Find out which niches are projected to be the most profitable in 2023. This article was originally published in The Writing Cooperative.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is a fancy schmancy digital marketing organization that releases a marketing outlook survey every year.
They surveyed big brands and agencies to provide “a forward-looking view into the 2023 ad spending marketplace,” so that advertisers and marketers can get “a perspective on opportunities and strategies for growth.”
In addition, this year, they took a deep dive into two growing spaces — retail media networks (RMNs) and emerging technologies, such as the metaverse, NFTs, and augmented reality (AR).
How to Identify Profitable Freelance Writing Niches
As I said in my story about why reCommerce is the perfect side hustle for the holiday season and beyond, spotting profitable niches is super easy.
Yes, reCommerce with an “r,” it’s not a typo.
You just need to pay attention to what’s happening around you:
- Search through freelancing job boards to see what services and topics are in demand.
- Browse through brands’ websites and social media accounts to find out who’s consistently publishing content — and what type of content.
- Look around you — which companies are spending the most on marketing? Do you keep getting ads from the same brands on YouTube, social media, or newsletters sponsored brackets?
The first point is pretty self-explanatory; the following two show you which businesses have the spending power to afford heavy marketing — that means they can afford your freelance writing services.
And, there you have it.
That’s why IAB’s marketing survey is an invaluable resource to figure out which writing niches will (not only withstand the upcoming recession but) be profitable in 2023.
IAB’s 2023 Marketing Outlook Survey — Key Findings
In 2023, ad spending is projected to grow 5.9% year-on-year (YoY).
Year-on-year means compared with the corresponding values from a year earlier, by the way.
But not all niches’ marketing spending is projected to grow at the same rate.
What Categories Are Projected to Grow the Most?
Here are the nine categories expected to grow the most in terms of ad spending YoY:
- B2B: +20.8%
- Travel: +20.6%
- Restaurants/beer/liquor/wine: +17.1%
- Financial services: +11.1%
- Technology/telecommunications: +6.4%
- Retail: +4.8%
- Consumer packaged goods (CPG): +4.7%
- Health/Wellness: +2.3%
- Apparel/fashion/luxury: +0.2%
The automotive industry was the only niche projected to reduce ad spending in 2023 (-7.0%).
Where Will Companies Spend Most of Their Marketing Dollars, Though?
Connected TV (CTV) (i.e. content streaming platforms) and every digital channel will experience the highest growth — great news for freelance writers and other online workers!
- CTV: +14.4%
- Paid search (i.e. search engine marketing (SEM)): +8.9%
- Podcasts: +8.1%
- Digital video (excluding CTV): +6.5%
- Social media: +6.5%
- Digital audio (excluding podcasts): +5.9%
- Digital out-of-home (i.e. digitized display advertising in public environments): +2.7%
- Digital display (i.e. online graphic advertising such as banners, text, images, video, and audio): +2.1%
- Gaming: +1.6%
All traditional channels, like print and radio, will experience a decline YoY (-4.1%), and so will broadcast and cable TV (-6.3%).
However, we need to remember that growth and decline percentages are relative.
For example, broadcast and cable TV will still account for 14% of all marketing spending. Only digital video (including CTV), paid search, and social media stand at higher percentual spending.
What Are the Main Goals of Advertisers?
“Customer acquisition is by far [the] top goal for 2023 media investments (61%), followed by increasing brand equity (43%) and improving media efficiency (35%).”
Some of the most common customer acquisition tactics involve content marketing, search engine marketing, email marketing, SEO, social media marketing, and referral programs (i.e. affiliate partnerships).
This is beyond great news for online workers, including freelance writers, bloggers, and marketing strategists.
Businesses will also invest heavily in growing brand equity and media efficiency.
Another thing going for marketing strategists is that brands plan on spending a lot more on measurement, marketing mix and modeling (MMM), and frequent media plans’ reforecasting.
52% of advertisers said they’ll spend more on creators in 2023, namely on creator/influencer ads and partnerships.
Again, this is very positive for freelance writers, bloggers, and influencers of all sizes.
What About Emerging Technologies and Niches?
The 2023 breakout star will be the metaverse.
20% of advertisers already have a presence in the metaverse, and 36% are considering it. A 44% minority is still not considering this option.
With all this in mind, let’s take a look at what niches are projected to be the most profitable, even during the upcoming recession.
13 Recession-Proof Freelance Writing Niches
First of all, it’s important to mention that your freelance writing niche can be the industry/topics you write about or the type of freelance writing services you offer.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at thirteen recession-proof freelance writing niches.
1. Recession-Proof Freelance Writing Niches: Finance, Personal Finance, and Fintech
Marketing budgets for financial services are projected to grow 11.1% — it’s the fourth category expected to grow the most.
But we don’t need a marketing survey to tell us writing about finance during a recession is profitable, do we?
Finance/fintech companies and personal finance blogs will jump on the opportunity to offer solutions for the monetary woes their audiences face.
They’ll need all sorts of content to market and educate customers on their products and services.
2. Recession-Proof Freelance Writing Niches: Technology
Technology is always a profitable niche because:
- Their products are usually expensive, meaning they have good profit margins and can pay you accordingly.
- The supply of technology writers is limited. Not everyone has the knowledge to write about this topic or the ability to break down such complex topics for the average reader.
If you’re willing to put in the work to learn everything you need to become a technology writer, there’s a huge pile of cash waiting for you at the end.
