What IS a trend?
“Trend” is a word that means different things to different people. Ask a mathematician, an economist, or an investor, and you’re likely to get three different answers. Design trends, on the other hand, are somewhat less nebulous. While they generally have an expansive influence in various industries, design trends essentially come down to a consensus opinion on what looks good — an aesthetic preference.
What’s thought to be “good” will vary over time, of course, and very few trends are ever universal; while modern design is currently enjoying a period of sustained prominence, there are still outliers who pine for a different era. With that in mind, is it worthwhile, even possible, to make your marketing material, including presentations, look and feel trendy?
Forbes thinks so.
“It’s been said that there are three kinds of marketers and how they deal with trends: Those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened. So, for smart marketers who want to fall into that second group, paying attention to what looms ahead is the wisest move they can make.”
So does Ethos3 CEO Scott Schwertly.
“[L]ast year, I shared my 5 Presentation Predictions for 2014. Looking back on those predictions, it’s amazing to see how those practices are now almost a commonality or daily practice within the presentation space.”
Reading tea leaves
That last part is the key to grasping the importance of trend-watching: it isn’t just about playing catch-up with fads or “me too!”-ing along with the latest novelties. Instead, the trendy designer is future-proofing her hard work. When the idea or motif that is now on the rise becomes the new dominant theme, the forward-thinking philosophy will have returned its investment.
eConsultancy.com identifies the increasing reliance on customer trend data as a hedge for marketers against the winds of change:
“Every marketing team in every organisation is having to deal with a furious pace of change in all areas of business.
Customer behaviour, technology, media, data analysis, the way we connect and interact with one another and companies… All these trends are evolving exponentially, but not necessarily at the same speed or in the same way in every territory.
This creates many challenges for marketers with a global remit.”
In other words, the lightweight, nimble company is actually better equipped to respond to trends than the global monolith — they can afford to focus on the small things that will eventually become Big Things. That’s why presenters are in such an enviable position when it comes to targeted marketing; every deck is an opportunity to capitalize on a burgeoning trend, and every slide is a guinea pig for audience reaction.
Experimenting
So, how should presenters start testing the waters with trends? Well, first they should check the usual sources: is Forbes predicting anything you can integrate into your marketing plan? Has HubSpot uploaded a compelling deck to SlideShare on advertising trends? Can you take some design inspiration from a non-marketing source that will nevertheless speak to your audience? In this case, yes, yes, and yes!
More generally, staying on top of trends is an exercise that works well in groups, so presenters should get good value from workshopping their ideas with a variety of audiences. Professionals are very helpful in this regard as well, given their high level of familiarity with monitoring what is working for audiences in the design space and what isn’t.
Regardless of the route you choose, don’t make the mistake of being the last one to find out about a trend…you really can’t afford to.
