A trend is a term that describes a topic, hashtag, or keyword that is popular on a social media platform at a given moment. Trending topics are highlighted by social media platforms to encourage discussion and engagement among their users. They can reflect current news, cultural or other events, viral content, holidays, and more. They can also be localized to a specific community, location or context, or have an impact on a global scale depending on the platform and its reach.
Trends can occur in a variety of fields, from pop culture and entertainment to finance and politics. They can reflect a nation’s mood or the direction of the economy, and they can be as short-lived as a fad or as long-lasting as a fashion trend. But regardless of their duration, trends are often a valuable source of information that can help businesses stay relevant and competitive.
A business that fails to keep up with trending will quickly lose relevance and market share. Using trend analysis can enable a business to better understand its competitors and its customers, identify gaps in the market, and develop effective strategies that will allow it to capitalize on emerging opportunities.
Keeping up with trending can be difficult, especially when the pace of change is so rapid. A successful business must constantly adapt its offerings, marketing strategy, and branding to reflect new developments and maintain its edge.
The most common way to find out what’s trending is by monitoring social media conversations. Twitter, for example, has a built-in feature that shows the most popular keywords and topics being searched by its users. Many other social media platforms have their own ‘trending’ sections, including Instagram’s Explore page, X’s Trending topics, and TikTok’s For You section. Trending lists are typically determined by an algorithm and tailored to each user based on their own interests, who they follow, and where they live.
Google’s Trends website offers a more in-depth look at the popularity of search terms around the world and over time. Hovering over a search term on the graph displays a number that represents the relative popularity of that search term, as compared to other search terms.
For example, if a term’s curve is pointing downward it means that searches for that topic are decreasing in comparison to other searches. A business owner can use this data to make informed decisions about which products and services to carry, as well as to target advertising efforts effectively.
A decline in the popularity of a product may lead to a reduction in sales, which could ultimately lead to a financial loss for the company. However, if the popularity of a product starts to increase again, it may be possible for the business to reclaim lost market share. This can be achieved by developing a campaign that is focused on the positive aspects of the product or service, and by creating promotional material that highlights its unique features. A tool like Tweet Binder can help businesses track trending hashtags on Twitter and generate weekly, real-time, and historical reports.