8 Tips for Identifying Market Trends
1. Check out trending research and reports
To have an accurate picture of your sector and target the direction it is taking, you must regularly inform yourself about the multitude of published reports, which are easily accessible to you. This will help you see how your sector will evolve, and will determine the direction for the next few years.
Trend analysis can also give you early warning of changes that threaten your trade. For example, detecting the global pandemic and the various confinements around the world in time could have encouraged a local merchant to set up a website, equipped with "Click and Collect" (or other means available) for him. allow you to continue working well.
2. Follow influencers
As an entrepreneur, it is not uncommon to be pressed for time! We do not always have the necessary time to afford to read all the interesting articles concerning the sector of our respective companies.
So how can we stay informed? Through social media: they are a very powerful tool for following influencers in your market and hearing their ideas and points of view.
In addition, it is always good to be active on social networks, to show that you want to stay on top of your business, to “stay in the conversation”.
3. Make the most of digital tools
If you are a little obsessed with “Big Data”, you must have an idea at your fingertips of the variety of analysis tools available. This is great because you can let these tools do a lot of the work that will help you understand the overall market situation, very clearly and quickly.
Data analysis can indeed help you discover trends that are increasingly demanded by online consumers.
For example, Google Trends shows a long-term overview of niche trends. Also at Google, the Keyword Planner allows you to find the most used keywords by your target demographic, and a range of potential use, as well as the bid level of these keywords within the framework of a future advertising campaign.
4. Listen to your customers
It is always very beneficial to talk to your customers. After all, they are the ones who boil your pot, and they only ask that you listen to them in order to improve your offer to better meet their needs! talk to them and learn more about the pressure points your company can press on to help them meet their expectations and needs.
Regular qualitative surveys of your existing customer base could provide you with valuable insights into possible changes in their behaviors and needs.
If you are a brand new business, you can also implement target-oriented market research.
5. follow your competitors
Most successful businesses ignore the crowd; they innovate to stand out, to stand out.
This does not mean that you should not observe your competitors! This can give you an idea of their positioning in the market, and let you know if (and how) they are reacting to what could be considered an emerging trend.
Often, all it takes is looking at their website, customer reviews, and social media channels to understand how you stack up against your competition.
6. join a “think tank”
As in politics, you can join a think tank to get advice and identify the next trends in the market.
To do this, get involved in your sector. Join professional associations, be present at their events, follow training courses and participate in online communities. They bring together market experts and can help you identify trends. You can also create your own group by bringing together partners, suppliers or customers.
Also, use LinkedIn to find experts or influencers and invite them to join you. Their intuitions will be useful to expand your knowledge of the market
7. Analysis of complementary sectors
To identify trends in your market, go to complementary products and services. You share a single target and they are not your competitors. For example, a packaging company must monitor trends in all markets concerned by the type of packaging planned: food, cosmetics...
If the analysis shows that consumers are increasingly traveling with their meals, it must strengthen the resistance of its packaging. If she discovers that buyers prefer large formats for personal care products, in order to save money, she will have to create large packaging.
A coffee machine manufacturer must collect information on the evolution of consumer preferences: growth of the pod or return of the traditional coffee maker? Do they prefer to repair their machine or replace it?
The goal? Produce machines, but also spare parts, according to market demand!
8. Identify what never changes… never!
This advice goes against the principle of trends, but as the saying goes: “Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed!” ". This means that despite all the changes, consumer needs remain the same.
Human beings are motivated by a set of basic needs and desires that are stable over time: comfort, value, security, status, pleasure, etc. The new trends develop only another way to meet these requirements.
Thus, to identify trends, observe innovations in terms of products, services, campaigns in all markets. Identify those that meet an absolute need in a new way.
These innovations change consumers, giving them new behaviors and new expectations vis-Ã -vis the world around them. Over time, they lead to a change in attitudes towards brands.
Beyond your competitors and complementary sectors, stay alert to trends in other markets.
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