What are the best ways to build a strong online presence as a trend researcher?

Start by creating a professional website or blog, ensuring it is user-friendly, visually appealing, and regularly updated with insights. Consistency is key in content creation. Publish relevant, high-quality content that reflects current trends and demonstrates your industry knowledge.

Engage actively with your audience, responding to comments and participating in relevant discussions to foster a community around your brand. This cannit be overemphasized. You must retain and incentive people visiting your website, and a professional relationship goes a long way. Networking plays a vital role; connect with industry experts and influencers to expand your reach and establish credibility, so be on the lookout for people who can provide these connections.

Creating a blog or newsletter to showcase your expertise and connect with your audience is an excellent way to establish thought leadership. Incorporating dedicated academic networks like Google Scholar enhances your content's credibility, providing peer-reviewed research and scholarly articles to support your analyses. Collaboration with professionals in your niche and staying updated through academic forums ensures your work remains current and well-informed.

Yes. Probably the easiest way and most convenient for your readers is to provide the content directly in their inboxes. But make sure to entice them to visit your website for additional details on the content.

Don't use social media platforms based on your preferences. You can choose the top three social platforms your target audience loves and spends time on. For example, Pinterest may not be a good option if your target audiences are in Southeast Asia, where people are unfamiliar with it. Each platform has its differentiated features and algorithms. Therefore, you need to optimize your content that works best on different platforms. Accordingly, you shouldn't copy the whole article to paste on your Twitter or publish your article's feature image to TikTok.

The importance of good visual communications cannot be understated. Good graphics can highlight, accentuate, and emphasize important trends that may otherwise be overlooked. Knowing when to use a chart and what chart to use are also important. For example, a simple line chart to highlight a divergence of two observed series overtime (e.g., EPI's line graph on wage and productivity growth divergence), or a treemap or Voronoi chart instead of a pie chart to show the market share of various players in an industry (e.g., Visual Capitalist's Voronoi chart on GDP by countries). Finally, the graphic design element is also important. For example, if a trend is about renewable energy, green would be more apt than other colors.