Fads And Trends

Knowing the difference between fads and trends can save you a lot of time and money when you’re trying to build a business over the long term. Keeping yourself in check by not jumping into fad chasing too quickly can also save you some credibility as well.

So what’s the difference between fads and trends?

Well, we all know marketing is trending toward more communication between businesses and their clientele, but webinars appear to be a fad that’s slowly losing its appeal.

Oh sure, there are currently more webinars happening now on any given day than ever before, but attendance for these events are diminishing rather quickly.

In a post I wrote a while ago called “Webinars Are Back” I made a prediction about the current wave of webinars and how one new aspect of them could become a problem.

It seems to be coming true.

So one key to knowing the difference between fads and trends is sustainability.

If something comes along that creates a frenzy, then chances are it won’t be able to sustain long enough to satisfy the trend its supposed to accommodate, simply because with every frenzy comes the increased probability of degradation and over use.

Now I don’t mean to pick on webinars, because in the right hands, they can be a great tool. I’ve simply used them as a current example of how fads rise and fall.

Anything can become a fad, and this is especially true when it comes to online marketing. After all, who among us isn’t looking for ways to go viral, or find the next big thing?

We’re predisposed to it!

The law of averages dictates that with the huge number of ideas getting passed around, some of them are bound to catch a wave. And with the even larger number of marketers just waiting for new opportunities, its easy to see how these ideas can quickly become fads.

Someone finds an email marketing tactic that works for them, and the next thing you know, everyone’s doing it. Another discovers a video trick, and blammo, hundreds of videos using the same trick emerge on the scene.

The way to stick to trends and avoid fads is to wait it out and see what happens. You may miss out temporarily, but in the long run, you’ll have saved a lot of time and money avoiding unsustainable fad marketing.

If you find that a marketing device is holding its own over time, then implement it. If it satisfies the trend, it will still be effective later on after the frenzy dies down.

You see, great ideas often become fads, but that doesn’t mean they’re not great ideas once the hoopla fades.

Webinars are a perfect example of that.

Because it’s not so much the device or method that signals the difference between fads and trends, but the way they’re used and exploited.

So stay out of the frenzies, and have enough confidence in your own ability to understand trends and how to keep your business prospering without getting stuck in fad marketing mode.