When you run a business, it is important that you are always on the alert for new trends that will help your business, because if there is one thing that is certain about entrepreneurship, it is that >business dynamics are ever-changing.
So, as we move steadily to the close of the year and look forward to 2020, make sure to have your eyes peeled and your ears down so that you can catch the trend as they come up and be among the first to take advantage of them. After all, it is widely accepted that the trend is your friend.
But if you are reading this, we will like to give you a head-start and help you stay a few steps ahead of the competition by presenting to you some of the top business branding trends that will drive entrepreneurship in the coming year.
- Optimize visual engagement
More and more businesses are increasingly realizing the importance of visual engagement when it comes to passing their brand message. This is obvious in the increasing use of images, infographics, illustrations, and videos. In fact, businesses now pass more of their brand messages via multimedia.
The importance of optimizing for visual engagement in 2020 cannot be overemphasized. Whether you like it or not, there are businesses offering similar products and services as you, all of them providing solutions to the same set of problems, therefore it is imperative that you find a way to pass your message in a manner that resonates with your target audience, and what better way to do so than in a format they will quickly understand and not easily forget.
Visual engagement has come to stay and in the coming years may very well become the primary form of engagement between brand and audiences, so it is wise you get on the wagon early.
- Focus on minimalist designs
From websites to publicity materials, marketing tools, and branding, it is obvious that the minimalist approach is what people are looking for.
Minimalism has taken hold in virtually every aspect of life and the business world is no exception. In fact, these days, the larger number of websites are minimalist in nature, carrying only the most essential web elements so that users can clearly see the message designed for them.
There are so many benefits to minimalist branding, including the fact that brand messages are easier to read and assimilate, designs are aesthetically pleasing, and such minimalist brand designs are easy to arrive at.
If you are still operating in the era of complex and tacky brand publications, consider switching allegiance to minimalism in 2020 and see how easy it will be to reach the people that matter to your business.
- Use creative domain names
Do you know how hard and expensive it is to get exact match domain names? If you intend to take your business online in 2020 or are looking at rebranding your already existing online presence, chances are you will find it difficult if not impossible to get the domain name of your choice, especially if you are hung on using a dot com domain.
But that does not mean you should not create your online presence. However, the future is strongly in favour of creative domain names than what we have been used to. Opting to use a creative domain name also makes your brand stand out and appear unique online. Plus, they are relatively inexpensive and less promotional.
So, instead of spending vital hours trying to come up with the ideal domain name or spending thousands of dollars paying a domain name parker, you can spend less the time and less the money at Discount domains picking out a creative domain name that will appeal to the modern crowd.
You should also consider using this principle for your social media names search.
- Consider influencer marketing
In the past few years, there has been a major shift in the way branding, marketing and promotions are done. This shift was heralded by the use of celebrities to influence consumer decision, however, celebrity marketing is no longer the thing.
Today, and in the foreseeable future, millennials, who have grown their social media network and become social media influencers are the ones that will be doing the influencer marketing.
Not only do these individuals have a better grasp of audience engagement, seeing as they spend almost all their day on the internet and social media, engaging with followers, it will also be much easier for millennial social media influencers to connect with a target audience than any celebrity.
For example, people will find it easier to believe a young social media influencer using a particular product than a celebrity that probably doesn’t know what the product is for. Besides, the world of Hollywood, Big Brother, Sports, and Entertainment no longer holds as much appeal as what is happening on social media. Little wonder people spend as much as nine hours every day on one social media platform or the other.
- Give your business a personality
In the coming months and years, the idea of the professional business will face serious challenges. People are no longer interested in formal and stilted companies, especially when there are thousands of eager entrepreneurs on social media ready to give immediate attention.
These days, people are more interested in businesses that provide a personal touch. In fact, customers want to know exactly who they are dealing with, where the person is, and how they can directly reach them. This trend is what drives the idea of social selling.
Therefore, if you want your business to remain relevant in the coming years, consider doing away with the formal approach and embrace the concept of informal or casual business. If you have a website (which you should in this day and time), put up images, names, and details (maybe not direct contact) of your core team members so that your customers can know who they are doing business with.
Your team members should also spend some hours every day engaging with the target audience on social media, instead of leaving the job for your social media manager. This gives your business a personal touch and makes your dealings more genuine.
Conclusion
Many new trends will be introduced in 2020 and a lot of old ones will be modified to suit the times. Unless you are in the right place and time to capture these trends and take advantage of them, you may just be giving the competition the arsenal they need to leave you behind.
Fortunately, even if you don’t catch the new trends fast enough, the five covered in this article will give you the much-needed head-start for 2020.
