Creating marketing trends in the digital era means you move fast, no following, but living marketing ideas, but most importantly – knowing your users. We will not stop repeating that whatever the tendency is, you will always have people on the other side of your strategy. Also, with every concept that you create – you have an audience, who is never – everyone. So, when you track the new trends, take in mind the new subcultures that will dominate your crowd. In this piece, the book Marketing 4.0 inspired us to highlight the new audiences that will prevail in the digital world in the future. Or, at least, for now.

The Youth

Targeting the youths is always exciting for the marketers, you can use the latest channels, the most modern trends, the visuals has to vibrant and fun, and… you rarely get this chance. At least until now. The youths were not a wanted target audience because of the low purchasing capacity. However, according to Philip Kotler “A youth-first strategy often has the highest likelihood of success.” Because they are early adopters, they tend to try new things and adapt faster to the changing environment. And although they are also quick to quit a trend and follow the next one, they can serve as good ambassadors for the elder generations who don’t have the opportunity, time or enthusiasm to seek new things and are more willing to just ask the younger ones. This makes the youth game-changers; they adapt much faster to the global changes and have much more open mind when it comes to globalization, equality and empowerment movements. So, next time you want to go mainstream, try the fun way and target youths first.

Women

Nowadays, in the modern and open societies women have equal rights with men, form half of the working force and are decision-makers in the family. Globally, although the historical premises differ, the general picture is changing and women become the new powerful subculture of the world.
What does this mean for marketers? There are whole bands dedicated to targeting women, books written about their way of making decisions. Women are holistic shoppers; they consider much more factors than men do and often have more influence in decision-making when it comes to family purchases. Women also tend to be information collectors and can become better brand ambassadors. They are more willing to spend time researching and finding “the perfect” solution, asking for advice or taking other people’s opinion in mind, thus often creating useful content for other Internet users. Because of the information they collect, they tend to be quite secure about their choices and are more likely to recommend it to others. So, every modern brand should consider a way to pass the difficult test of this informed decision-makers to expand markets.

Netizens

Netizens are the true people of the world, the global citizens, the non-geographically defined community of people living in a true democracy. They live in a horizontally defined world where everyone has a voice and can contribute to society according to their abilities. Not all Internet users are considered netizens. This specific term is for those who provide to the development of the web, who create content, make reviews, give a critical opinion and share valuable information. Their role in influencing others lay in their desire to connect and contribute. They want to create information and deliver valuable content for other users. The anonymity gives them strength, but also lacks trust. Because of this, those of them who want to be true influencers tend to become more and more native, sharing personal information and experience. We all know the internet f-factors: followers, fans, and friends. Using them these people can become valuable ambassadors of a brand or threatening haters. Most importantly, they are news spreaders, enriching the internet with new information thus engaging new users.

Having said all this, and hoping that we are a valuable part of the netizens community, we would like to say that Marketing 4.0, written by Philip Kotler and his co-authors Hermawan Kartajaya and Iwan Setiawan, is a much-needed handbook for everyone who wants to follow the new age of marketing and to be part of the changed consumer behaviour. A book that shapes the future of advertising and can be used as a basic guide for everyone willing to contribute to the development of online marketing.