2023 Marketing Trends & How They’ll Really Affect Aussie Small Businesses
February 19, 2023

In 2023 marketing really seems to be the age of the future… we’re talking AI, the metaverse and bots…. am I sounding like a science fiction novel yet? It’s hard to imagine this but we really are living in the future. With trips to space a reality, cars that drive themselves – we are here!


But for small businesses, does any of this really have an impact on the way you run and manage your business? At a large scale, not really, but it does have small and important effects which you need to know about, adapt to and embrace – or else drop by the wayside to your competitors.


The Big Stuff That Seems Too Out Of This World


The Metaverse

The metaverse is being talked about everywhere. Big companies are investing into metaverse experiences, including brands like Nike, Samsung and Coca-Cola. It’s a real thing, and it’s getting bigger. It’s a virtual space where humans can act and interact in ways they cannot in the physical world. Big brands are able to create worlds where the brand ethos and lifestyle is paramount, they can build brand loyalty and ambassadorship through gamification and if we take it one step further in the world of marketing, it’s an immersive touchpoint that helps build, enforce and solidify the customer experience.


So, do you really need to worry about the Metaverse as a small business owner? At this point, no. It’s enough to be aware of it, even get involved personally if you’re interested in it. For early adopters, entrepreneurs and businesses with a big brand vision you may have a keen eye for opportunities for your own business, but it’s enough to keep an eye on competitors, look at different use cases and see if anything can apply to you.


Artificial Intelligence (AI)

A robot walks into your office with a warm cup of coffee it’s made for you. They sit down at the computer and start writing a blog post for you. One of these statements is possible, and a reality for you today. But it’s not the only way AI plays a part in digital marketing. Algorithms are hard at work in your digital ad campaigns, delivering your message to the right people at the right time. Your social media posts are seen by the people most likely to get engagement. The best thing is, it’s constantly learning and optimising to get you the best results.


As a small business owner, it’s hard to know and trust AI unless you understand how it works for you. If you're uncertain or uneasy about it, talk to a professional to find out exactly what the latest opinions are and how they can affect your business. We usually recommend using more automated strategies for Google Ads and Meta Ads campaigns because the technology is so far advanced when it comes to ad effectiveness that it usually outperforms manual adjustments (but not always!). As professionals, we know what to pick up on if the system isn’t delivering expected results, and steps to adjust to send it in the right directions.


Read more about bots and AI in this blog post.

metaverse-technology-future-concept

The Stuff That’s Maybe A Little Too Close To Home

Bite-sized Videos

Reels, shorts, TikTok… They all have one thing in common. They are short, bite-sized videos that are easy to consume. Social media platforms are being taken over by these short, bite-sized videos and it’s a format that is continuing to grow. This short-form content is a way in inform and entertain users throughout moments in their day. They can be education, entertaining and a pathway to longer-form content. In a report by Think With Google, 59% of Gen Z agreed that they use short-form video apps to discover things that they then watch longer versions of.


So how does this impact you? Shorts/reels can be very powerful for your business, especially if you’re targeting Gen Z. There are plenty of ways you can utilise reels. Film yourself giving several tips, or explain one tip in detail, share testimonials, feature staff, share your business values, showcase your previous work, use before and after shots, share checklists, showcase a day in the life of, or moments in your day, share motivational messages, explain products, explain techniques and so much more.


YouTube

YouTube is the platform that appeals to all generations. Gen X and Baby Boomers are more likely to use it for productive reasons, Gen Z and millennials are more likely to use it for entertainment and product research.


YouTube is constantly innovating its platform to deliver what its creators need and what its end users want. With global video consumption on the rise, the way in which we use video is constantly evolving. YouTube allows creators to share what they want, giving rise to micro-niches, and in turn, micro communities. There’s direct engagement between a creator and their audience, breaking down barriers to feedback and innovation.


Living room and TV usage has increased. The Connected TV (CTV) is YouTube’s fastest growing screen, with over 700 million hours of daily watch time. The tradition of watching TV with the family isn’t going away, the service being watched is what’s evolved. So families and groups of friends are watching together. It’s these experiences that give rise to longer-form content giving more meaningful connection and opportunity for business.


