Do you need some inspiration for your marketing in 2023? So did I, and I’m sharing all of my go-to spots to find marketing inspiration for my own service based business!

Cultural Trends: Pinterest Predicts

Pinterest, but make it helpful. Every year, Pinterest releases a trends report called Pinterest Predicts. I’m going to highlight a few of the predictions I’m most excited about, but first, here are my overall takeways for small business owners:

1. Customer Experience is KEY
2. Color and maximalism are BACK!

Here are some of the trends mentioned and how to apply them to your brand:

From Pinterest Predicts:

Rust Married: “So long, something blue. Say yes to orange. Millennial and Gen Z couples will splash their weddings with orange hues, from the bridesmaid dresses to the floral arrangements.”

In your brand:

Thinking about updating your brand colors?  (This is for you neutral brands!) If you want to incorporate more color, but you’re not sure where to start, start with moving tan into a rust color, or a rust color into copper or orange! In general, take your pop of color and bring up the saturation a bit!  Jenna Kutcher’s brand is a great example of this.  Her brand has been all about warm neutrals for years, but her latest brand photos and the jacket of her new book leaned into mustard yellow.

From Pinterest Predicts:

Pool Pawties and The YOLO years: “Pool parties are going to the dogs. Gen X and Boomers will host pet pool parties, complete with invitations, party favors and party decor…More years, more reasons to party. Boomers and Gen X will plan epic bashes for major milestones, from 100th birthday parties to 50th anniversaries.”

In your brand:

Events are back and more abundant than ever.  Local businesses, how could you use a private event or vendor collaboration to create new opportunities or build customer loyalty/excitement?  If you’re a product based business, how could you cater to this latest trend?  Can you partner with upscale private event companies to get your product into their lineup?

From Pinterest Predicts:

The entire Fashion category summarized:  Alllll the over the top color and texture (lace, romantic details, electric colors, fringe, glitter, pockets).  

AND

Mush rooms and Wildflours: “Gen Z and Boomers will make room for weirdcore design, mushroom decor and fantasy art in their sacred spaces.”

AND

“The apothecary aesthetic comes to the kitchen. Gen X and Millennials are tackling ambitious sweet treats like wildflower cupcakes and daisy desserts.”

In your brand:

Redoing your branding? Consider replacing palm leaf motifs with something more reminiscent of the forest, such as wildflowers, herbs, or mushrooms.

Motifs and graphics should always be the supporting cast though – Keep your logo clean and simple so that it transcends the trends!

Are you an artist or product based business?  Keep these motifs in mind as you design new products or purchase at market.

From Pinterest Predicts:

Primal Movement: “Time to trade in screens for stretches and desks for tricep dips. These primitive, anti-tech workouts will help Gen X and Millennials prioritize their posture.”

In your brand:

Your health is so important.  Taking the time to stay healthy and rested will actually help you be more productive and creative in your business! 

Drink more water.  Scroll social less. Listen to your body. Take naps. Step away from your screen and do some simple stretches!

Content Prompts

Here are some questions to ask when trying to come up with social media, newsletter, and blog post content ideas:

• Does your ideal client hang out on Facebook? Are there groups they are a part of? What questions do they ask in those groups?
• What questions do prospective clients ask you all the time? (And what words do they use when they ask them?)
• What was your top preforming post or video on social media? How can you re-use, revamp, or

While the top trending content topics in this blog post from Semrush may be too broad to apply directly to your business, keep scrolling down in their post for more specific topics and keywords!

Marketing Data

Hubspot’s State of Marketing 2022 report shares marketing data about social media and beyond. While you may not like what it reveals, it’s important to know where things are headed so that we can adapt as business owners!

If you’re looking for social media trends, then you’ll find this blog post from Later Media helpful!

Keyword Research

If you want to know what keywords to include in your content, trends.pinterest.com is incredibly helpful and it’s a free tool if you use Pinterest for Business! You can compare keywords against each other AND see what time of year people are searching for certain keywords so that you know when to share timely content!

Semrush is a keyword research tool (and free for up to 10 searches per day) but their blog also has incredibly helpful posts as well! Here’s a list of keyword research blog posts from Semrush!

Brand Photos

I created a blog post for you with brand photography inspiration divided by the type of image!

Marketing to Be Inspired By

1. Mint Mobile. Goodness I love their marketing. Ryan Reynolds is a genius. (and I’ll wager he also surrounds himself with a genius marketing team also!)
2. Need email or sales page inspo? Flodesk compiled a list of 8 real emails and sales pages to inspire you. (NOTE: I’m a little biased on this one because they interviewed me and featured one of my sales pages!)
3. Super Bowl Commercials like this one for Youtube TV – It makes you feel crazy for wanting to stay in your cable contract by taking potential objections to absurd levels!
4. I love Small Business Growth Club‘s commitment to consistently providing quality content and her thousands of followers agree! Plus her colorful branding just makes me so happy!

I could go on and on, but I hope this marketing inspiration for business was helpful to you as you enter 2023! Feeling overwhelmed? Sometimes rest is truly the most inspiring thing for me. Close your laptop, light a candle, do a craft. I’ve also found it helpful to do a craft project or hobby that I love because inspiration in one area can often lead to inspiration in others.