In last weeks’ post, we defined a market trend as ‘a tendency of a financial market to move in a particular direction over time’ and discussed how change is an inevitable part of any industry. We also highlighted the importance of keeping up with the changes and making sure you’re one step ahead of the game.
But to be able to keep up with change, you need to be able to spot it early and this is where the question arises; where do you have to look to find these trends?
With the world becoming more and more vocal thanks to the power of Social Media, it is becoming easier to hear what the general public thinks about anything and everything, sometimes before the media even get a hold of the story.
The trends feature on Twitter lets you see exactly what people are talking about at that particular time and include diverse topics like popular TV shows, music performances, news story updates and other mainstream venting. But in terms of business, Tweeters can declare their interest in new products as well as their disappointment at software disruptions and other issues as was evident from the Whatsapp outage last week.
Your sales data is also a fantastic place to get a glimpse into the trends that are occurring. If you notice that certain types of customers are more frequent than others, make sure to capitalise on that! The reverse is also a good idea, if some customers are less likely to purchase your services, why keep pushing in that direction?
It is a good idea to read what your influencers, followers and fans have to say about your posts as well as what they are sharing. If your market is the one that’s changing, who better to let you know than the people most interested in what you do? All kinds of articles, opinions and ideas are thrown around in cyberspace and sometimes catching the right one can give you the headstart you need.
So happy hunting, hopefully you now know about finding market trends. Next week we’ll be discussing trusted brands and how having one is vital for your business’ marketing.
So come back next time if you haven’t got a blogging clue about new product development.