Anyone can be a creator. Use YouTube to share more about your world, educate and entertain your audience. Listen to feedback and adapt accordingly.


Conclusion


The world of marketing is ever changing and as small businesses we need to adapt. If you’re uncertain about how to tackle the digital marketing landscape, we are here to help. Whether you need help with leveraging your google ads or meta ads campaigns or working out a video or social media strategy, we can help you. Get in touch with us here and one of our directors will give you a call.



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Recent Posts
August 21, 2026
The Client AGA Air Conditioning is a Canberra-based heating and cooling specialist delivering residential and commercial installation, servicing and maintenance across the ACT. AGA had built a strong reputation through quality workmanship, referrals and customer service. What it needed was a digital and acquisition sy stem that matched the standard of the business and its growth ambitions, one built to support serious, sustained investment rather than one-off campaign spend. PupDigital was engaged in a multi-year partnership to bring the website, conversion tracking and paid media strategy together into a single, connected acquisition system. The Challenge AGA was already a trusted local provider, but its website and advertising weren't working together as one system. The site needed to better communicate the quality of the business and give prospective customers a clearer path to enquire. At the same time, the advertising account needed to become far more commercially disciplined. Heating and cooling demand shifts significantly through the year, and customer intent moves quickly between installation, servicing, evaporative cooling and gas heating, each with different commercial value. Residential and commercial enquiries needed to be treated differently, and the business's own capacity to take on work had to be factored into how aggressively the account was scaled. It's the kind of complexity we see all the time working with trades, services, and building and construction businesses. It's genuinely where we do our best work. A broad, static campaign was never going to cut it here. The goal wasn't more traffic, it was a system that turned demand into real, valuable enquiries, built to scale as the business did. Our Strategic Approach 1. Rebuild the Conversion Experience The first priority was improving what happened after someone clicked an ad. PupDigital designed and developed a new website that better reflected AGA's positioning and made its services easier to understand, with: Clearer service pathways for residential and commercial customers Improved mobile usability and more direct calls to action Tighter alignment between ad campaigns and the landing pages they led to Simplified enquiry journeys The website was built as part of the acquisition strategy, not a separate branding exercise. Every campaign needed to send customers to a page that matched their intent and made the next step obvious. 2. Improve the Quality of the Data Better optimisation depends on measuring the right things. PupDigital strengthened conversion tracking across the site and ad account, including enquiry forms and tracked phone calls, and critically, stopped treating every conversion as equal. AGA's feedback made clear that phone calls often represented stronger opportunities than lower-intent web actions. Tracking and optimisation were refined accordingly, shifting the strategy away from simply increasing reported conversions and towards improving the quality of the enquiries being generated, the metric that actually matters to a business owner's bottom line. 3. Structure Campaigns Around Demand and Commercial Value Rather than one broad, always-on campaign, PupDigital structured the account around AGA's core service categories and how demand moved seasonally, giving granular control over which services were promoted, how budget was allocated, and the messaging and landing pages each audience saw. This meant investment could be increased where strong opportunities existed, pulled back where intent was weaker, and kept continuously aligned with the work AGA actually wanted to win, not just the work that was easiest to generate leads for. Scaling Investment With Confidence As performance and enquiry consistency improved, PupDigital progressively scaled AGA's monthly ad investment, growing it 300% over the course of the partnership. This wasn't a case of increasing spend and hoping volume followed. Every scaling decision was informed by conversion performance, search demand, lead quality feedback, seasonal opportunity, and AGA's real capacity to service new work. Growth in ad spend only compounds when the wider system, website, tracking and campaign structure, can convert that investment efficiently. Building that system first is what allowed AGA to keep increasing investment with confidence, rather than second-guessing where the budget was going. The Results Following the website launch in May 2025, AGA's Google Ads performance improved substantially against the preceding period: Conversions up 14% 18.71% conversion rate, a 77% improvement Impressions up 22% Monthly ad investment scaled 300% across the partnership The standout result was conversion rate, not raw traffic volume. The campaigns didn't need to chase the largest possible audience. They became more focused on reaching people actively