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5 Marketing Trends to Consider for 2023

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Let’s talk fire cider—horseradish, jalapeño peppers, garlic, and all manner of knock-your-socks-off fortification for the cold months ahead. This year my concoction carries additional terroir because I used cider made from our bountiful peach crop. You could say I’ve been planning for winter for the past six months. I’ve been making other plans as well—my 2023 marketing plans. As I research small business and consumer trends, I’ve found interesting ideas that have me thinking outside my box. Maybe you too?

Might these trends fortify your business?

  1. Cryptocurrency is gaining ground
    Crypto cuts through credit card hassles for small business owners. It offers lower fees and instantaneous fund transfers. Hey, even my church accepts crypto donations. 
  2. Short-form video marketing captivating social media 
    Social media prioritizes video, making it highly visible and sharable—essentially free advertising. Maybe you can do a tutorial for your product? Or a tour of your farm? 
  3. Subscription marketing brings new/repeat customers
    With subscriptions we often think of CSA food or Amazon Prime. But any product that involves replenishment, curation or access can be sold via a subscription. 
  4. “Personal” is the buzzword
    From iPhones to Misfits Market, personalization has become essential to customers who expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations.
  5. Customer Experience (CX) is more important than ever
    It’s always the year of the customer, but CX in 2023 could be even more important (some might say demanding, see #4). Here are a few suggestions.
LET’s WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

I’m studying maps and guides for a new poster project. Watch for it in 2023. In the meantime, check out my current shop for the outdoor adventurers in your life!

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Mark Bittman interviews Alice Waters: they’re both champions for good food. Alice takes it further and teaches children of food and democracy. 
  2. It’s Cranberry Season! Ever wonder why fields are flooded for harvesting? Learn a little more about Wisconsin’s state fruit. 
  3. Returning the Gift, by Robin Kimmerer. We can never revisit this too often. Perfect for Thanksgiving.
  4. The Ski Jumpers, by Peter Geye. A favorite author’s latest novel, all the ingredients of a captivating story.

What I Wish For You

God’s blessings on your Thanksgiving. May your upcoming holidays be meaningful, however you celebrate!

Equinox and Moons: Reaping What We Sow

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Wrapping up September is always a transition. Last week we celebrated the autumn equinox and this week we’re waxing in a new moon. It’s the time we reap what we’ve sown, as the Good Book says, and we plan for the winter months ahead. 

Speaking of transitions, Mother Fools Coffeehouse in Madison, WI, recently unveiled its new mural “Dissolve,” by Audifax. Since 2001, this arts-focused cafe has hosted a rotating graffiti wall. Isn’t this piece beautiful?!

Our Marketing Harvest: 3 Months Out

In the same way we’re now harvesting abundance from the garden seeds we planted in spring, so goes our marketing. Studies show the average time to see results from marketing efforts is 3-6 months (depending on the industry, that timeframe can extend up to nine months). This means the marketing we do now determines our outcome for the holidays and upcoming months. 

Need help sowing your marketing seeds? 

LET’s WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

Adunate is wrapping up a web design project for HUB Waukesha, a group of non-profit organizations working together to reduce health barriers and promote the well-being of the Hispanic community in Waukesha Co, WI.

I’m privileged to work with such caring people! Check out their website here.

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Sauerkraut! This was a good year for cabbage and fermentation guru Sandor Katz shares a recipe.
  2. Is Plastic Waste the Cost of Eating? Everyone needs to read this, everyone needs to do their part.
  3. 3,000-Year-Old Canoe Found, Wisconsin’s second ancient dugout.
  4. Farm/Art DTour starts this weekend in Driftless Wisconsin!October 1-10. Rolling farmland, art installations, cows, puppets, music, fall colors, poetry and food, food, food! A must-do for autumn.

Gathering Has More Payoffs Than Solo

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Aren’t birds fascinating this time of year? Every August, barn swallows gather on our electric wires and chatter, chatter, chatter. People in the know call this staging, but I like to think of it as networking for the migration ahead. We’ll soon start to see turkey vultures, sandhill cranes and Canada geese staging by the thousands in nearby woods and wetlands.

Birds don’t fly solo. They fly farther and more efficiently when they gather.

Adobe Stock

Entrepreneurs Need to Gather As Well

This past weekend a board on which I serve gathered for its annual retreat. We had the option of attending in person or via Zoom. I chose Zoom. I claimed it was because of my schedule, but if I’m honest it’s also because more and more I find myself reclusing.  

In bird talk, COVID, technology and working from home have enabled us to fly solo. But is this always the best? Are we missing opportunities to fly farther and more efficiently? Zoom worked well enough for my board retreat, but it didn’t pick up the in-person discussions. It didn’t cover gathering for dinner and social hours. It didn’t allow me to fully get to know my peers and interact with them. 

