How to Decide When to Adopt or Reject Marketing Trends

On By Rgal Nv

Yael Klass is the Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Similar website.

I don’t know about you, but my inbox and LinkedIn feed are overflowing with content touting this year’s top marketing trends. And frankly, it’s easy to ignore them because we already know that not all marketing trends are created equal. They may be innovative, embrace the latest and greatest technology, and offer an exciting new way to connect with your customers, but that doesn’t mean they’re the best way—or even the right way.

What really matters is that we, as marketers, deliver customer journeys that speak to our customers, allowing them to connect with our brands, products and services.

Augmented and virtual reality are here to stay.

Augmented reality and virtual reality are good examples. Because the implementation is a thoughtful process, the trend has taken a little longer to become mainstream. Typical use cases include visualizing furniture in homes, test-driving cars, and visualizing heavy machinery, if you’re looking for how a B2B company has used this technology. Sephora even went so far as to allow its customers to do their makeup virtually.

But with VR goggles becoming more and more common, I think it’s time we start thinking about how our content could enter this arena in a way that will improve the customer journey without breaking the bank.

There is an AI for that.I

If you’ve interacted with me here, on LinkedIn, or in other marketing forums, you know that I’m a huge proponent of AI. I’ve encouraged my team to embrace the possibilities this trend offers, not as a replacement, but rather as an assistant. AI can empower our teams when used to streamline processes and bring efficiency to general tasks, allowing them to flex their creative muscles without interruption.

The pitfall can be relying on AI to create content. A robotic feel to the content and an inherent fakeness in images and videos can alienate your customer base.

Short video equals long term success.

This is a trend that TikTok has brought to light and is being adopted by almost everyone. I may have a different perspective on short-form video because Similarweb is a B2B SaaS/DaaS company. Social media platforms like TikTok won’t necessarily be part of our customer journey.

I focused on LinkedIn, but made sure all of our videos were hosted on our YouTube channel. This allows my team to create video content that is targeted to our clients’ business goals, rather than trying to talk to them outside of their working hours.

Interestingly, LinkedIn is currently testing a short-form video feed in the US market to see if the now standard social media format appeals to our businesses. I’m paying close attention to these statistics. An official launch will certainly have an impact on my video strategy.

Podcasts are still very much around.

Podcasts are a catalyst for engaging content. This enduring trend offers a unique opportunity that supports both long-form and short-form content. Not everyone can listen to the entire episode, but it can be cut into different mediums (video, audio, GIFs, images, written content) and distributed across all channels, reaching and speaking to your entire audience.

The downside to podcasts is their cost. You have to make sure the right personalities are having important conversations that appeal to your audience, not to mention the right equipment to deliver quality content.

I’ve only scratched the surface of using podcasts as a marketing tool, but having participated in a few, I know the value it can have for a brand, even a personal one.

Micro-influencers can achieve macro results.

This trend may be less technical, but it’s still important. These people may have fewer followers than traditional influencers, but they are considered opinion leaders and enjoy the trust and engagement of their followers.

This is important from a B2B perspective, as micro-influencers know your company, the solutions it offers, and the industry leaders who will benefit from it. This helps build brand awareness in the right business communities and opens the door to communications with your target audience that would have been difficult to achieve through traditional marketing channels.

One downside: It might eat into your advertising budget, but it might be worth the marketing ROI.

This is the question you need to ask yourself.

I could go on and on, because new marketing trends emerge every day and constant trends are constantly evolving. But always ask yourself the same question when developing and executing marketing plans: “Is this the best way to communicate with my customers?”

This will keep you from jumping on the bandwagon just because everyone else is doing it. This question will keep you ahead of your competitors. This question will make you a better marketer.

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