By Emma Stevens
Tracking trends for your industry is a critical part of doing good PR work. Just recently I posted about upcoming trends in biking for my client, PeaceHealth Rides. Through this, I realized the importance of staying on trend and always being aware of what is happening in your industry.
For my blog, I started with a basic search: “what are the trends in biking for 2020.” I started on the first page and scrolled through multiple articles, company’s news releases and similar blog posts. This is defined as secondary research: using outside information to further your knowledge and overall point of focus. The important element to consider when completing secondary research is whether your source is valid. When I was researching bike trends I focused on published articles in reputable journals, successful business and blogs that had large followings and a loyal fan base.
To make your research easier, consider using keywords that are common to the industry your client is involved with. For example, I used trends+biking+2020+upcoming as my keywords. This created a narrower and more specific search and fewer sources to sift through.
The question is, what should you do with the research? Trend tracking is useful for creating social content, listening to your audience, scoping out what your competitors are doing and writing a blog post or news release highlighting the company for which you are working.
Public relations is about finding your clients’ stories and telling them in the best way possible. Trend tracking helps you keep your posts up-to-date and relevant. Furthermore, it gives you a “big picture” outlook on your industry’s future. Finally, it’s interesting – it keeps me interested, which is how I want to be when I’m working for someone. I have no interest in doing the same things over and over again – I like fresh and new and compelling. This is what you get when you do your research.
I turned this renewed interest into a blog post on bike trends, thereby inspiring my audience and supporting my company’s key message regarding sustainability. Also, using trendsetter helped me understand what companies I should be looking at, possible partnerships and potential spokespersons/influencers. If you are inspired by a trend you see, investigate it and use it to help tell your story.
I noticed that e-bikes are an upcoming trend, so I researched e-bike companies, spokespersons and influencers. I decided that at this time we do not have a market within this trend, but it could be a great source for networking, collaboration and creative content for PeaceHealth Rides.
Finally, always consider the trends that are falling away, and make sure you are not one of them. If you start seeing patterns that indicate that you are on the outs with your industry’s trends, it’s time to do some secondary research.
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