What if We Could See Into the Future?

Trend-Spotting - One of Marketing’s Greatest Skills in Predicting the Future

Shaping the future landscape of consumer preferences and purchasing behaviors

Wouldn’t it be great if we could see into the future?

Well, in this blog, I will show you how you can train yourself to do just that.

In case you’re thinking this is clickbait, let me reassure you that I’m not talking about magically knowing what next week’s lottery numbers are going to be, although that skill would make most of what I’m about to teach you quite redundant.

No, I’m talking about being able to predict, with a substantial amount of confidence, where things may head in the near future, by studying where things are at the present time.

But most importantly, how you can predict the future by creating it yourself.

No DeLorean Required

Think about it like this; when you’re listening to a song, it doesn’t matter whether you’ve heard it before. Ninety-nine percent of the time you will be able to pick up the beat and nod your head along with the music within the first five seconds. This is because humans are genetically predisposed to finding patterns in the world around us.

This pattern recognition skill is the reason why we are able to function without falling over ourselves. And the more experienced we are in a particular skill, the faster we are able to recognise, and lock into the familiar patterns of whatever we are doing at the time.

Now imagine that something we do on a daily basis gets taken away from us for some reason.

After the initial shock to the system, our natural adaptation instincts will start to kick in.

This will force us to find new ways of either making do without that thing, or figuring out workarounds which will plug the gap and return our world to some sort of pre-shock equilibrium.

But what if, instead of returning things to the way they were, we pause and take some time to look for potential opportunities which may have arisen from this sudden change?

The Butterfly Effect

Take the recent pandemic situation as a prime example of something which we all had to adapt to in one way or another.

Aside from no longer being allowed to go outside and be in close proximity to other people, some of the biggest things that ‘went away’ were systems whose existence we normally took for granted. Theatres, cinemas, concerts, shopping malls, travel, restaurants, hospitality, not to mention urban city centres which became ghost towns.

Given enough time, we were able to adapt to many of these changes. However, those of us who were astute in finding marketing opportunities in these uncertain situations, found interesting ways of turning many of these ‘losses’ into profitable gains.

Consider some of the businesses which were able to lock in and thrive during the pandemic, simply by pivoting and recognising how best to serve this new demand.

I’m not just talking about the billion and trillion dollar IT companies which seemed to double their market share almost overnight, as demand for their internet-based software and hardware shot through the roof.

I’m talking about other businesses which saw the pandemic as an opportunity to grow.

Delivery businesses -especially those specialising in food delivery saw unprecedented growth. Businesses selling home office furniture also became hot property. Many home gym retailers were almost always sold out, and the same was true for the personal care and wellness industries, where going out for a massage or facial was no longer a viable option.

All streaming platforms also saw massive growth, as cinemas and theatres were shut down. Not only that, but any business which found a way of offering their services online, such as dance studios, and other venues which were able to create an online community were also winners.

There are quite literally hundreds of other opportunities which arose during those tough few years, far more than I could mention in this blog.

The key takeaway here is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In marketing terms, if something goes away, then something, or someone else, will find a way to take its place and make a profit from it.

What skills or knowledge do you possess which you could potentially apply to some of the above industries?

It’s true when they say that the best way to predict the future is to create it yourself.