1. How To Keep Up With The Trends?

Being in the know doesn’t have to be hard work! One must maintain awareness and closely observe the patterns and strategies behind marketing efforts to stay ahead of the curve. Reading marketing blogs and studying social media platforms should go beyond mere consumption of content; it should involve a deeper analysis.

Another vital way of staying updated is by understanding who your brand’s competitors are and what keeps their marketing departments busy. Each industry has distinct requirements and approaches to marketing. By monitoring your brand’s competition, you can gain insights into the popular trends within your industry and learn from your competitors’ mistakes.

2. What’s Popular vs. What Works?

Keeping up with trends and being aware of your marketplace is only part of the equation. The missing piece lies within you: your knowledge, experience, skills, and marketing instinct. It is crucial to leverage these factors to evaluate the pros and cons of embracing a marketing trend for your brand.

At SSC, as a marketer, I often question the validity of considering a popular marketing trend for our clients’ strategies. The term “popular” sometimes raises doubts. To overcome this, I reframe the question, asking myself whether a marketing trend can be seen as a relevant addition to my client’s marketing efforts or if I would have considered the strategy even if it weren’t popular.

So far, this approach has helped me make sound decisions!

In short, staying relevant means staying true to your brand’s authenticity.

3. Money Indeed Matters!

Before deciding on a marketing trend, it is crucial to consider the investment involved in both time and money. Marketers must be mindful of budgets and strive for organic and exponential growth with minimal investments.

While marketing departments may not have direct control over budgets, it is essential to recognise the available resources, utilise them efficiently, and maximise their benefits.  This approach allows for effective strategising, researching, planning, and executing new marketing trends, positioning your brand as a pioneer in the market.

Certain tools like tweeting opinions, launching webinars, and conducting interviews have long existed in the world of marketing. However, recognising which tools remain underutilised in your industry and taking the risk of implementing them to create a marketing trend for your brand can be a strategic way to utilise budgets and leverage your position in the market.

However, always consider the anticipated ROI and only make expenses that have the potential to truly benefit your brand.

Take calculated risks!

4. Ignore The Fads!

Navigating the marketing landscape involves more than just anecdotes, hunches, and opinions. Marketers must discern between popular trends and fleeting fads in order to appropriately guide their brand into success.

Successful marketing requires careful consideration of current trends and the ability to discern between fads and true opportunities. As a marketer, you need to be able to leverage analytics and theories while also relying on your instincts and logical reasoning when making decisions.

For example, when brands started using rainbow colours in support of the pride movement, many other companies began doing the same without putting in ongoing efforts for LGBTQ inclusivity. In short, it pays to use your intuition and make sure any strategies employed by your brand come from a genuine place.

5. What was unique then is the bare minimum now!

Marketing trends, at one point, may start as innovative strategies, but as more and more brands adopt them, they often become fads. However, some trends have the potential to evolve into minimum requirements within an industry. Understanding your competitors’ marketing efforts can help you identify emerging minimum requirements.

For instance, while working with security companies (and their competitors), we noticed that they were actively involved in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. However, they were not proactive in promoting these efforts on social media or sharing them with prospective clients. We convinced them to embrace indirect marketing by showcasing their CSR initiatives to create a positive brand image. We emphasised that it wasn’t boasting but rather a genuine commitment to goodwill.

In the security industry, involvement in CSR activities and promoting them has transitioned from a new marketing trend to a bare minimum expectation. Security companies that neglect their carbon footprint, fail to support local communities, or disregard the well-being of their staff fall short in today’s market.

Therefore, it is crucial to understand the marketing landscape in your industry and accurately differentiate between passing fads and emerging minimum requirements.

You Decide What Works for Your Business!

In summary, a blog on marketing trends can provide insights into the relevant areas of focus in this space. However, it is ultimately up to you to decide what strategies are valuable and suitable for your own business. Keeping abreast of the latest trends is an ever-evolving process and requires careful consideration before determining a course of action.

However, it’s essential to remember that trends alone are not enough. Your knowledge, experience, skills, and marketing instinct play a crucial role in evaluating the relevance and potential impact of a trend on your brand’s marketing strategies. Stay true to your brand’s authenticity and values while exploring new opportunities!