searching for AGA's services and directing them into a stronger website experience. The result was a materially higher percentage of visitors taking meaningful action, a more efficient acquisition system, not just a busier one. Broader Business Growth: A Harvey Norman Commercial Contract Throughout the partnership, AGA continued expanding its residential and commercial workload, including securing a significant commercial contract with Harvey Norman Commercial, alongside a growing volume of rough-in and fit-off work. Landing a contract like that comes down to the quality of AGA's work and reputation, not an ad campaign in isolation. What it does show is the broader trajectory of the business during our partnership, and the part PupDigital played in making sure AGA's digital presence could keep up with, and represent, that scale of growth. Winning commercial-level work like this means having a website and digital presence that looks and performs the part, and that's what we focused on throughout. The Business Impact The most valuable outcome wasn't any single campaign result or website metric. AGA moved from a fragmented digital setup to one connected system for attracting and converting customers, and gained: A website that reflects the quality and scale of the business Clear visibility over what's actually driving enquiries, not just what's easy to report Granular control over service-specific and seasonal demand Confidence to keep increasing investment because the system converts it efficiently A digital foundation that supported the business's move into larger commercial work This is the throughline in how PupDigital works with trades, services, and building and construction businesses: advertising is never managed in isolation. It's shaped by the type of work a business wants, the enquiries it actually values, and the capacity it has to deliver, because that alignment, not spend for its own sake, is what drives real business growth. Conclusion AGA Air Conditioning shows what's possible when a website, tracking and paid media strategy are treated as one connected system, working together, rather than three separate pieces bolted on side by side. PupDigital's role was never simply to drive more clicks. We rebuilt the customer journey, strengthened measurement around what actually matters, aligned campaigns with seasonal and commercial priorities, and built a structure capable of supporting significantly increased investment, investment AGA could scale with confidence because the underlying system was built to convert it. The result: a 77% improvement in Google Ads conversion rate, a 300% increase in monthly ad investment, and a stronger digital foundation that helped support AGA's move into larger-scale commercial work.
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August 21, 2026
The Client AGA Air Conditioning is a Canberra-based heating and cooling specialist delivering residential and commercial installation, servicing and maintenance across the ACT. AGA had built a strong reputation through quality workmanship, referrals and customer service. What it needed was a digital and acquisition sy stem that matched the standard of the business and its growth ambitions, one built to support serious, sustained investment rather than one-off campaign spend. PupDigital was engaged in a multi-year partnership to bring the website, conversion tracking and paid media strategy together into a single, connected acquisition system. The Challenge AGA was already a trusted local provider, but its website and advertising weren't working together as one system. The site needed to better communicate the quality of the business and give prospective customers a clearer path to enquire. At the same time, the advertising account needed to become far more commercially disciplined. Heating and cooling demand shifts significantly through the year, and customer intent moves quickly between installation, servicing, evaporative cooling and gas heating, each with different commercial value. Residential and commercial enquiries needed to be treated differently, and the business's own capacity to take on work had to be factored into how aggressively the account was scaled. It's the kind of complexity we see all the time working with trades, services, and building and construction businesses. It's genuinely where we do our best work. A broad, static campaign was never going to cut it here. The goal wasn't more traffic, it was a system that turned demand into real, valuable enquiries, built to scale as the business did. Our Strategic Approach 1. Rebuild the Conversion Experience The first priority was improving what happened after someone clicked an ad. PupDigital designed and developed a new website that better reflected AGA's positioning and made its services easier to understand, with: Clearer service pathways for residential and commercial customers Improved mobile usability and more direct calls to action Tighter alignment between ad campaigns and the landing pages they led to Simplified enquiry journeys The website was built as part of the acquisition strategy, not a separate branding exercise. Every campaign needed to send customers to a page that matched their intent and made the next step obvious. 