Ever felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information that gets discussed on social media every day? It can make life hard for a social media manager looking for trends on Instagram. Use these tips to be in the loop!
On the outside, managing a brand’s social media seems super fun and glamorous. This is undeniably true, but what people don’t talk about as much is the sheer stress of the job. ‘Regular’ jobs may start at 9 and end at 5, but a social media manager needs to live and breathe their brand, 24/7.
As a social media manager (or a content manager in general), you can’t miss out on any fad, trend, or current event that would even remotely be related to your brand. If you don’t make the most of an opportunity, you’ll simply be left behind, dusted by your competition.
In that sense, managing a social media handle is not unlike a ‘survival of the fittest’ scenario.
With so much social media content being posted every single day, it can be overwhelming to keep track of the latest news or trending topics. For that reason, I’ve put together this little list to make your job a wee bit easier 🙂
First, let’s talk a bit about moment marketing.
What is moment marketing?
You may have heard of this term before, or may even be completely unaware of it, but if you’ve ever managed a social media account, you’ve definitely utilized this concept before.
Moment marketing is essentially when you take advantage of ongoing events and current trends and integrate them into your marketing efforts.
For example, remember the black and blue (white and gold?) dress that divided the Internet, way back when in 2015? Marketers around the world tried to make jokes and memes, tying the dress to their products.
Here is one of my favorite examples of this:
It was a perfect opportunity, as Oreo had offerings in both the combinations of shades. Oreo Cookie’s marketing team absolutely didn’t miss out. If you’re following this handle on Twitter, you would also notice that the 1294 retweets this particular post generated are miles above the 30-50 average retweets on Oreo’s rest of the posts.
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The Impact of Moment Marketing on Engagement
This is seen across regions and product categories, and it makes sense. As a marketer, you have to add on to or complement what’s on people’s minds already, so they are willing to interact, rather than scrolling past.
It’s a given that, no matter who your target audience is, they will likely already be part of the full news cycle and be well-informed (sometimes, more so than you!). The supply of information, particularly that related to trending topics and events, are available in just a few taps, across social media platforms.
The dress trend was over 8 years ago though, and trends today have more to do with short-format videos. Sometimes, marketers can have success simply by using Reels with popular audio tracks.
All throughout 2020, Instagram users were posting Reels with the ‘oh no no no no nooo’ track (sorry for getting that stuck in your head again!), and influencers/brands gladly hopped on to this trend as well. Of course, before it started getting annoying. As of mid-2021, Justin Bieber’s STAY seems to be the go-to track amongst creators.
It really pays off to identify trends on Instagram and other social media platforms, at the right time.
Examples of how brands leveraged moment marketing
1. Coca-Cola’s ‘Share a Coke’ Campaign
In 2011, Coca-Cola came up with a brilliant idea to make their customers feel special. They started putting individual names on their bottles, encouraging people to “Share a Coke” with someone they care about. This not only created a personal touch but also encouraged people to gift Coca-Cola to their friends and family, making it a shared experience.
The campaign used the power of social media to create a buzz, resulting in over 150 million personalized bottles sold in the US alone. It was a heartwarming campaign that brought people closer and increased Coca-Cola’s sales significantly.
2. McDonald’s ‘McRib’ Campaign
In 2014, McDonald’s made the decision to reintroduce a beloved sandwich from the 80s – the McRib. However, this delicious treat is only available for a limited time each year. They built a campaign around the “limited availability” theme, creating a sense of urgency and excitement among the customers.
The advertisements and social media posts echoed the message “The McRib Is Coming Back,” urging people to grab the opportunity before it was gone. This strategy not only increased sales but also created a FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) effect. It encouraged people to rush to their nearest McDonald’s to enjoy the McRib before it disappeared again.
3. Starbucks ‘Red Cup’ Campaign
In 2015, Starbucks introduced a festive campaign to mark the holiday season. They released their annual red holiday cups, which were more than just cups; they were a signal that the holiday season had begun.
Starbucks encouraged customers to share their red cup moments on social media using the hashtag #RedCupContest, even offering prizes to spur engagement. The campaign was a massive hit, with people eagerly waiting for the release of the red cups each year, creating a warm holiday buzz and driving sales through a simple yet effective moment marketing strategy.
Tools to track trends on Instagram and other platforms
Staying relevant and keeping up with valuable content opportunities requires tracking trends on Instagram and other social media platforms. Luckily, there are user-friendly tools available to help you stay in touch with what’s popular.
Let’s take a look at some of these tools to make your trend-tracking journey easier.
