Wie balancieren Sie Zeit und Ressourcen aus, wenn Sie Social-Media-Trends verfolgen?

While you should never blindly go into the footsteps of someone else, it does make sense to look at what your competitors are doing. Think about those people who you admire, and those within your industry who are leaders. Take the time to study what they have done and what tactics have been successful. Competitive analysis should be part of your planning process.

Before setting a goal - ask yourself and your team if the 'trend' is aligned with your company's core values! Case in point: The Barbie trend we are seeing isn't for everyone. 😏

Having specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals in social media marketing is important because it helps you determine the best ways to advertise content using analytics and respond to comments from customers. You can also create an accurate timeline for social media campaigns, which are a key aspect of this type of marketing. By understanding the overall purpose of a campaign, teams can better plan each process task. For example, if you want to grow your social media following by a certain amount by the end of the year, tracking your progress and setting goals monthly or weekly can help motivate you.

The timing of the trend is paramount. Most brands jump on the trend for the bump in awareness. So on top of judging whether the trend matches your priorities, judge where the trend is in its Lifecyle and add value vs. effort.

Not every social media trend is worth following. Some may be too niche, too controversial, or too short-lived to make a difference for your brand. That’s why you need to do some research before you join the bandwagon. Find out where the trend originated, how popular it is, who is participating in it, what are the best practices and pitfalls, and how it relates to your industry and niche. You can use tools like Google Trends, BuzzSumo, or Social Mention to track and analyze social media trends. For example, you can use Google Trends to see what topics are gaining traction or create analysis filters to ensure granulated data collection.

If you've decided to go in on the trend - make it memorable. Don't do it hurriedly, or without care. Get your team's creative input on how to best strategically position yourself. Think outside the box!

Following a trend is meant to encourage engagement from your followers. Most trends are video based because it encourages others to attempt to recreate the video (ex. the dancing videos you see all over TikTok).

Without data, you won't know if the time, money, and effort were worth it. Always measure success - how to do that depends on your overall social media goals and KPIs you set in your strategic plan.