It can be tempting to think of your social media strategy as a long list of boxes to tick. After all, there are several platforms your company may be considering and hundreds of trends to keep track of.  

The reality is, not every platform or trend is relevant to your brand. When a meme or a craze takes off on social media, many brands want to participate because, well, it’s “trendy.” However, when your brand participates in a trend for the sake of participating, people pick up on it – and they don’t react well.  

That said, social trends that truly align with your brand can come across as authentic, tuned-in, and timely. The key is to think critically about which trends to embrace and which ones to avoid.  

First, Know Your Audience: Where They Look, What They Value 

Your sales and development teams are very familiar with your brand’s audience(s) and behaviors. It’s just as important for your social media team to be playing the same game. Think about it: If you’re creating your products or services with a specific end-user in mind, why shouldn’t you take the same approach to social content creation? 

A B2B tech company has a vastly different audience than an auto-parts manufacturer, which has a different audience than a vacation-rental business, and so on. None of those audiences consume content online in quite the same way. Each brings different values, expectations, sensitivities, and preferences to the table.  

There’s no way to make everyone happy. You need to zero in on exactly who subscribes to what you’re offering and identify ways to engage those audiences. 

Every great social media strategy begins with segmenting your audience, identifying what motivates and challenges them, and creating a way for you to meet their needs. You can conduct surveys, host focus groups, and prompt existing customers to provide feedback on their experiences to identify which buyer personas are invested or should be invested in your brand.  

This process of getting to know them better includes understanding where they go for news and product information, the social platforms they use, and their preferred tone and format for brand communications. 

Establish Clear Expectations 

Remember, social-media success often doesn’t always translate into sales or profits. Social media is not a direct pipeline to meeting sales goals, but it’s a valuable way to build connections, cultivate an online community, and ultimately maximize brand awareness and loyalty.  

Start by setting goals for your social content on each platform. Maybe it’s increasing engagement via comments and likes, driving users to your website, or amplifying content through reposts or shares. What works well for LinkedIn's professional audience won’t be the same for consumers scrolling through Facebook. 

In other words, your brand doesn’t have to be present on every platform to be effective. If you notice engagement is slipping and your audience is dwindling on X, you may be investing time and resources into a platform that isn’t investing in your brand. Similarly, your brand may not have the right voice or resources for TikTok, and it will likely result in your brand seeming detached from that platform’s user base.  

You aren’t missing out on brand awareness by eliminating certain networks. You’re just targeting your efforts by aptly restructuring your approach to meeting audience needs. You’re maximizing your presence where it counts.  

Keep Your Finger on the Pulse 

To stay on top of the latest social trends, you must always be listening. Social listening tools such as Sprout, Hootsuite or Meltwater can help your team stay in tune with the latest. Trends taper off as quickly as they emerge, and with every new communication tool we create, the average lifespan of a trend declines.  

Timing really is everything: If you take too long to create and approve content, it’ll be old news by the time you get around to posting. A TikTok meme that’s trending the first week of December likely won’t be relevant come January.  

Individuals on social media aren’t very forgiving, and they’ll take note of brands that hop onto the train too late or don’t understand the nature of the trend. If you don’t showcase your understanding of a trend in a timely fashion – say, using an out-of-touch caption – your content at best won’t resonate and at worst attract the wrong kind of attention.  

For anyone online, it’s exciting and refreshing to see a brand tap into a trend and do it right. It shows that the brand has personality, urges them to learn more about the brand, and ideally support the business.  

To make sure you’re equipped to take on trends as they take shape, get your team in place. Your marketing team, video team, social media managers, graphic designers, and key spokespeople should be ready for quick turnarounds. You may also want to pre-select employees willing to participate in video content to prevent last-minute scrambling.  

Lastly, keep in mind that formal approval processes usually aren’t fast enough for the nature of social trends. Social chatter moves quickly, and multiple rounds of revisions can get in the way of your brand looking relevant or timely. Consider condensing the approval process and build that trust in your team to make sound decisions.  

Don’t Just Post for the Sake of Posting 

While no two audiences possess quite the same preferences or interests, authenticity is something everyone can get behind. For many, authenticity is the primary thing they look for in a brand before giving them their business. 

One surefire way to jeopardize your company’s reputation as a beacon of authenticity? Jumping in on a social trend that makes no sense for your brand or its audience. 

It can be hard to sit watching as other companies post clever graphics or videos that tie into a current trend, but the alternative is your brand coming across as fake or an opportunist. Unless a trend truly ties into your brand in a meaningful way, don't take the bait.  

When evaluating whether a trend is worth your time, think back to the audiences you segmented before. Say one of your buyer personas is a 50-year-old blue-collar male trying to streamline his workflow with efficient tools. Does this guy spend a lot of time scrolling through Instagram Reels listening to trending audio clips?  

Probably not. Therefore, it’s not worth your company’s time to create an audio parody that riffs on a current meme. That guy probably checks relevant Facebook Groups or Subreddits about helpful tools, so posting content there would be a smarter time investment. 

You should also consider how well the product or service you’re offering translates to a particular social trend. Maybe a key part of your audience is using Instagram Reels. You may want to maintain a presence there, but not every trend will be the right fit.  

The best social teams provide thorough (but quick) consideration for everything that trends on Instagram Reels or TikTok, only hopping in when there’s something of value that your brand can contribute. Otherwise, you’re simply adding to the noise, estranging your audience, and potentially becoming your own cringe meme. 

Avoid Being a Social Mess 

When brands intentionally and thoughtfully curate their online presence, consumers take note – and it reflects in their perception of your brand. To many consumers, a messy social presence equates to a messy company, regardless of your product quality or credibility.  

That’s why it’s so important to tap into trends that make sense swiftly and authentically, while avoiding the urge to tap into trends for the sake of it. A strategic partner who can spot and harness social trends effectively makes all of this much, much easier.  

So, let’s talk. Contact us today to discuss how your brand can take timely advantage of relevant trends to maximize engagement, increase awareness, and connect meaningfully with your audiences.