Why following fads is bad for business
28 February 2023 — Milka Privodanova
Whatever the weather, fads and trends influence every part of consumers’ lives. From the furniture they buy to the clothes they wear. But it’s hard to distinguish between the two. And even harder to know where marketers should put their energy. Until now.
There’s a lot going on at the moment. Europe is facing a tough economic situation, purchasing power is shrinking and consumers are tightening their belts. Businesses are too and marketers are being asked to do more with less.
Knowing what to bet on can be difficult in these times. Especially when your ambitions to keep up with culture are undermined by the amount of insights that all claim to be true—but are they really? So, what if we reconsider how we look at data? What if marketers can finally begin to sustainably move at the speed of culture—creating positive, lasting connections with consumers?
We can. Let me explain how.
Fads and trends
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a fad is “a style, activity, or interest that is very popular for a short period of time”. We have traditionally spent a lot of time chasing these fads—only to find they’re short lived. And we’re left disappointed by a lack of results, despite lots of effort.
Fads aren’t all bad, however. They’re the foundational insights behind trends. But trends represent a much bigger development in the way consumers are behaving, buying and conversing. And they’re infinitely more powerful than fads, driving consumers from inspiration to purchase.
Remember the viral Baked Feta Pasta recipe? A flash-in-the-pan fad that lots of food brands jumped on at the time, creating adjacent content to capitalise on its success. But in jumping on the bandwagon, many of these brands not only sacrificed budget, time and resources to take part in a fleeting conversation, they may also have missed out on an opportunity to create long-term connections with consumers.
You see, right before Baked Feta Pasta became a thing—and long after it was done—we saw that people were searching for ‘easy dinner recipes’ on Pinterest. That insight represented a more significant change in consumer behaviour. And a more significant opportunity to connect with the deeper needs of consumers. We also noticed Pinterest creators putting their own spin on it, like Easy Kimchi Carbonara and Baked Feta & Tomatoes. Because oftentimes, the evolution of the fad influences the overall trend.
The art of predicting trends
This helps illustrate why Pinterest Predicts is so powerful. Less fads, more trends.
Pinterest Predicts is our window into the future. A cheat sheet of 27 emerging trends and 135 keywords (covering 11+ categories) to help brands and agencies design culturally-relevant campaigns, cut by audience, vertical and values.
Not only have 80% of our predictions have come true over the last three years,1 but a Black Swan study found that Pinterest trends took off 20% faster than trends on other platforms in their first six months.2 And they also sustained monthly growth for over 20% longer than anywhere else on the internet.2
The trendsetters
Brands are using this data to not only join the conversation, but create it too, becoming real trend-setters on Pinterest in the process.
Furniture brand Swoon did just that. They used our Trends tool and noticed an increase in searches for terms related to green living areas. Combining that knowledge with our 2022 predicted trend of biophilic design, Swoon crafted a campaign dubbed Green Living that resulted in a nearly 50% increase in ROAS on the previous year.3
I don’t know about you but 50% more ROAS sounds pretty good to me in a time of economic crisis.
Meanwhile, in France, drinks brand Lillet built their summer campaign around Pinterest data, using the Trends tool to understand the adjacent interests of their target audience. Backed by the data behind dopamine dressing, another trend from the 2022 report, they set out on a colourful creative strategy that garnered a 34% lift in brand awareness.4
BioMarkt, the German organic supermarket chain, is another example of a brand that used insights from Pinterest Predicts to reach their target customer. Their campaign achieved significant results, including 94% more clicks than the internal benchmark, thanks to its use of interest and keyword targeting and the Pinterest Trends badge.5
These are just three examples of brands truly owning trends and using Pinterest data to build powerful relationships with consumers from inspiration to action.
There’s no doubt that this year is a tough one, filled with uncertainty and estimations at every turn. But with these challenges, I’m confident that marketers can find big opportunities. Use Pinterest Predicts to get ahead of trends before they take off, or get a deeper understanding of what’s trending in real time with our Trends tool. It’s time to focus on building deeper connections with your audience—stop following fads, and start setting trends.
If you already have a Pinterest sales team, email your representative to learn more about opportunities with Pinterest Predicts. If you’re new to Pinterest Ads, you can apply for sales support.
