A market trend is something that alters the market where your company operates. This could be as far-reaching as artificial intelligence technology, as fickle as client’s preferences, or industry-specific as new regulations. It’s almost certain multiple market trends are affecting your business at the same time, right now.

It’s essential to stay up to date with your industry trends and developments?. Because that’s how your brand grows. An author and speaker, John Maxwell, said, “Change is inevitable, but growth is optional.” You can stop the momentum of change like technology or regulations; you can take steps to grow following the changes. Keeping up with industry trends is the best answer. 

Trend-tracking doesn’t necessarily add up to hours of research every week. By understanding the types of market trends, you can distinguish what makes sense for your business. This focused analysis helps you adapt and stay competitive in any rapidly changing business environment.

What is an example of a Market Trend?

Doing a simple Google search for “market trends,” you’re likely to get information about stocks, financials, and investing. Today this term applies to many industries, but it does have its roots in finance. And though your industry of operation might be B2B services, retail, energy, technology, healthcare, or many other sectors of the economy, it can still allow you to learn from the three ways financial professionals think about market trends.

•      Short-term market trends occur over a few hours or days. This includes news and current events, social media trends, or even sales events like Prime Day and Black Friday in marketing or business positioning. For example, if a news story breaks out and is relevant to your business, you need to create content about that quickly to capture interest before it dwindles.
•      Intermediate market trends last anywhere from two to eight weeks. These are more for a prolonged time. In finance, these are demonstrations and turnarounds that can mystify and analysts. Business causes medium trends to be easier to pinpoint, but that’s not always the case. Events such as holiday seasons, elections, tax time, or industry-specific compliance deadlines represent some factors that can drive intermediate market trends. Your competitors do something every year to make changes to some of these occasions, or even your clients are looking for unique products or services for a few months. There are times that influencers or emerging research drives these trends to be of interest.
•      Long-term market trends can last years and even decades. There is no real-time limit set. These are significant social changes that affect your business, including mobile devices and artificial intelligence, gaps or deficiencies in your industry’s talent—culture transformations like the #metoo movement, or demands for racial equality. While you might need to adapt to the new settings, these long-term trends manifest, responses should be more thoughtful than reactionary. Just because you know consumers want a mobile-friendly experience doesn’t mean you should implement one without a strategy.

Whether it’s looking at the most recent trending topics on Google, take your time to do the proper research, and form a ten-year business strategy, your client’s journey is at the heart of prioritizing these market trends. Sometimes your target clients are driving the directions. At times they want you to do the homework and bring the trends to them. But in all cases, it’s essential to think most about the trends that align with that particular business so you can reach the right consumer.

How To Determine Market Trends You Should Focus On

Many trends matter to different consumers at different times. If your business tries to be everything to everyone, your message won’t speak to your ideal consumer over all the others. Focusing on short-term market trends might be one way to make the client aware of your social media or Google results, but it’s how you speak to long-term trends and show your values that will take them from casual readers to dedicated customers.

There are a few ways you can find out about the market trends affecting different businesses. Exploring these trends is essential to be asking critical questions about how your values and service offerings align, fit in, or even run counter to the movements.

•      Read Industry Publications: One way to hone in on market trends unique to the industry is to read the publications reporting on current issues.
•      Use Industry Trends Analytics: Digital analytics tools for consumer behavior insights can help you get the bigger picture on the market and relate more to the economy.
•      Observe Your Competitors: If all your competitors are doing something, does that mean you should do it? Maybe yes, or maybe no. But observing their marketing is a way to make more educated decisions.

It’s not just about what your brand considers important. The whole reason for focusing on trends, to begin with, is to appeal better to your consumers. Your trends analysis should also be paired with market research to inform your messaging strategy and content creation plan.

What are the 3 Main Types of Market Research?

Following along with trends is never a great idea. To make sure your choices will result in more business and more customer loyalty, you can’t skip market research. This process will help you understand the problems consumers face and fine-tune the way you present your solutions.

There are three main types of market research:

•      Exploratory Research: This approach focuses on defining a problem better and your organization’s opportunity to solve it. This research is usually conducted through in-depth customer interviews or discussions.
•      Descriptive Research: This approach is used to determine if a product or service is a good fit for the market or to judge the general attitudes of customers towards a service or product, additionally to interviews and surveys that may also be used.
•      Causal Research: This market research is used to test cases and or determine cause-and-effect. This may be conducted through focus groups or A-B testing to see if changes in one aspect of the pitch or marketing strategy change.

Market research tactics will help you understand what clients seek and what elements motivate them towards a buying decision. How do their questions change along with their needs? Solutions are what they are seeking? Answers will be able to put current market trends in the context of your business and its market.

Did we say that all trends, as mentioned earlier analyses, didn’t have to be hours of work? You have to think about leverage data analytics trends and innovations to find these answers.