Trends come and go in every industry, and promotional products are no exception. You might be familiar with trends, but micro-trends have a surprising amount of sway over consumer preferences and brand promo.
Micro-trends are fleeting yet effective trends that give you a unique opportunity to connect with consumers in real time, courtesy of responsive marketing campaigns. It takes a bit of elbow grease to leverage micro-trends, but your audience will reward you with engagement, loyalty, and (hopefully) repeat purchases.
In this guide, we’ll break down what a micro-trend is and share which trends are on consumers’ radars in 2024. We know that implementation is a big hurdle for brands, too, so this guide will also share tips for executing micro-trends in your marketing plan.
What Is a Micro-Trend?
Micro-trends are small but powerful shifts in consumer behavior. They emerge fast and gain popularity quickly, but usually lack long-term staying power, like a typical trend.
Even so, modern marketers leverage micro-trends to get a snapshot of the consumer mindset. Following micro-trends allows brands to tap into the zeitgeist du jour and adapt their strategies to keep up with evolving consumer and market changes.
Leveraging micro-trends comes with so many benefits, including:
- Staying ahead of the curve (and competition)
- Future-proofing your brand to respond rapidly to market shifts
- Capturing short-term gains in attention, social media followers, and media mentions that contribute to long-term brand growth
This Season’s Hottest Micro-Trends
Micro-trends move fast—blink, and you just might miss them. You can expect micro-trends to change over time, but these micro-trends from the 2024 Boundless Lookbook are en vogue at the moment.
Trending Colors
Color trends come and go based on consumers’ emotional, psychological, and even physical states. Right now, we’re seeing more color collections featuring Pantone’s Color of the Year, Peach Fuzz, as well as hues like:
- Rusty red
- Cool, atmospheric blues
- Buttery beige (a nod to “quiet luxury” sophistication)
- Black (goth culture is back in!)
Personalization
We aren’t saying personalization is a fleeting trend—it’s definitely here to stay. However, there are so many micro-trends for executing personalization. How you choose to personalize depends entirely on what your audience is craving at the moment.
Right now, we’re seeing personalization micro-trends like:
- Tapping into style subcultures (like goth and punk edginess or coastal cowgirl relaxation)
- Encouraging joy and wonder through self-care products that cater to health & wellness micro-trends, like sober curiosity or DIY and craftcore
- Incorporating nostalgia or throw-back products that bring back good memories
- Capturing hearts through the stomach with creative snacks
Content Creation & Social Storytelling
Polyworking, or working multiple jobs simultaneously, is having a moment. For example, many Gen Z employees report having three jobs at once—including social media influencing. The #GetReadyWithMe (#GRWM) trend is a biggie in the beauty space, so focusing on unboxing-worthy beauty promo could score you a few social media mentions.
Insta Aesthetics
Social media is driving interest in niche aesthetics or lifestyle looks that consumers clamor for. These aesthetics are eye-catching and definitely turn heads. Try to leverage micro-trends like:
- #BookTok, or the online community that’s obsessed with all things reading
- Western wear, or anything with fringe
- Balletcore, which is all about muted colors, bows, and sparkles
- Mermaidcore, which focuses on hues of blue, purple, and pink—plus a few well-placed sparkles
- Clean Girl, which focuses on barely-there beauty that tries to pull off a polished look that looks effortless (but usually requires a seven-step skincare regimen)
- Y2K brings back the nostalgia of the late 90s and early 2000s, complete with velour tracksuits and frosted tips
Incorporating Micro-Trends into Brand Strategy
Micro-trends are fun, but many brands avoid them because implementation seems impossible. So, how can you pull off micro-trends without pulling all-nighters? Follow these tips to incorporate micro-trends into your brand strategy.
1. Identify Relevant Micro-Trends for Your Brand
Not every micro-trend will be for you, and that’s okay! Trying to keep up with every trend will drive your marketing and promo team into the ground. Instead of trying to do it all, stay on top of micro-trends and only act on the ones that make the most sense.
For example, if you mostly cater to a predominantly male audience, a trend like Balletcore or Mermaidcore probably wouldn’t make sense. Preserve your resources for the micro-trends that match up best with your audience preferences.
2. Move Quickly
Micro-trends come and go in the span of a few months, tops. You can make the most of them by streamlining your marketing and promo processes for speed. For example, that might mean tapping your Brand Consultant for quick-turnaround items that hit the mark and your in-hands date. Boundless Brand Consultants are skilled in sourcing products that don’t require weeks (or months) of production, freight, and shipping timelines.
3. Create a Multi-Media Campaign
Promo alone is a fun way to leverage micro-trends, but you’re investing a lot to make this campaign successful. So shout about it! Deploy an omnichannel marketing strategy that uses social media, email marketing, and your website to engage with your audience using these micro-trends. Try a UGC campaign to bring more engagement to your channels! This gets your name out there and could even create a cult following of folks raving about your micro-trend-inspired products.
4. Measure the Impact of Micro-Trends
As much as we love the creativity and uniqueness of micro-trends, they need to get results for your business. Track performance before, during, and after the campaign to quantify the marketing gains you see from catering to micro-trends.
If impressions or engagements were low, that’s not a sign that you should avoid micro-trends, but that you may need to reevaluate which trends you follow or how you promote them. Ultimately, the goal is to pinpoint what went well and what you need to improve for next time, generating more tangible results and ROI from the promo initiative.
Ride the Wave With Micro-Trends
Integrating micro-trends into a marketing strategy is no small feat, but it’s becoming an increasingly crucial strategy for modern marketing. In an age where businesses struggle to differentiate themselves, investing in micro-trends allows you to capture your audience’s imagination and engage with them like never before.
While the micro-trends in this guide are a great place to start, you might still need a helping hand with execution. That’s where Boundless comes in. Our team of promotional product and marketing experts helps brands create lasting Brand Love moments that translate into tangible results. Achieve your Boundless potential: See how Boundless will transform your brand.
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