It starts in the hallowed halls of higher learning, a group emerges as the trendsetters and others follow their lead. If the cool kids are wearing it, saying it, or using it then surely it must be cool. Even those who seem detached from the groupie phenom (the rebels) are often reinforcing it with their brand of anti-cool.
We grow up and the cool kids trade move from the locker room to the boardroom.
In business if all the cool kids are tweeting, using Facebook, selling information products (fill in the blank) then we jump on board too. The problem with this approach is a failure to analyze if the strategy really works for you.
One of my pet peeves in marketing is a hype around tactics and tools and little focus on strategy. The tactics and tools may be perfectly legitimate but how and why they are used should be as distinct as the business itself.
I receive requests all the time from business owners that are focused on a tool – ebooks, social media, video marketing, etc. – but often the business is simply hopping on a trend without having a clear idea how the tool will drive their business forward.
If you want to lead in business know and own your distinction and then leverage it with the cool kids who are your customers. Trends are fine but creating your own path and having others carry that message, is the ultimate in cool.
Who are the “cool kids” in your industry? What can you learn from them while making your own mark?
If you are interested in discovering if Twitter is another cool kid trend or a tool that you can use in your own business, join me and Trish Lambert for a free Twiter course on Wednesday, July 8th. Go here to learn more.
Debbie Yost says
For me, I try to shy away from what “the cool kids” are doing. It is often a fad and usually so oversaturated you get lost in the crowd. Of course, blogging is quite popular and I’m right in there with the rest of them. Oh well. I also Twitter. I have to admit, I have been on Twitter for a while and I find it a fun social outlet and sometimes I get traffic driven to my blog from it, but mostly I’m just having fun. I’m kind of annoyed that all these business and celebrities are taking it over. It kind of takes the fun out of it for me. I really don’t care what Oprah has to say, and frankly, I doubt she’s saying it anyway.
.-= Debbie Yost´s last blog ..Mostly Wordless Wednesday – Our Fishing Troll =-.
Ulla Hennig says
I think the discussion about “cool tools” is quite important. I admit falling for new and cool tools. But then my time is somewhat limited, so I concentrate on “what is this tool doing for me, what is it helping me with”. And then I decide to either keep it or throw it away…
Too many people are fascinated by the tools themselves, and not thinking about the content or which problems they want them to solve.
Friar says
Pardon me for being a crusty old Friar, but I think Twitter was “cool” 18 months ago, when it was cutting edge.
But now it’s jumped the proverbial shark. It’s gone mainstream…CNN, Larry King, and Oprah do it. Everybody’s doing it….
Now it’s cluttered with Spam, porn ads. For every follower that’s a “real person”, there are five that are just thinly-disguised snake-oil salesman trying to sell you their junk.
Mark my words. Within 6-8 months, the NEXT “Cool thing” will come out, which all the Cool Kids will flock to.
Until THAT becomes mainstream as well….
.-= Friar´s last blog ..Science that I’m Ungrateful For =-.
Karen Swim says
Fred, the bells should definitely be ringing but many folks have tuned them out! Sadly many “gurus” enhance the phenom by pushing tools as the “must-do” thing without taking time to understand the business use first. One of the big reasons why I do not offer content as a separate service but only as part of a larger strategy.
Karen Swim says
Andrew, I was not a cool kid either but I was also not immune to their allure. 🙂 It’s funny how many seem to realize that jumping on the bandwagon without examination is wrong and yet….I get requests all the time for help with tactics when there is no clear strategy and worse not even a clear understanding of their own brand!
Fred H Schlegel says
When the focus is on tools instead of product the alarm bells should be going off. The biggest problem I usually see this leading to is the imposition of inappropriate metrics that virtually assure failing marks when a project is analyzed after the fact.
.-= Fred H Schlegel´s last blog ..Following Instructions =-.
Andrew says
Karen,
Personally, I was never a cool kid at school, and accordingly, I gave any in vain hope of trying to be cool at a very early age.
Nevertheless, I do not believe that anyone, myself included, is immune to the influence of pier pressure, and I could certainly imagine that pier pressure has a fair degree of influence upon decision making within the modern corporate environment.
With regards to social media, firms should resist the temptation to jump in simply because everyone else is. Rather they should try to map out a purposeful and deliberate strategy as to how they intend to use the social media landscape of a means of achieving bottom-line business benefits. Ideally, this should be done before their use of Twitter and other platforms actually commences.
.-= Andrew´s last blog ..What Ikea’s decision to halt expansion in Russia says about corruption =-.