"Consumer trends drive sales and a business owner’s ability to tap into trends can be the difference between success and failure."
If you own a new business and your goal is rapid growth, once your business has profited from the trend, shift strategies, so that you haven't positioned your product or brand as simply filling a niche in that trend. It is always better to sell your business at the top of a hot trend than to wait until the trend has peaked and the market is dropping.
Trends and innovations impact virtually every industry. Your company is either evolving or dying. Companies that consistently stay on top of trends are attractive to investors, as they see these companies as solid opportunities to generate a nice ROI quickly.
If you want to grow your company to the next level, or if you plan to sell your company, be sure you track the trends in your industry. Be proactive. Focus on long-term trends and be ready to move on.
3 Strategies to Tap Into the Power and Value of Consumer Trends
Consumer trends drive billions in sales every year. A company's ability to capitalize on a trend can be the difference between success and failure. It can also have a major impact on the value of a company and its attractiveness to potential investors.
How both established and new businesses respond to trends is crucial. This is especially true today, when many consumers get much of their news and information from the Internet and social media, which can dramatically increase the speed at which trends develop and die out.
Your business should capitalize on today's hot new trend without becoming a slave to it. The key is to use the trend to spur growth, without pigeonholing your product or brand in a way that risks it becoming just a fad. So how do you do this? There are three critical strategies to harness the power of a trend while safeguarding your business against the whims of consumers.
3 strategies to capitalize on trends without compromising your business
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Be proactive and plan ahead of the trend.
Use consumer and market research to stay on top of growing trends so you can be proactive and develop a strategy that enables your company to tap into the value of the trend quickly and capitalize on the opportunity before the competition heats up. One of the best known companies to do this is Apple. They are well known for identifying and creating consumer trends and capturing the market before any serious competitor can move in.
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Do not focus on restricted trends that revolve around only one or two simple products or services.
Don't build your brand around a single hot trend. Small hot trends can emerge and die quickly, making it tough to capitalize on the opportunity. Instead, focus on stable long-range trends that are broad based as these allow you to plan a realistic marketing strategy that taps into the true long-range potential of the trend.
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After you profit from a trend, shift strategies.
