2023 – the Year of Fresh Perspectives

2022 seems to be old news and 2023 is what everyone is talking about. From our client strategies to our own big 20-year NPARALLEL anniversary – everything is about thoughtfully planning for 2023.

The biggest thing we’re hearing from our clients is that next year needs to be one for the books – people want to stand out with a bigger-than-before presence and are open to new ways of thinking and executing. We keep hearing that companies want to try something new, tweak their current programs, and look at their marketing with fresh perspectives.

This type of conversation excites us to no end because we understand that the work we do allows our clients to make real connections with prospective customers, engage their current clients with meaningful moments, and build brand recognition and awareness both nationally and in specific markets. Our team comes alongside each brand to help them strategically design and build their programs, whether experiential marketing, trade shows, retail moments, or even engaging people through thoughtful corporate office settings.

We want to help you be successful in 2023, and not just find success, but truly make it for your company. If this is what you want too, here are some things to think about.

1. Lay it all out on the table

Gather your marketing team and business leaders to evaluate each aspect of your company’s marketing from 2021 and 2022. Identify which ones were the most successful, least successful, and ones you would try again with slight program changes.

2. Dream bigger and better

Once you’ve evaluated the current state of marketing, it’s time to dream. We recommend bringing in agency partners to help you truly think about what is possible. Sometimes it’s one agency you bring in and sometimes it’s all of them, including your creative, media, PR, and experiential agencies. One of the many great things about working with agencies is that we see and collaborate with so many great brands on cool, new, and exciting initiatives. Our lens for creativity is always growing and being challenged.

3.  Thoughtfully plan your spend

We know that inflation is crazy high and projects are simply costing more these days. The best ways to navigate your marketing budget in 2023 is to plan ahead, engage your agency early, and allocate your dollars where you will get the most impact. We recommend adding 15% to your budget from last year and a 10% overflow budget to account for unexpected costs. If you’re trying something fresh and new, we all know that it’s better to have a little extra cushion in the budget.

4. Save money by starting early

If you’re planning ahead, you can often find more financial savings. We can help our clients with financial efficiencies if we understand the entire scope of the year at the start of the year. When we do this, we can work with our partners to get early-bird pricing for clients and also create project elements as part of a program versus crafting experiential marketing elements or trade show components in a silo. As you look at 2023 with a fresh lens, know that you can probably do more with your budget if you engage your agency early.

5. Create metrics, results & reporting

Whether you plan to try something completely new for 2023 or make some decent-size tweaks to your existing programs, we recommend creating metrics for each of your working program elements. Being a leader who makes decisions based on metrics, results, and reporting can help you to make smarter decisions in 2024 and 2025 and help your organization keep growing and moving ahead.

We’re here for you if you’re stuck with where to begin for 2023 or what smart marketing levers to pull.