Five Good Ways to Stay on Top of Marketing Trends

Five Good Ways to Stay on Top of Marketing Trends

In today’s business environment, change comes at you at the speed of light. You get your company’s marketing program in shape, humming along nicely, and suddenly there’s a new marketing trend, or platform, or social media site that everyone seems to be utilizing. And then your well-modulated marketing program suddenly seems outdated.

How do you keep on top of these changing times in marketing? It’s not easy. In the world of business, change used to come incrementally. Now it happens all at once.

Here are some best-practices ways of keeping abreast of new trends. Utilizing some or all of them may help your company ride the wave of new ideas and find the right ones.

• Watch the competition.  This strategy is as old as the market economy. You must always know what your competitors are doing to sell their products and services. Read the industry news, network as much as you can, talk to people whose views you trust. What the other guy is doing may not work for you company, but you can always learn new tricks and adapt them to your situation.
• Google Alerts.  This service from the world’s leading search engine can be very helpful in learning about new trends in marketing. You give Google Alerts some keywords about specific marketing trends you want to follow. Google will then send you news articles, blog posts and more about the topic you have flagged. This will save time and effort in research and keep you updated, not only on what your competitors are doing, but also what marketers in different segments are trying, which might also work for you.
• Blogs and Podcasts.  The Internet world is full of helpful information about new marketing trends. Especially on specialist blogs and podcasts from marketers who have been in the trenches, working out the problems. You know who the experts in your industry are. You’ll find many of them produce blogs, newsletters and podcasts on their expertise. Reading and listening to them can be invaluable.
• SEO.  You know how important it is to have a working SEO strategy, building on intelligent use of keywords to reach your target audience. You can also reverse-engineer SEO to find trends and new developments. Using tools like Moz helps you scan for keywords others are using and identify the trends your customers are searching for. This kind of forward-thinking SEO tool can help you anticipate, rather than react to, marketing trends.
• Trade associations and conferences. Yes, many consider the old-boy networks of trade associations passe. Old school. And going to industry conventions are thought to be merely good excuses to get out of town for a few days and knock back some brewskis. Well, think again. Trade associations are loaded with expertise, and conventions are a great way to network, spread your brand awareness and learn what others are doing in marketing. And you don’t have to learn the secret handshake or drink heavily to participate! 

Like any part of running your business, keeping up with new and emerging marketing trends requires paying attention, doing research and watching what others are doing.