A trending topic or hashtag is one that receives more visibility and engagement than usual on a social media platform (e.g., Twitter, TikTok). Businesses can leverage trends to amplify their content, reach new audiences, and build credibility. However, it’s important to approach trending topics with sensitivity and ensure they align with the brand voice, principles, and target demographics so that they don’t come across as inauthentic or contrived.
A number of tools can help you find and analyze trends, including Google Trends and specialized software like Exploding Topics and Semrush. Trends are based on search volumes and can be broken down by location, language preference, and viewing history. Google also factors in a variety of other metrics, including whether a search term is popular among a particular group of users (e.g., celebrities) and excludes searches with special characters or those made by very few people to improve accuracy.
While some brands and agencies use trending data to drive strategy and creative, it’s critical to remember that trends can be incredibly volatile and change quickly. Trending is not a reliable tool for long-term planning or market research. It’s also important to note that there is no guarantee that a trending topic will become a viral one or even make it to the top of the list, and that the same keyword can often appear as a popular one in different parts of the world at different times.
The most effective way to leverage trending is to create timely and relevant content that speaks to the interests of your audience. This can include everything from a seasonal campaign to a meme that ties into a current event or news story. A business that is aware of the trends in its industry can create valuable and shareable content on a regular basis, increasing brand visibility and engagement.
It’s important to remember that it takes a significant amount of activity to cause a topic to trend, so you should be wary of trying to manipulate the system by posting irrelevant content just for the sake of being noticed. In fact, doing so can actually have negative consequences, as Twitter explicitly warns against adding #trending to posts that are not related to the subject at hand. This can cause confusion and lead to the false assumption that your content is spammy, which could damage your reputation.
It’s worth noting that the algorithms behind the Trending tab on YouTube are different from those used by Twitter and other platforms. In addition to considering viewer engagement, YouTube’s algorithm considers channel growth and up-and-coming creators. This makes it more difficult to predict what will trend and means that a video might suddenly jump up or down in the rankings with each update.