Marketing Trend Tracker - Series 1

April 7, 2023

Welcome to The Shoppe’s newest series … The Trend Tracker! Marketing trends are constantly evolving, and staying on top of them is crucial for any business. This series will keep you up-to-date with the marketing industry’s current crazes. Get ready to ride the wave of industry innovation as we explore the hottest trends of the moment! From the unstoppable rise of AI to the power of authentic content, this week's Trend Tracker is a must-read. Come along for the adventure!

AI Takeover

If you’re in marketing, you’ve most likely started to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into your marketing strategy in one way or another. Due to the rapid increase of data, along with the maturity of computing power innovations, AI technology is going from being a possible business innovation enabler to being a critical source of business value. One of the largest benefits of utilizing the most current AI technology is that it can boost business productivity by up to 40%. Marketers can use AI to predict what customers will buy next and in what quantity to avoid overselling or selling out-of-stock products, craft personalized customer experiences, generate email and social media content, build better customer service through chatbots, and so much more. Don’t believe us? Check out one of our blogs, Booze Is Back For The Big Game, which is written almost entirely by the AI copywriter, Jasper! It’s becoming clear that AI is the future of marketing and if you’re someone with an online business, AI-powered marketing could become a must for continued success. 

Canva Create Era

Does your company use Canva as much as we do? Canva, the popular online design platform, has recently launched a suite of new features to empower brands in this new stage of marketing. This rollout is the second Canva Create event, also known as “A Brand New Era.” These new “gifts” revealed and presented to the Canva community are focused on maintaining consistency, centralizing brand assets, and remaining on brand throughout each and every design created. These new features, to name a few, include Magic Design™ where a selection of refined templates is made just for you after uploading a single image, Magic Edit which lets you add or replace something in an image with Canva’s AI photo editor, and Magic Write where you’ll start with a prompt and Canva’s AI text generator will pop out anything from social captions and ideas to blog outlines! In the video example below, we used Canva’s Magic Edit to replace the original colored eggs with an “assortment of spring flowers.” 

The Authentic Advantage

In today's world of social media, people are bombarded with a vast array of pre-packaged content that often feels sterile and impersonal. This trend has led to a growing desire for content that feels more genuine, authentic, and unpolished. While it may seem counterintuitive, this type of content often resonates more deeply with viewers than polished and carefully curated content. So take off that facade and be true to your brand and its values when creating! How do you achieve this authenticity, you ask? Be transparent by sharing real-life experiences and being open to feedback/criticism, be vulnerable in a way that will help your brand build trust and connect with your audience, and be sure to engage with your audience in order to show authenticity. Take the company Crumbl Cookies, for example, who is thriving in terms of their social media presence. Social media is at the top of the list when it comes to Crumbl’s business model and users can always count on a speedy response when contacting customer support. 

This type of social media management is extremely important for a successful business to have and is a full-time job in itself that not every company may have the bandwidth to cover. This is where SparkShoppe comes in! Reach out to us today to learn how we can help your company grow by managing your social media accounts on top of many other social and digital services. 

The Meta AI Evolution: Bots, Engagement, and the Future of Social Interaction

April 10, 2025
Remember the early days of the Internet? Digital bots were the unruly disruptors, the digital equivalent of that persistent telemarketer. They clogged feeds with spam, automated shady schemes, and spread misinformation like a digital wildfire. But fast forward to today, and those once-rogue bots have pulled off a serious glow-up, transforming into surprisingly valuable tools for sparking engagement, fueling creativity, and even offering a semblance of companionship. Leading this evolution is Meta, who is boldly rewriting the rules of how AI-driven bots function and, perhaps more significantly, how they are perceived. Now, AI is vying for our attention through comment suggestions, personalized virtual assistants, and a standalone app. Meta is planting its AI roots deeper than we could have possibly imagined just a few short years ago. So, how did we get here, and more importantly, what does it all mean for our digital lives?

The New Playbook: How NIL Deals Are Reshaping Sports Marketing

April 4, 2025
The NCAA Tournament isn’t just about buzzer-beaters and Cinderella stories—it’s a massive stage for brands. With the rise of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals, marketing is shifting from traditional ads to direct athlete partnerships. Here’s how NIL is changing the game for brands and players alike.

Meta's New Scratch & Sniff Ads: A Game-Changer in Digital Marketing

March 31, 2025
Meta has just launched its latest feature—Scratch & Sniff Ads! Imagine scrolling through your feed and encountering an ad that doesn't just capture your attention visually, but engages your sense of smell.
Glass of Water

Saratoga Spring Water Goes Viral

March 27, 2025
Saratoga Spring Water Goes Viral Thanks to an Influencer’s Unlikely Morning Routine

Shaking Up the Market: The Rise of Spirit-Based RTDs

By Sierra Levine • March 25, 2025
While traditional malt-based seltzers once dominated this space, the recent surge in spirit-based RTDs has introduced a new wave of innovation and excitement for consumers. These cocktails-in-a-can are changing the way people enjoy their favorite drinks.

Content Saturation: Cutting Through the Noise

March 20, 2025
Do you ever feel like your content is a whisper in an endless buzz of content? No matter how many blogs, videos, or social media posts you create, it’s just not reaching your audience. Welcome to content saturation, the digital version of rush-hour traffic - where everyone is trying to get somewhere, but most of us are just stuck in the jam.
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