A trend is a subject that experiences a surge in popularity on one or more social media platforms for a limited duration. Ecommerce businesses can look at social trends to find out what’s holding consumer interest and capitalize on the current conversation. Trends often evolve around popular cultural occurrences such as celebrity announcements, TV premiers, social concerns and breaking news.
In social media, a trending topic is one that appears highly visible on Twitter and Facebook, or other social media platforms, at any given time. It is determined by the number of times people post about, talk about, or share content with the hashtag associated with the trending topic. Twitter’s algorithm considers various factors such as topic volume, how long the topic has been trending and how much momentum it is generating. It also favors sharp spikes in volume rather than gradual growth.
The word trending is a recent addition to the English language and opinions vary as to whether or not it is a real word at all. But it is certainly a widely used concept that is becoming increasingly familiar to those who have a keen eye on the world of social media and how it is affecting the business landscape.
Trending is the term for a topic, phrase or even a brand that is trending on social media. A brand’s success in capitalizing on a trending topic can have an enormous effect on its visibility, customer engagement and ultimately sales.
For example, if a brand is able to tap into the current buzz around a controversial issue and create a compelling call to action then it can make a significant impact on its audience. Similarly, a company that is able to capitalize on a trending hashtag can quickly gain visibility and engage customers, even beyond its own existing followers. For example, Denny’s tapped into the trending #BetterPolitics hashtag to hold an hour-long virtual town hall and drive engagement with its followers.
Businesses that want to take advantage of a trending topic need to be careful not to abuse the process. Inappropriate use of a trending topic could lead to a business’s account being suspended. To avoid this, businesses should only post content that is related to the topic in question.
The good news is that businesses can learn a lot about what their audiences are interested in by using tools such as Google Trends. This free service shows businesses the topics that are generating interest on Google Search practically in real-time. The data can be very helpful in helping a business determine how it might develop its own products or services to meet market demand.
Trending is an interesting concept, one that is influenced by culture and the rapid evolution of technology, media, art etc. It is likely to remain an important concept for businesses as they develop their own digital strategies for the future. After all, if you don’t pay attention to the trends of today, you may be left behind in the dust of MySpace and its doom.