Should I join in this trend? Learn the importance of trend tracking.
Thinking about joining an up and coming trend? Have you seen people going viral from a trend, challenge, or idea and want to get involved?
Knowing when to participate in trends is important for any online user to understand to ensure you are critically engaging and producing content for your accounts.
Today we are going to break down trend tracking and the considerations everyone should make before participating in a trend online.
Trend Tracking 101
When it comes to understanding social media one of the main things people come to realize are the trends that develop online from ideas and concepts created on said platforms.
People take a lot of time now a days to figure out how these trends develop and catch these trends before they get infant of large audiences. Although, this skill takes more practice than many would think and can be a wild goose chase if done wrong.
Trend tracking involves consideration for your niche and training your algorithm to stay up to date with the latest ideas and aspirations for trending content. Not all trends you see online are meant for you to interact and participate in and knowing how to filter that takes time.
In this post we will break down common questions about finding trends and offer tips to people looking to develop a better understanding for finding trends in their niche.
Is your target audience watching and engaging with this trend?
The first step in tracking the range of a trend is to consider the types of people interacting with the trend. Trends develop in every demographic and develop in different ways depending on the audience. Figuring out exactly what this trend is relating to and who it is targeting will help you decide if there is a way you can position your brand under this trend.
Having a clear understanding of your ideal audience members is essential in knowing whether you should take part in a trend. If you are a personal brand, consider the trends you relate to as it will be easier to find trends due to your account being based off of you as a person.
For businesses, finding trends depends on a clear understanding of your target audience and how they engage with content online.
Who is interacting with said trend?
One easy way to see the audience range of a trend is to see the creators participating in the trend and get at least an idea for what type of users are interacting in the comment section. If you see a trend blowing up but there is little engagement or development that matches your goals then that trend may not benefit your brand.
Another major consideration is trend saturation, which can be seen as how many people have already participated in that trend online. In the early stages of a trend developing, seeing large creator jump onto the trend is a great sign for higher view results.
There still needs to be consideration for whether this trend fits your brands aesthetic. Celebrities or creators participating in a trend is not a green light to participation for everyone.
What is the reaction users are having to the trend?
The next essential consideration to make before joining a trend is the reaction of online users to said trend. Content creation has many variables, and one that many are not considering lately are the reactions of audience members.
Especially when someone going viral or creating a trend momentum, understand whether the respond from the online community is good or bad. As well as, consider how your remake of this trend will be perceived by online viewers. You want to target your ideal audience members, so you have to consider the reactions they will have to trends before you participate in them.
Is there enough time to do this trend?
Now that you have taken some thought behind the culture and audience range of this trend, next you need to consider if there is enough time for you to curate this content and post it while the trend is developing.
The worst feeling is posting a video expending a certain reaction and realizing you missed the initial boost of this trend. Avoid that by tracking how long this trend will stay relevant. This process can be difficult and can take some time to get the hang of, so try not to apply too much thought in terms of time.
If you like a trend and want to participate for your community, regardless of the time you can make the choice to do that. There are ways to get ahead of trends before social media platforms begin pushing them to more people at time, but never limit your imagination if you feel inspired by an “old” trend and want to repurpose it.
How can you repurpose this trend to entertain, educate, or inspire your audience?
When it comes to creating content based off a trend, there are many ways you can go about adding your own touch to this trend while still participating. Depending on the trend, some trends are meant to be replicated and require specific items.
Other trends depend on adding your own spin on an idea and offer room for more creativity if that is what you are looking for. Read the tone of the trend and figure out the best approach based off of your niche and current social media goals.
Consider the aspects that go into making the trending content, when you can do it and when it can be edited by. Once you figure that out you can decipher if the trend is something you plan on participating in.
How to know a trend is not worth your involvement
You are uncultured in said trends.
Not having adequate understanding of the culture or target audience a trend is intended for can be harmful to your brand when done inappropriately or disrespectfully to said culture. Know who a trend is for and consider whether your involvement offers a positive contribution to the trends development.
Lacking relevance: There is no relevance to your audience, only a personal relationship you have to the trend.
Your audience is not always going to like the same things as you. Especially is you are not a personal brand, take time to consider if your audience will resonate with this trend and the meaning behind your recreation of this trend.
Unprepared for Viral Audience: With trends comes potential for viral content and having millions of eyes on your content and business when you may not have been fully prepared for that. Consider that before jumping on a trend.
If you are unprepared to have numerous eyes on your social media accounts, participating in trends is not advised. That should come as an obvious remark, but many people go viral with no expectation of it. In reality going viral is a very random thing and should always be a consideration when posting online in general no a days.
Trends are amazing ways to build your audience and relate with your community on a deeper level. Everything you do online requires critical consideration before action, as long as you have taken the time to reflect before posting you are on the right track to participate in whichever trend you have determined works for your brand.
As you study the development of trends from trial and error you will be able to better refine your trend tracking metrics and develop clear trend making decisions.
