How to start trendspotting so you can grow your brand
Social media trends may come and go, but the business opportunities that come along with them are significant. These trends result in share-worthy content that can get your brand more widely recognised. They can even help you secure that much-desired viral moment.
Beyond that, they are fun to get involved in and showcase the human side of your brand, which can only further assist in building community and love for your business online. You may be tempted to wait for trends to come along, but sometimes this strategy doesn’t always work.
This is why trendspotting may work for you so that you can identify trends ahead of time to keep your business industry-leading on social media. Continue reading to learn more about trendspotting and how to capitalise on social media trends within your industry before they fully take off.
What is trendspotting?
We mentioned the term briefly, but in case you still are unsure, trendspotting refers to the process of predicting trends before they become a big trend. In addition, determining how suitable that trend is to your industry or business.
It is essentially spotting trends on a regional, local, and worldwide level, understanding them and determining opportunities around them. The reason why this practice is so important is because of the potential these trends have to help you with goals such as:
Brand awareness
Brand identity
Getting leads and making sales
Building a dedicated community
Most industries are utilising trendspotting—for example, fashion companies and technology businesses, as well as restaurants and bars, among others. The best part about jumping on trends is that any business can do it. You just have to ensure the trend is relevant to your business and industry.
Spotting trends on social media
Now that you understand the potential behind trends, you are probably wondering how to spot them. We won’t lie to you; keeping tabs on trends requires some research. The best and most efficient way to spot trends is by going on social media platforms daily.
In particular, Instagram and TikTok, where trends have a tremendous amount of capital. Then, as you come across trends, save them and ask yourself if this is something relevant to your business. It may be a trending sound, song, or a piece of audio you are to lip sync.
Whatever it is, you want to see if it is something that will work for your business and add value to your social media page. Ultimately, you need to consider what hopping on this trend could do for your business. For example, the corn song was a massive hit on TikTok and Instagram.
Businesses of all sizes and individuals were jumping on and lip-syncing to the song. When underpinning the purpose of hopping on this trend, it’s clear it had the potential to showcase some personality which is vital to community building. Building a community unlocks things like increased brand awareness, lead generation, and sales.
As mentioned, social media is your place to spot and track trends. Your social feeds will hold the answers if you want to know what is trending. But how do you tell if something is a trend? You’ll want to look for content many people are engaging with or sharing. For example, with the corn song, a lot of people were stitching it and creating their own versions but also engaging with the content.
What types of trends should you be identifying?
You’re probably wondering about the trends you should look out for. It’s understandable, especially when there are so many trends happening at any one time on social media platforms. In essence, the trends you should keep an eye out for are:
General trends
These refer to trends that can work for almost any individual and business. A great example of this is the corn song or using trending sounds. For instance, music or audio sounds. When Stranger Things Season 4 hit the screens, Kate Bush’s Running Up The Hill was revived, and so many businesses were putting the song to good use. Using the song was helping them boost brand awareness and get in front of their ideal customers.
Industry-specific trends
Next are trends specific to your industry that will not simply work for every business or brand out there. For example, if you run a beauty salon, use soundbites specific to your industry, such as ones relating to before and afters. Alternatively, trying out the latest beauty hacks could be another way to get trending on social media. Competitive analysis is critical here too.
Staying on top of trends
Trends are the future; they may come and go, but they are here to stay and can be a recipe for success on social media. Trendspotting is an essential part of the process when it comes to nailing down potential trends so your business can grow.
While a lot of this comes down to desktop research, it’s also essential to communicate with your customers. After all, they are the ones who matter; the people you want to buy your products or avail of your services.
And don’t forget!
You can keep up-to-date with what your customers like by doing polls on social media, asking questions, and checking out their content. This will help you create content that will reach the masses while also resonating with the people who are already so loyal to your brand.