2. Improve the Quality of the Data Better optimisation depends on measuring the right things. PupDigital strengthened conversion tracking across the site and ad account, including enquiry forms and tracked phone calls, and critically, stopped treating every conversion as equal. AGA's feedback made clear that phone calls often represented stronger opportunities than lower-intent web actions. Tracking and optimisation were refined accordingly, shifting the strategy away from simply increasing reported conversions and towards improving the quality of the enquiries being generated, the metric that actually matters to a business owner's bottom line. 3. Structure Campaigns Around Demand and Commercial Value Rather than one broad, always-on campaign, PupDigital structured the account around AGA's core service categories and how demand moved seasonally, giving granular control over which services were promoted, how budget was allocated, and the messaging and landing pages each audience saw. This meant investment could be increased where strong opportunities existed, pulled back where intent was weaker, and kept continuously aligned with the work AGA actually wanted to win, not just the work that was easiest to generate leads for. Scaling Investment With Confidence As performance and enquiry consistency improved, PupDigital progressively scaled AGA's monthly ad investment, growing it 300% over the course of the partnership. This wasn't a case of increasing spend and hoping volume followed. Every scaling decision was informed by conversion performance, search demand, lead quality feedback, seasonal opportunity, and AGA's real capacity to service new work. Growth in ad spend only compounds when the wider system, website, tracking and campaign structure, can convert that investment efficiently. Building that system first is what allowed AGA to keep increasing investment with confidence, rather than second-guessing where the budget was going. The Results Following the website launch in May 2025, AGA's Google Ads performance improved substantially against the preceding period: Conversions up 14% 18.71% conversion rate, a 77% improvement Impressions up 22% Monthly ad investment scaled 300% across the partnership The standout result was conversion rate, not raw traffic volume. The campaigns didn't need to chase the largest possible audience. They became more focused on reaching people actively searching for AGA's services and directing them into a stronger website experience. The result was a materially higher percentage of visitors taking meaningful action, a more efficient acquisition system, not just a busier one. Broader Business Growth: A Harvey Norman Commercial Contract Throughout the partnership, AGA continued expanding its residential and commercial workload, including securing a significant commercial contract with Harvey Norman Commercial, alongside a growing volume of rough-in and fit-off work. Landing a contract like that comes down to the quality of AGA's work and reputation, not an ad campaign in isolation. What it does show is the broader trajectory of the business during our partnership, and the part PupDigital played in making sure AGA's digital presence could keep up with, and represent, that scale of growth. Winning commercial-level work like this means having a website and digital presence that looks and performs the part, and that's what we focused on throughout. The Business Impact The most valuable outcome wasn't any single campaign result or website metric. AGA moved from a fragmented digital setup to one connected system for attracting and converting customers, and gained: A website that reflects the quality and scale of the business Clear visibility over what's actually driving enquiries, not just what's easy to report Granular control over service-specific and seasonal demand Confidence to keep increasing investment because the system converts it efficiently A digital foundation that supported the business's move into larger commercial work This is the throughline in how PupDigital works with trades, services, and building and construction businesses: advertising is never managed in isolation. It's shaped by the type of work a business wants, the enquiries it actually values, and the capacity it has to deliver, because that alignment, not spend for its own sake, is what drives real business growth. Conclusion AGA Air Conditioning shows what's possible when a website, tracking and paid media strategy are treated as one connected system, working together, rather than three separate pieces bolted on side by side. PupDigital's role was never simply to drive more clicks. We rebuilt the customer journey, strengthened measurement around what actually matters, aligned campaigns with seasonal and commercial priorities, and built a structure capable of supporting significantly increased investment, investment AGA could scale with confidence because the underlying system was built to convert it. The result: a 77% improvement in Google Ads conversion rate, a 300% increase in monthly ad investment, and a stronger digital foundation that helped support AGA's move into larger-scale commercial work.
Dark ad for ChatGPT Ads launch with laptop mockup and bold “ChatGPT Ads Are Here” text
June 11, 2026
For years, Google and Meta have dominated digital advertising. But a new player has entered the conversation.
Futuristic city and garden scene with people outdoors at sunset, blending technology and nature
May 19, 2026
AI and automation are changing business fast, but human connection matters more than ever. Discover why authenticity, trust, and community may become the biggest advantage for small businesses moving forward.