Marketing trends we LOVE
Finding inspiration while you plan content can be fun and life-giving…and other times? It can be a huge challenge. Sometimes we just need a little bit of help to be reminded of fun ideas, techniques we’d long forgotten, or trends that inspire us to keep our content interesting.
This blog lists a couple of our personal favorite areas of inspiration and trends we’ve been loving recently – not for the sake of following trends, but to recognize what other creators are doing well and remember that while trends aren’t everything, they can be a lot of fun.
Taylor trends
Look, we know Taylor Swift is a hot topic right now (isn’t she always??), and this can be a fraught subject depending on your taste and interests.
But there’s no denying that Ms. Swift is a brilliant businesswoman with an incredible marketing team behind her. Paying homage to the content she’s creating is a great way to reach a large audience and engage in a cultural moment – because if you reference Taylor right now, nearly everyone will understand it.
One caveat to this trend is that it still needs to be used well. Throwing a Taylor meme on your Instagram will only be received well if you’re using it in a way that’s relevant to your brand and wholesome for your audience. We don’t want to piggyback on trends for the trends’ sake – we want to recognize when a trend is relevant to us and then engage in it well.
A great example of this is the US National Park Service’s post after Taylor announced her new album:
They parodied her new album cover and accompanying letter in a way that is easy to recognize, while staying on-brand for their own content by providing lighthearted education about interacting with wildlife in national parks. The National Parks socials are always top-notch, and they really hit it out of the park with this one!
Embracing fun copy
We love looking offline for good copy inspiration and Katie struck gold in the noodle section at Target. Elevated Mac n Cheese, you say? Yes. After immediately noticing the color and clever name, then the macros stood out.
When you flip over the box it isn’t overly cute and clever on the back. They spend most of the real estate building their authority (endless hours at the stove and nutrient-packed) and helping “clear the fog” of their name.
I thought it was so fun and different! What have you seen in the store lately?
Using AI for ideas
The marketing world has been on a repetitive loop talking about AI for the last year and a half, we know. But in the midst of AI gurus who promise we can cut our project loads in half with the help of ChatGPT, we’ve found that using AI as a companion rather than a content creator is our favorite route to go. When we’ve tried to use ChatGPT for heavy lifting or generating outlines, we’re left wanting more accurate and relevant content. But when we simplify by letting ourselves do the content and strategy (that’s our expertise, after all!) and letting AI fill in the gaps when our brains are a little tired, everyone is better off.
Noticing what offers sell for other people
You know we’re all about NOT copying and pasting other people’s process, work, success, etc. But! We do love to notice what others are doing and we can’t help but notice the Queen herself, Jasmine Star. Jasmine is a master at a launch and I noticed her ad recently in my feed.
I like how she simply and quickly gets to the point of “get attention and make more money online.” I think it’s also particularly interesting that she’s running an ad to a free download, that you’ll have to give your email to receive. And the double-click of this is she’s positioning the outcome of her (free) offer around helping you make more money.
Is THAT the secret to an irresistible offer? I think it might be. If you can position what you’re selling as a tool to help your customers see their desired result (in this case, higher revenue), you’re golden.
We hope this roundup will help you remember that content can be fun and effective as you work on your strategy and keep things interesting.
And really, as long as you’re creating content that feels like you and is engaging your audience – that’s the best place to start.