Customer trends are constantly changing in response to societal, environmental and technological advancements. To continually meet and even surpass customer expectations, it's critical that businesses keep up with and adapt to these emerging customer trends.
However, with so many trends appearing regularly, it's difficult for business leaders to know which trends are short-lived and which ones have the potential to disrupt the industry for good. This distinction is key, as the wrong investment in a particular trend can mean wasting limited time, effort and resources.
To help, 12 Newsweek Expert Forum members offer advice on how a business can stay on top of emerging customer trends and leverage them wisely.
1. Foster Open Communication With Customers
Open communication with current customers is key. What are they asking and searching for? How are they engaging in terms of their shopping experiences? With emerging e-commerce trends especially, paying attention to how tech can complement trends and make it easier for customers to make a purchase is critical to staying ahead of your competitors. - Ryan Carroll, Wealth Assistants
2. Ask Open-Ended Questions
Conduct a survey of your existing customers, keeping the questions open-ended. Then, if you feed their answers into a word cloud generator, you'll have easy access to the challenges and opportunities that they're looking for you to solve through the partnership. Take these answers and incorporate them into your sales and growth strategies. - Will Erlandson, Relevance.com
3. Create a Culture of Innovation and Encouragement
Foster a culture of innovation and encourage employees at all levels to contribute ideas related to emerging trends. Create platforms for brainstorming and cross-functional collaboration. For example, frontline employees have direct interactions with customers and can provide invaluable insights into emerging needs and preferences. - Britton Bloch, Navy Federal
4. Lean on Younger Staff Members for Insight
Ask the youthful members on staff for help. Frequently hold informal "listening" lunches to inquire about what they like or dislike, want or need, technology and platforms they prefer or don't use, current topics and so on. This group may not match your customer base, but they will help leaders discover emerging trends that can be explored for relevancy regarding whether they may or may not have an impact on your organization. - Darlene Andert, Accounting for Profitability LLC
5. Deeply Know Your Customers
Know your customers intimately. Where do they spend their time? How do they consume information? Think like your customer and then provide them with the services or products in the manner best suited for them. - Matthew Gallagher, Watch Gang
6. Narrow Your Focus
Determine what the customer problem you are trying to solve is. What is the customer value you aspire to create? What is the new customer segment you are trying to attract? Then define how much time and effort you are willing to invest in applying what you discover. This strategy will make it easier to quiet the noise and to tune into the trends that matter most. - Karen Mangia, The Engineered Innovation Group
7. Follow Relevant Social Media Communities and Topics
Social media is a key indicator of emerging trends for every industry. No matter the social platform, make sure that you are following the communities and topics important to your business. The earliest indicator of an emerging trend is the topics being discussed in industry communities on social media. - Melissa Puls, Ivanti
8. Attend Trade Shows
We regularly attend trade shows and closely monitor our competitors to stay ahead of the game. By doing so, we can stay up to date with the latest trends and understand what our customers want and need. - Tammy Sons, Tn Nursery
9. Regularly Solicit Customer Feedback
The easiest way for businesses to stay on top of emerging customer trends is to listen to their customers. Regularly reviewing customer service contacts through calls, emails and more for patterns can reveal what customers need and how they expect a company to meet those needs. - Ben Jackson, Innovative Payments Association
10. Incorporate 'Proactive Empathy'
Try incorporating "proactive empathy," which is a blend of proactive data analysis and empathetic understanding. This can be achieved by regularly engaging with your clients, listening to their experiences and analyzing their behavioral data to predict emerging patterns and trends. It is a psychologically intuitive, data-driven approach that will allow your business to leverage emerging trends. - Dr. Kira Graves, Kira Graves Consulting
11. Use Social Listening Tools
Employ social listening tools like Hootsuite to monitor your brand, competitors and industry on social media. Analyze data for customer trends and sentiments. Engage with your audience for feedback. Use insights to inform product development and marketing strategies. Test new initiatives on a small scale, adapt based on feedback and continuously measure success using key performance indicators. - Bala Sathyanarayanan, GREIF Inc.
12. Do Market Research
Conduct thorough market research and analysis. By continuously monitoring consumer behavior, preferences and demands, companies can identify emerging trends and adapt their strategies accordingly. This proactive approach allows businesses to anticipate customer needs, tailor their products or services and effectively leverage emerging trends to gain a competitive edge. - Joseph Soares, IBPROM Corp.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
