this pivot? Many users feel a sense of fatigue over the highly processed aesthetic that has dominated the platform. The Gen Z crowd, in particular, values authenticity over appearing too polished online. It's no wonder they gravitate to TikTok, where raw and unfiltered content is the norm.

Brands are starting to take notice of this shift, including Glossier. These days, the brand plays into the "anti-aesthetic" movement by sharing candid shots, unedited photos, and even cute animal photos.

Although this is just a shift in aesthetics, it points to a bigger trend with young consumers: they crave authenticity from brands. In other words, snapshots of avocado toast and heavily filtered selfies won't cut it. Instead, brands must explore how to appear more accessible and relatable online.

3. Audio chat rooms.

Audio chat rooms — like Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces — surged in popularity during the start of the pandemic, when many people were seeking opportunities to connect with others.

Fast forward to today, and more than a quarter (29%) of marketers are planning to stop investing in audio chat rooms in 2023.

From a marketing perspective, the biggest problem with audio chat rooms is that users prefer to speak with people — not brands. In fact, only 7% of Gen Z consumers prefer audio chat rooms for discovering new products.

Audio chat rooms are also losing popularity with younger audiences. Only 14% of Gen Z consumers have visited Twitter in the past three months, and a slim 13% have visited Clubhouse. If your audience skews younger, it's worth exploring other strategies.

4. Long-form videos for social media.

It's no secret that short-form video has dominated the social media landscape this year, and it will continue to pick up steam in 2023.

In fact, short-form video will see the most growth of any trend in 2023, according to HubSpot's 2023 Marketing Strategy & Trends Report. On top of that, a staggering 96% of marketers agree that the optimal length of a marketing video is under 10 minutes.

Of course, this isn't to suggest long-form video doesn't have its place — or that it's going extinct. Longer videos can offer more information about a topic, product, service, or brand.

However, the challenge is keeping your videos engaging enough to hold the audience's attention. Shorter videos, on the other hand, work well on social media because they align with the fast-paced attention spans of online audiences.

5. Marketing in the metaverse.

Marketing is all about experimentation, and the metaverse became a new playground for marketers to explore. However, this initial excitement seems to be fizzling out.

29% of marketers plan to stop marketing in the metaverse (e.g. Horizon Worlds and Roblox) in 2023. In addition, more than a quarter (27%) plan to stop leveraging VR and AR.

Although the metaverse is intriguing, it's proving difficult to execute. The equipment is expensive, the hardware is uncomfortable, and adoption is slow.

That said, the metaverse is still in its infancy. As it continues to evolve, things could turn around.

Back to You

Marketing is always evolving, so your marketing playbook should, too. As we inch closer to 2023, it's essential to take stock of which trends you want to leverage, and which ones are better left behind.