We recently asked our new subscribers a pressing question. The question?

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What is your biggest business challenge right now?

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Guess what? Nearly all of you awesome DTC marketers have been worried about one thing – how to stay up to date (and on top of) trends in the industry.

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And boy, do we have some ideas for you! Let’s dive right in.

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👀 Lurk on Twitter

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While loitering on social media can seem counterproductive, it’s not the case at all for learning the recent happenings in your industry.

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Marketers – especially DTC marketers – luuuuuurve Twitter. They love it enough to often post industry trends, marketing tips, hot takes, thought-provoking ideas, and long threads that are literal DTC gold.

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It’s not uncommon to hear marketers say things like, “Twitter is more valuable than an MBA.” After diving into a well-written DTC trend thread, this statement rings true.

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If you want to learn about recent DTC trends, follow the top DTC marketers, store owners, and publications.

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Another idea is to subscribe to Twitter lists.

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Lia Haberman advises people to use Twitter lists and Google alerts. “It’s old school, but I get daily emails with top articles based on the keywords I’m interested in,” says Haberman.

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📰 Subscribe to industry newsletters

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You’re not going to believe this, but your eyeballs are 100% in the right place at this very moment.

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Newsletters (ahem… Like this one) are chock-full of industry news. At DTC Newsletter, we don’t talk about trends from 50 years ago (unless it’s somehow relevant to the current conversation).

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We talk about what is happening in the present and possibilities in the future – and how these trends can help you grow your business!

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Do yourself a favor and subscribe to the best DTC and marketing newsletters. You’ll be so full of news and recent trends we’ll have to roll you out the door.

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🎞 Create a TikTok account

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You don’t have to post funny videos of you dancing to capture the benefits of TikTok. You just have to interact with creators in your industry and see what they are talking about.

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TikTok is growing faster than any other social media platform. It’s also becoming one of the best social commerce apps.

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Consumers regularly jump on TikTok to find product recommendations and to make purchases. For real. See #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt.

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Spend some time watching videos posted under the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt section to see what consumers are saying, what they’re buying, and what trends are making their mark in the DTC world.

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🤓 Read industry reports

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Reading industry reports might not be as fun as reading the latest #BookTok recommendation, but if you’re aiming to grow your DTC business, you should make it a daily habit.

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Industry reports are truly a gift from the Research Nerd Gods. These lovely researchers do all of the hard quantitative research and number crunching.

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Then, they turn these insights into accessible content that tell you everything about:

• Consumer sentiment
• Customer buying patterns
• Economic conditions
• Future market projects
• And more

The data in these free reports will help you get a better grasp of relevant trends.

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💬 Organic conversations

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Yes, it’s nice to pour a glass of the latest DTC non-alcoholic wine, hop in the tub with the latest DTC bath fizzy, and read through a DTC trends report. But have you tried participating in organic conversations with your peers?

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Sometimes, the best way to get a pulse on industry happenings is to talk to other DTC professionals. Chances are they’re keeping an eye out for trends too, so share what you find!

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There are several ways to get in on the conversation. You can try scheduling a good old-fashioned Zoom call, hosting a webinar, participating in a webinar, going to a conference, and/or hitting up networking events.

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The more genuine conversations you’ll have, the more trends you’ll uncover.

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Do you have any tips for DTC readers to stay in tune with what’s going on in the space? Reply to this email and we’ll share our favorites! 🤝