How to Find Social Media Trends

You don’t have to chase every trend as a social media manager. But you should be involved in social media trends relevant to you and your target group. The earlier, the better.

In this article, you’ll find out how to stay up to date with new developments on TikTok, Instagram and co. We’ll show you the most important places to do your research and give you tips on successfully implementing current social media marketing trends.

Why trends are becoming increasingly important in social media marketing

Social media has always been fast-moving. This is even truer today than it used to be. On TikTok, a video is sometimes enough to start a trend that spreads rapidly and dies down just as quickly.

Brands that jump on the bandwagon in time achieve greater visibility, increase their awareness and boost their engagement rate. They also demonstrate that they are modern. This is particularly important if you want to appeal to a young target group.

It also means that your company will quickly look old-fashioned if it uses outdated trends on social media.

Finding social media trends

1. TikTok Creative Center

One of the most important places to go for trend research on TikTok is the TikTok Creative Center. Here you can get an overview of the hashtags, songs, creators, and videos that are trending on the platform. You can filter by industry and region and define a time period.

Under “See Analytics”, you can even get information on user demographics. All this data helps you to find out whether a trend is relevant for you.

The trend curve tells you whether a trend is still on the upswing or has already flattened out again.

2. Find TikTok sounds with playlists and the search function

Studies show that sound is an important part of the TikTok experience for many users. While it is often perceived as a disruptive factor on other platforms, it is a scroll stopper on the short video platform. This works best with music that is trending on TikTok.

You can also find popular sounds in the Creative Center. Alternatively, you can search in the following ways:

• Search function: Enter “Viral Sound” or “Trending Sound” in the search mask, for example, and select the “Sounds” tab in the search results.
• TikTok playlists: Click on the plus sign and then on “Add sound” at the top. TikTok will now suggest playlists for you to browse through.

Good to know: You can also find playlists with popular TikTok hits on Spotify. It may also be worth visiting the tokchart and tokboard pages.

3. Instagram Explore Page

On your Explore Page, Instagram collects posts that the network thinks you will like.

The page is also a good place to keep up to date with relevant trends. It’s worth scrolling for a few minutes a day.

4. Instagram Professional Dashboard

Visit your Instagram profile and then the Professional Dashboard. Here you will find the “Tips and resources” section at the bottom and the following two sections:

• Behind “trending audios” is what the name suggests, namely a list of trending sounds for trending Instagram Reels.
• Under “Inspiration” you will find a compilation of videos from companies and creators. It is based on current trends and the preferences of your followers.

5. Trend reports from social media platforms

Whether TikTok, Instagram or Pinterest, social media platforms regularly publish trend reports. They provide an outlook on which trends will become important on the platform and/or for certain target groups in the near future.

Trend reports are particularly suitable for finding out about longer-lasting and overarching trends. They provide valuable input for your social media strategy in the coming months.

6. Blogs

Various social media blogs regularly publish articles on new developments on social media channels. Here you can also find forecasts for social media trends in 2024 or 2025.

We recommend the following, for example:

• Social Media Examiner
• Social Media Today
• Swat.io

It is best to subscribe to a selection of blogs that are relevant to you.

7. Influencers 

Many successful influencers make a living by setting trends and being quick to join in with the new trends of others. A good reason to follow leading creators on Instagram or TikTok.

Choose influencers who appeal to the same target group as your company. Activate post notifications for the relevant profiles. This way you won’t miss any interesting posts. Of course, you can also do the same with your competitors’ accounts. But don’t overdo it. Otherwise, you will receive so many notifications that your trend research will turn into stress.

8. Google Trends

Google Trends gives you a free overview of search queries that are trending in certain regions and selected periods. This tells you which topics are currently of particular interest to many people. You can also view the trend history for a search term and filter by category.

9. Social monitoring and listening 

With a social media monitoring or listening tool, you can track discussions on social media that contain previously defined keywords. This has many advantages. For example, you can stay up to date with relevant trends.

Suitable keywords include brand and company names, names of products or services. Also take note of common misspellings.

You have two options for monitoring:

1. You choose an additional monitoring tool.
2. You can opt for a social media management tool with a monitoring feature. The advantage of this option is that you get a control center for your marketing that covers everything you need for your work.

10. YouTube Trends

YouTube is also ideal for trend research.

On the left-hand side of the web version or the app, you will find “Trends”. Here you can scroll through trending shorts and longer videos. It’s also worth taking a regular trip to the “New for you” section.

Implement trends quickly and successfully

Once you have found a social media trend that is relevant to you and your target group, you are faced with the next task: successfully implementing the trend in your marketing.

Here, too, speed is of the essence. As mentioned above, social media trends are fast-moving. If you take too long to create content, the trend will be a thing of the past by the time your video clip is launched.

You can speed up the process as follows:

• Established workflows help you to create and publish content efficiently. If you want things to go particularly quickly, you can shorten feedback loops. This should be clarified internally in advance.
• With a powerful social media management tool, you can easily schedule posts and have them published automatically on multiple channels. You can also benefit from integrated AI tools for text creation and optimization or image editing functions, for example.

Tip: Leave room in your editorial plan for spontaneous ideas and content that responds to current events.

Staying on top of things is important

Discovering and picking up on relevant trends and integrating them into your strategy is a key criterion for success in social media marketing. This is especially true if you want to get started on platforms such as TikTok.

Because social media trends are short-lived and follow each other in quick succession, this means carrying out continuous trend research. Make it a routine to take trips to the TikTok Creative Center and Instagram’s Explore page. Follow important influencers and carry out monitoring. This will set the course for your brand to always be at the forefront.