Opportunities for Gathering

As summer comes to an end, we find ourselves hunkering down for winter. Hunkering is fine, reclusing is not. Here are three easy ways to gather:

  1. Conferences, perfect for networking
    Depending on your industry, August-October and January-March are considered conference seasons. Now is a good time to get online and find one that relates to you. 
  2. On-site meetings, how quaint and old-fashioned
    I’m wrapping up a web design project and will soon tutor my customer for managing the site. We could do this via Zoom but meeting in person will be more efficient and productive. 
  3. Coffee, nothing more personal
    When is the last time you’ve simply gone out for a chat with a business peer or customer? What’s new with them? How have the past two years affected their life? 
LET’s WORK TOGETHER
Cover by Tracy Harris, Cricket Design

What I’m Working On This Month

August was a big wrap-up of the Farm/Art DTour event guide by Wormfarm Institute. Want a preview? Check it out page by page!

A big kudos to Tracy Harris of Cricket Design Works for the stunningly gorgeous front and back covers. If this doesn’t bring you to your senses, gee, I don’t know what will. I love collaborating with talented professionals!

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Please, not our TP. Sadly yes, PFAS have even been detected in our toilet paper.
  2. Selling in festivals or markets is an art and a science. Here, here and here is a 3-part series of good advice.
  3. Intimate portraits through 60 years of marriage, photography and artistic devotion. 
  4. Should you do a newsletter? Yes, newsletters and social media marketing have long-range returns, but here’s why they pay. P.S. I can help you with both!

Does Your Bandwagon Promote Your Brand?

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June has been a busy month. In my world alone, June is Trails Day, Dairy Month, Pollinator Week, Make Music Day and Yoga Day. I say “my world” because these are my interests, they’re the things I care about. And because I’ve branded my business according to who I am, these are also the interests of my target market. 

Yep, my customers and I are on the same bandwagon.

What’s Your Bandwagon? Does It Promote Who You Are?

A bandwagon is a cause or movement based on a shared passion. We often jump on a bandwagon simply because it’s the current trend, but ideally we should be supporting causes that speak specifically to our brand.

Supporting a cause is a first step. Talking about it is the second. Our customers want to know who we are as a business. They want to know that our ideals match theirs and we are a business they want to patronize. Speak up and let them know what you care about!

If you need help with this, let me know. I’d love to give you a hand.

How 3 Brands Showcase Their Bandwagons

  • Adunate’s target audience are women-owned businesses, sustainable agriculture and more. I’m proud to serve on the board for Women, Food & Agriculture Network (WFAN). 
  • My client Forward Mutual Insurance Company carries a longstanding heritage in Wisconsin agriculture. It regularly supports June dairy breakfasts, tractor pulls and county fairs. 
  • Hope Lake Country targets the unchurched with a goal of changing lives and eternities. Its members regularly show love by donating towards community help organizations.
LET’s WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

My Wisconsin State Park poster is hot off the press and it turned out beautifully! Get yours today!

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Grow Our Community Resilience: Save the dates for “Together We Rise, Exploring Intersectional Feminism in Agriculture”
  2. Imagine being a survivor of a school mass shooting. Let’s not set this aside. Listen to the message these survivors share.
  3. A Rare Alignment: See all the major planets bunched together in June.
  4. The Art of Fermentation. It’s that time of year when I revisit Sandor Katz and talk fermentation with Wormfarm Institute. Neither ever get old.

Information Desk: How Does Yours Compare to Your Customer’s?

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I’m sometimes surprised for what people are willing to pay me. Things that are so obvious to me, I can’t imagine people not knowing them for themselves. But then I remember what I pay others for, like my tax accountant or copyright attorney.

The fact of the matter is…

We are all experts in our own field but we aren’t in anyone else’s. If we think of our expertise as an “information desk,” I sit at mine because it’s what I do, what I study, what I practice. All day, every day. Ditto, for you and your information desk.

(By the way, this topic and desk metaphor were developed from the OG+S newsletter—a good read from great attorneys. Also a perfect followup to my March newsletter.)

Your information desk…

  • What field are you an expert in?
  • What do you know that others do not?
  • What questions do you most commonly answer?
  • What problem does your product or service solve?

…compared to your customer’s

  • What does your ideal customer NOT know?
  • What questions are they asking?
  • What are their pain points?
  • What help do they need?

Now ask yourself, “how can I communicate to my customers that I’m here and ready to help?”

LET’s WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

We wish COVID was over, but sadly it’s not. I’m honored to join with the Hispanic Health Resource Center in educating people on COVID safety and the medical care available. 

What I’m Tuned In To This Month