In 2023, you could focus on emerging technologies, like the metaverse and AR, to differentiate yourself from the competition.
As a B2B SaaS and digital marketing writer, I’m considering learning about metaverse marketing, for example.
3. Recession-Proof Freelance Writing Niches: B2B SaaS
B2B is the ad spending category projected to grow the most (20.8%).
That comes as no surprise, to be honest.
While the average person is struggling with 40-year-high inflation, corporate profits are at an all-time high.
On top of that, SaaS is a high-paying niche because its business model is extremely profitable.
If I had to guess, I’d say B2B SaaS would be one of the last niches to slash marketing budgets — but I don’t need to guess; the data tells you exactly that.
4. Recession-Proof Freelance Writing Niches: B2B Digital Marketing
The reasons why the B2B digital marketing niche will continue to be profitable in 2023 are the same as B2B SaaS.
Plus, if there’s one industry that knows the importance of continuing to market its products and services during a recession is the marketing industry itself.
5, 6, 7. Recession-Proof Freelance Writing Niches: Travel, Fashion, and Food & Drinks
Travel, fashion, and food & drinks are different niches, but I grouped them together because the same goes for the three of them and I didn’t want to be repetitive.
When it comes to these categories, there’s more competition. There are plenty of travel, fashion, and food writers out there — you have to work harder to stand out and make it in these niches.
Plus, they’re usually not high-paying niches. But there’s a caveat.
You can build a profitable career writing about travel, food, or fashion if you specialize in luxury segments — take this into account when creating your writing samples and freelance writing portfolio.
Remember what I said about spotting high-paying niches? You have to follow the money!
A blog about $1 beauty products won’t be able to pay you as much as a blog about luxury products.
A blog about budget travel won’t be able to pay you as much as a blog about luxury travel.
You get the point 🙃
8. Recession-Proof Freelance Writing Niches: Blog Post, Long-Form, and SEO Writing
Content marketing, SEO, social media writing, and email copywriting all fall under the category of customer acquisition tactics — the #1 goal marketers put forward for 2023.
Blogs, social media shopping tools, and influencer marketing are neck and neck for the highest ROI of any marketing channel.
— HubSpot Blog’s 2023 Marketing Strategy & Trends Report
As you can see, blog posts and SEO will continue to be on top of businesses’ priority lists.
SEO and long-form content writing will still be one of the most profitable freelance writing services to offer — as long as you specialize in high-paying topics as well.
9. Recession-Proof Freelance Writing Niches: Social Media Writing
Social media marketing is another high-ROI customer acquisition tactic.
Social media is used by over 42% of marketers, making it the #1 channel marketers are currently leveraging. It also has the highest ROI of any channel and will grow significantly in 2023.
— HubSpot Blog’s 2023 Marketing Strategy & Trends Report
One way you can further recession-proof your social media writing business is to learn the ins and outs of more social media platforms.
Diversified services lead to more job opportunities.
10. Recession-Proof Freelance Writing Niches: Email Copywriting
Email copywriting is a customer acquisition tactic, like the previous two.
Plus, everyone knows “the money is in the list” — the email list, that is.
If your services provide a high ROI, clients are instantly willing to pay you more — email copywriting is the perfect example of this.
11. Recession-Proof Freelance Writing Niches: Podcast Script & Note Writing
Podcasts are the third channel with the highest increase in ad spending (8.1%) — if marketers are seeing the value in podcast advertising, we know podcasts will keep growing in 2023.
That means writers will be needed to write podcast scripts and notes.
If you want to specialize in this type of writing, this is the perfect time to jump on it since there isn’t that much competition, yet.
12. Recession-Proof Freelance Writing Niches: Long & Short-Form Video Script Writing
Digital video will experience the fourth-highest growth of any ad spending category (6.5%).
Plus, “short-form video will see the most growth of any [marketing] trend in 2023. 90% of marketers using short-form video will increase or maintain their investment next year, and 21% of marketers plan to leverage short-form video for the first time in 2023,” according to HubSpot.
More and more businesses will be looking for video script writers, both for long and short-form — this is the perfect time to get into this profitable niche.
13. Recession-Proof Freelance Writing Niches: Healthcare & Medical
I left this niche for last because, yes, it’ll still be one of the most profitable freelance writing niches in 2023, but most people don’t have a medical degree that qualifies them to write for this niche.
Health and wellness ad spending will rise 2.3% in 2023, but this topic has always been super profitable.
Medical writers make between $53,000 and $160,000. The most common range is between $68,000 and $123,000. The average salary is $91,125.
— GlassDoor
Closing Thoughts — Keep Calm & Write On
We’ve been bombarded with words like “inflation,” “recession,” and “stagflation” on the news. We feel it every time we pay for groceries, gas, or electricity bills, too.
But all evidence suggests there’s no reason for freelance writers to panic.
“When times are good you should advertise, but when times are bad you must advertise.”
IAB’s survey showed there won’t be significant reductions in marketing budgets, and they’re not the only source backing it.
For 2023, 47% of marketers expect their budget to increase, while 45% expect it to stay the same, and 7% think it will decrease.
— HubSpot Blog’s 2023 Marketing Strategy & Trends Report
Plus, there are plenty of research studies and reputable sources claiming that cutting marketing budgets during a recession has both short and long-term negative consequences for brands.
Worst case scenario, you pivot your business to new freelance writing services or a more in-demand niche.
P.S.: If you need more help choosing your freelance writing niche and getting your writing career off the ground, download my FREE freelance writing course 👇
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