By Ellie Shalvarjian | June 14, 2021
From the moment of Instagram’s inception in 2010, it has been an explosive platform. Not only did the popular social media application skyrocket to the top of app charts, but it has maintained its status and importance as the social media application for the modern public relations practitioner and marketer. Instagram has continued its reputation of being a fast-paced, trend-setting platform.
As you may be able to tell by the countless numbers of blog posts about what is trending at the moment, Instagram trends are in one day and out the next. Either they help elevate your brand to the spotlight, or they can come off as outdated attempts at staying relevant as a company. It is more important than ever to be proactive and current with trending topics. That is why, today, we will be giving you three tips on how to stay on top of Instagram trends before they get old:
Utilize analytics for tracking trends
Applications like Google Trends or Sprout Social can provide powerful insights into the current trending topics across the United States. Instead of taking the time to go through them yourself, these tools create concise charts and listings of the trending topics, including information on the demographics interested in each one. When cross-referencing these analytics tools and your target demographic, you can effectively watch trends as they emerge and start generating content before they are mainstream. This tool is beneficial if you have a budget set aside for such applications or do not have the time to monitor the trends manually.
Compare and contrast with other applications
All social media platforms have varying audiences and trending topics. Often, however, you can track these trends from application to application. Since the internet provides an ability to share content from different platforms, you can sometimes catch the trend before becoming popular. For example, Reddit, Twitter, and Tik Tok tend to be some of the first platforms to acknowledge and experience trends, then Instagram, then Facebook, and so on. Focusing your attention and effort towards the applications that originate many of these trends can be extremely helpful to stay on the pulse before they come to Instagram or even Facebook.
Use all of your resources
Getting on top of Instagram trends before they are deemed old can be overwhelming, but there are still timeless ways to stay on top of them. Despite the countless analytical tools, sometimes it is easiest to go “old school” by reaching out to hip and trendy people who are avid social media users. You may also want to check Twitter’s trending page and Instagram accounts and follow some industry-specific blogs to keep you up-to-date. Sometimes, the most straightforward ways are the best ways! When paired with the tips above, this can be extremely helpful to understand the full scope of trends at the moment.
Overall, Instagram trends do not need to be incredibly complex. With some simple help from applications providing analytics and using all the resources at hand, it’s possible to get ahead of trends. If you implement these tips into your team’s practices, you can leverage Instagram trends to make an impact on your organization.