As a person, you may or may not be interested in existing trends that sweep your nation or the globe. But as a business owner, these are things that you should analyze to see how they could potentially fit into your small business marketing plan. Although we could never have a strategic plan that predicts all of these phenomena that pass through our news and social media feeds, our ability to study and adapt to the ones that are relevant for our businesses can make a difference.
For example, this week there have been two news items that have filled my social media feed. #Pokemongo and #MelaniaTrumpQuotes or Melania Trump in general. A year ago, we saw the ice bucket challenge stretch across the world. These trends are on the tip of everyone’s tongue for a moment – a flash in the plan. The question is, how can you leverage them for your business to make a real impact?
Whether or not you identify personally or agree with a particular trend, as a business owner you can put on your marketing student hat. Does this trend have any relationship with your target market? Your offerings?
In the case of Pokemon Go, for example, brick and mortar establishments stand to gain a lot by attracting users to their location. If you have a consulting business, a freelance operation, a service business, an online business, how do you incorporate the virality of the Pokemon culture into your offerings for the limited time that it will be of widespread interest?
In the case of this recent Melania Trump speech and its striking similarities to a past speech from the First Lady of the US, I was fascinated as someone who studies marketing. Videos comparing Melania Trump’s words to things others have said were getting over a million views in one day. One day! Those who had the presence of mind to attach a relevant message coming from their business with a funny video in the first 10 HOURS benefited big time from the traffic it would bring.
These examples are not the first or the last we will see this month. Trends are happening all the time. While your overall marketing plan should have stability and substance to it, analyzing the trends and being ready to take action when one fits with your small business marketing message can be a great boon to your visibility.