1. Google Trends to track trends on Instagram and other online events
Google Trends is a brilliant data exploration tool and social media trend tracker that, as a marketer, you should welcome with wide-open arms. While it’s used most often as a search engine optimization tool, it serves another function that is surprisingly not used by a lot of content managers. Navigate to the Google Trends homepage, and you’ll see a distant section for Trending Now.
Click on this, and you’ll see a list of trending topics in an incredibly simple, intuitive interface. You can organize them by country, and I’ve done below for the United States.
2. Feedly is your best friend when tracking trends on Instagram
DISCLAIMER: Feedly is a paid tool; the only one featured in this blog. Nevertheless, starting at $6 a month, it’s an investment in a social media trend tracker that’s well worth its while for content ideas.
In a nutshell, Feedly lets you create distinct ‘feeds’ with topics of your own choice and interests and aggregates information from sites across the Web to finally present it in one space. In the following example, I’ve used #cryptocurrency as a topic of interest.
After searching for a topic, you’ll see a few ‘Source Bundles’ curated by Feedly; these are likely the most relevant and trusted sources for your chosen topic. If you don’t care for these and want to pick your own specific sources, continue scrolling.
You’ll now see specific websites for your topic, and helpful statistics on their followers, articles per week, and relevance. You can now add these to make a feed, by clicking on ‘Follow’. I added Coinbase and Coindesk to a new feed called Cryptocurrency, and here’s what the feed looked like.
It’s that simple. While this two-source feed still looks pretty spartan, a more comprehensive feed will be extremely convenient for social listening, in your race against time to put out the newest, freshest content for your target audience with trending topics.
3. Discussion forums for different interpretations of trending topics
Upon hearing the term ‘discussion forum,’ Reddit may well be the first word to pop up in your head. To say that Reddit has a lot of discussion groups (called subreddits) is a massive understatement. There are subreddits for everything. To put things into perspective, there is a subreddit called WeirdEggs, where people only post images of oddly shaped eggs. It has over 37,000 members by the way.
But the fact that there are many subreddits only works to your advantage if you are a social media manager. You can follow dozens of these related to your industry, and go through your feed for constant updates (Redditors are very proactive and quick to inform). Alternatively, you can also follow the subreddits of your competitors to explore their goings-on.
If you just want a quick glance at the trending topics of the day, there is a dedicated section called ‘Popular’ (marked by a button with an arrow pointing North-East) which can be accessed from Reddit’s homepage.
Reddit is great for tracking trends on Instagram and other social media platforms. In general, don’t forget to check out other great platforms like Quora. Quora’s format is a little different; it is purely a question-answer format. Discussions on Quora are generally slower due to its format and strict moderation. But the advantage is that you get answers from experienced individuals (their credentials are visible to you). These answers can then be critiqued by folks in the comments section. Quora answers are also amazingly detailed (some worthy of being blog posts within themselves).
4. Create a Twitter stream
There are many ways to do Twitter streams, but for the purpose of finding trending topics and news, you should start by creating a stream with hashtags. Ensure that these hashtags are relevant to your brand and products only, as inputting very generic hashtags like #food will lead to potentially thousands of irrelevant tweets in your stream.
Add relevant tweets, however, and you’ll start receiving updates literally seconds after a particular event (concerning your interest/hashtags). Twitterati are by far the most reactive users on the Internet, and this is an insane advantage to marketers. The topics that trend on Twitter usually also become trends on Instagram and other platforms, so this is a great way to gauge what’s hot.
5. Browse the socials daily
To effectively identify and track trending topics on social media, it’s important to have a good understanding of the most popular social media platforms where these trends often start. Being familiar with the different sites can greatly improve your ability to monitor trends.
Here are some of the widely used social media platforms you should pay attention to:
- TikTok
- Snapchat
To truly benefit from these platforms, active engagement is key. Simply scrolling through your social feeds won’t suffice. Make it a point to dedicate time each day to actively browse these platforms, staying observant of trends and taking notes when necessary.
For instance, let’s consider an example involving McDonald’s and Burger King in Argentina. When McDonald’s introduced a charitable initiative called McHappy Day, promising to donate all Big Mac revenues to a charitable foundation, Burger King responded with a heartfelt gesture after actively monitoring their competitor’s actions – the temporary discontinuation of its signature Whopper sale.
Burger King’s strategic decision was widely praised worldwide, highlighting the importance of being knowledgeable and proactive about industry trends. By actively engaging with popular social media platforms, businesses can effectively seize valuable content opportunities and stay ahead in the constantly changing landscape of social media trends.
6. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a versatile tool that helps you schedule and publish content on multiple social media profiles. It also allows you to track the performance of your content in real time, keeping you updated on the latest trends on Instagram and social media. Also, it enables you to consistently post timely and relevant content.
Additionally, Hootsuite offers the Advanced Analytics tool, which allows you to view your paid, organic, and web metrics all in one place. This feature provides a comprehensive understanding of how you’re adding value throughout the customer journey and enables precise mesurement of your social media ROI.
If you’re a social media strategist wanting to reach more people organically and efficiently, or a business trying to streamline your social media processes, Hootsuite provides customizable solutions to suit your specific requirements.
7. Buzzsumo
Buzzsumo is a powerful tool that can give you an edge in your industry. Its extensive database includes 8 billion articles, trillions of social engagements, and profiles of 700,000 journalists. With this wealth of information, Buzzsumo provides a solid foundation for your content strategies. It helps you discover engaging topics and current trends, allowing you to capitalize on viral stories or revitalize classic ones.
The tool also enables swift generation of content ideas and briefs with just a click. Additionally, it offers comprehensive data analysis ranging from 15 minutes to five years, giving you a complete view of trends. Industry experts highly recommend Buzzsumo as it quickly identifies high-performing content within specific niches or target audiences.
8. Trends.co
Trends.co is more than just a tool – it’s a community that helps you discover the next big business idea. By joining, you gain access to emerging business trends months before they become mainstream. This saves you from extensive research and allows you to get a head start.
In addition to finding numerous business ideas, being part of Trends.co connects you with over 15,000 entrepreneurs and investors. Many members have found value in this community, landing clients and even securing investors through the network. What’s more, Trends.co offers live training conducted by industry experts to enhance your skills in various fields such as SEO, marketing, operations, and fundraising.
9. Trendwatchers
Trendwatchers is excited to become your ultimate destination for tracking trends. Their goal is to assist content creators in achieving viral success by harnessing the power of the latest trends.
This platform offers a plethora of features. You can expect daily updates on thousands of trends, advanced research tools, and AI-driven assistance for creating captivating content. Our user-friendly dashboard covers over 50 categories, providing a streamlined experience to keep you informed about emerging and growing trends.
Joining as a member will provide you with updates on the latest trends in your field. You’ll also receive advice on how to utilize these trends to create potentially popular content. Additionally, it will offer tips on increasing your online income by maximizing the traffic generated from viral content.
10. Trendhunter
Trendhunter is a platform that serves as the world’s largest and most influential trend source, utilizing advanced AI technology to ignite fresh ideas. With a global network of over 330,000 hunters and a dedicated team of researchers and futurists, Trendhunter offers an abundance of content ranging from fashion to technology. From innovative ideas and intriguing lists to captivating videos and photos, the platform keeps you at the forefront of emerging trends.
In addition to its wealth of innovative content, Trendhunter also provides advisory services and free trend reports to help businesses remain at the forefront of their industries. Serving as a hub for innovation, Trendhunter offers analyzed data trends through AI technology, covering various sectors, products, and brands. Whether you seek inspiration or strive to stay up-to-date with the latest trends, Trendhunter offers a valuable resource tailored to your specific needs.
Wrapping it Up
Becoming proficient in tracking trends on Instagram and other platforms goes beyond simply staying up to date. It’s about taking advantage of every content opportunity that arises. Moment marketing, as we’ve discovered, thrives on capturing the essence of real-time events and conversations. The proof is undeniable: moment marketing enhances engagement and brand relevance.
Brands like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Starbucks have successfully utilized moment marketing to engage with their audience. To begin your trend-tracking journey, equip yourself with the necessary tools. Google Trends, Feedly, discussion forums, and social media platforms can assist you in decoding the constantly evolving digital landscape. Additionally, tools such as Hootsuite, Buzzsumo, Trends.co, Trendwatchers, and Trendhunter can enhance your ability to track trends on Instagram and other platforms effectively.
In a fast-paced digital landscape, staying ahead requires being diligent, adaptable, and equipped with the right resources. By employing these tools and strategies, you’ll always be prepared to seize valuable content opportunities and never miss a beat.
Also, if you’re a social media manager stuck in writer’s block, don’t forget to check out Predis.ai‘s all-new AI-generated Content Calendar! Just add your industry and a one-liner about your business, and Predis will generate a personalized content calendar for your handle with fresh ideas and captions!
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