Future Watch: 5 Trends That Will Impact How We Do Business

Carabiner Communications is celebrating its 15^th year in operation this month! And, while we did some looking back with this infographic highlighting top tech news and pop culture trends over the last decade and a half, we also wanted to do some looking forward.

What are the paradigm shifts likely to shape how we do business and how we market products and services in the coming months and years? These trends are already happening:

1. Younger managers in the workforce. Our recent post on marketing to millennials talked about this most connected generation. Millennials are increasingly stepping into management roles in the workforce and becoming decision-makers in the purchase of products and services. For this reason, B2B marketers will need to figure out what appeals to this group in order to have their ear. For instance, we already know millennials seek out an authentic voice over marketing hype, watch far less television than other age groups, and rely heavily on online reviews and testimonials before making a purchase. These are all key things to know when developing marketing strategies.

2. Longer shelf life for baby boomers. Even as millennials enter the job market, many baby boomers will continue to work due to the recession in 2008 that took a serious bite out of retirement savings, the elimination of pension plans, and the increasing high cost of living. Indeed, workers today are staying on the job about two-and-a-half years more on average than in the early 1990s. If the U.S. economy remains strong and joblessness stays at an all-time low, unspoken or unconscious bias against older workers will diminish as companies grow more flexible in applicant criteria in order to fill jobs.

3. Increasing urbanization. Workers continue to move from the suburbs and into cities to avoid long commutes and be able to work, live, and play in one location. Because of this, we’ll continue to see innovations that support the urban lifestyle. Here in Atlanta, there is a growing controversy around the use of electric scooters and bikes. Businesses renting these devices as a “take it and go” mode of transportation have popped up around the city, causing headaches for drivers and several fatalities. Still, tools that support people in urban settings—think videoconferencing technologies, mobile payment methods, and yes, alternative types of transportation—will thrive.

4. Growing gap between “haves and have nots.” The gap between those with disposable income and those without it is widening. Not only that, but the population of people making do with less is getting bigger while the number of those considered well-off is shrinking. Wise companies won’t put all their apples in one basket with the affluent—they’ll find ways to develop products that fall within the smaller budgets of the masses. Millennials in particular are notoriously thrifty in their purchases. For example, 60 percent say they prefer to buy generic brands over name brands, and they spend two-thirds the amount on entertainment compared to generation Xers and baby boomers. Companies that want to sell to them will have to consider their budgets.

5. Emergence of developing markets. Emerging economies in places like China and Latin and South America are creating new places for companies to sell their wares. As business becomes increasingly more global, we’ll see even more products being sold internationally via the Internet and more being made or warehoused offshore to meet foreign demand. Marketers will need to become accustomed with different cultures, customs, and consumer buying preferences to reach these new prospects. This is also the case here in the United States as our own population grows increasingly diverse.

These predictions only scratch the surface of the changes coming our way. Some are fairly obvious, but there will be other trends and events that we haven’t yet seen coming. To be sure, marketers have to be an agile bunch to stay ahead of the curve.

What things do you anticipate will shake up the way we do business in coming years?