In a modern society with more competition for consumer attention than ever before, marketers must stop trying to compete with latest viral video, Tik Tok trend, or streaming blockbuster. Smart marketers don't fight for attention, they find where attention is being spent and they make themselves and their products a part of that conversation. In this presentation we'll discuss how to spot the latest trends and consumer passions in real time with free digital tools, and how quick and simple actions can allow your brand to ride the wave of attention. Key Takeaways: -How to embrace the idea of a reactionary communication strategy rather than hopelessly trying to predict the future-How to efficiently and effectively use digital tools like Moat and Google Trends to better understand developing conversations and rising interests-How to create a marketing strategy that can react faster and cheaper to trends, with less risk

1. "Trendy" Marketing:
Leveraging the Things Your
Customers Already Care About
Steve Lerch
PRESIDENT, SPEAKER,
CONSULTANT
STORY ARC CONSULTING
WASHINGTON D.C. ~ JULY 7 - 8, 2022
DIGIMARCONWASHINGTONDC.COM | #DigiMarConWashingtonDC
KEYNOTE

13. 1. The Art of Paying Attention
2. Low-Risk Risk Taking
3. Outsourcing and Crowdsourcing

14. The Art of
Paying Attention

25. Google Trends

26. Google Trends

27. Google Trends

28. 1. Your Product
2. Your Company
3. Your Industry
4. Your Competitors
5. Your Selling Points
Google Trends

31. Pepsi Milk Diet Pepsi

32. 1. Admit how little you know about what’s cool, what’s important to your
customers, and what’s trending right now
2. Build a playbook of resources to monitor trends, like Social Blade, Moat,
and the trending pages for popular social media sites.
3. Put some operational rigor into monitoring tools like Google Trends.
Schedule time. Make a checklist. Do it regularly.
The Art of Paying Attention

33. Low-Risk Risk Taking

35. Pepsi Milk Diet Pepsi

36. Google Trends

40. 2015
$1.4M

43. 2015
$1.4M

44. 2015
$1.4M
2016
$44M
2017
$350M

56. 1. Timely and relevant is almost always better than big, flashy, expensive,
and time consuming.
2. Some parts of your business are big, slow-moving ships, but other parts
can pivot on a dime. Think of the assets that can pivot like social posts or
in-store signage and use them to leverage trends
3. Smaller voices are almost always seen as more authentic voices, plus the
cost less and can move more quickly to speak to trends.
Low-Risk Risk Taking

57. Outsourcing and
Crowdsourcing

64. “The winning chip flavor, Cheesy Garlic Bread, drove an 8%
sales increase for Lay’s in the three months following the
competition”
“Sales during the campaign increased not by three
percent, but by 12%”

68. 1. User-generated-content is like influencer marketing, but free.
2. Your customers can not only help you better speak to other customers,
but they can help you figure out what to speak about by telling you what
matters most to them.
3. There is little to no cost to ask people for ideas, content, and free
promotion of your brand, and you’ll be surprised how many people
(especially young people) will be on board.
Outsourcing and Crowdsourcing

69. Wrap Up

70. 1. The Art of Paying Attention
2. Low-Risk Risk Taking
3. Outsourcing and Crowdsourcing

71. 1. MOAT.com
2. Google Trends
3. SocialBlade.com
4. Smartfluence
5. Analytics Academy
Helpful Resources

72. Thank You!
StoryArcConsulting.com
StevenLerch@gmail.com