Connecting your brand with the latest trends is a great way to get your audience’s attention. When you become a part of what people are already talking about, you have an easy “in” into their conversations. It can get people talking about you just as much as the trend itself.
This process is what we call trendjacking, and there’s an art to it. It’s not just about finding what’s trendy and then slapping your brand on it. Rather, you want to find a way to authentically connect with that trend in a way that helps your brand stand out.
Let’s explore trendjacking and how social listening can help you leverage it in your social media marketing strategy.
Contents:
What Is the Meaning of Trendjacking?
Newsjacking vs. Trendjacking
The Benefits of Trendjacking
Trendjacking Examples
Tips for Using Trendjacking to Your Advantage
Avoid Common Trendjacking Pitfalls
How to Implement Trendjacking in Marketing
Using Meltwater for Trendjacking
What Is the Meaning of Trendjacking?
Trendjacking meaning: The art of using popular trends or topics in your marketing to make your brand visible and relevant.
Our trendjacking definition doesn’t just include trends like fashion and color schemes. We’ve seen brands trendjack memes, viral videos, events, interests, and anything else that’s part of our digital pop culture.
Say your favorite coffee shop shares a video of employees doing the latest viral TikTok dance challenge. Suddenly, they’re no longer just a coffee shop; they’re part of a much bigger conversation.
Part of what makes trendjacking so alluring is its immediacy. Brands have to stay on their toes and quickly identify trends as they emerge. Companies need to be reactive as well as creative to put their unique spin on popular topics. Otherwise, they get lost in the noise or don’t appear authentic.
TIP: Learn all of the do's and don'ts of trendjacking, as well as real world examples, in our Ultimate Guide to Trendjacking!
Newsjacking vs. Trendjacking
Comparing newsjacking vs. trendjacking, there are some similarities between the two. However, newsjacking stays in the news lane. It focuses on breaking news stories, such as a major weather event or a corporate scandal.
By comparison, trendjacking sticks mostly to cultural themes. These are things that trend over time, not just in the moment.
Trendjacking might not have the same adrenaline rush as newsjacking, but it does allow brands to better build authenticity without seeming too opportunistic.
The Benefits of Trendjacking
For marketers, trendjacking content can make your job easier and your results more effective. Here are some of the benefits you can expect when you tap into the hottest trending topics.
- Increase your visibility. Jumping on a trending topic helps your brand appear in conversations that are already happening, giving you exposure to a wider audience.
- Boost engagement. People are discussing what’s relevant right now, and when your brand chimes in, it sparks more comments, likes, and shares.
- Build your brand’s personality. Trendjacking lets you show a different side of your brand, one that’s personable, human, and relatable.
- Create cost-effective content. Since trends are already buzzing, content creation becomes a low-lift task that can lower costs and speed up the process.
- Make your brand relevant to your audience. Being part of trending conversations makes your brand seem more in touch with what’s going on around you.
- Drive traffic. Using popular topics or hashtags, you can get more eyes on your content, which may result in more clicks and visits.
- Go viral. If your take on a trending topic is relevant, clever, and witty, you stand a good chance of going viral alongside that topic, which can be game-changing for your brand awareness.
- Connect with your audience on a deeper level. Engaging with topics your audience cares about allows you to build stronger, more authentic connections.
TIP: See how brands achieved these benefits and more with their own trendjacking strategies in our Ultimate Guide to Trendjacking.
Trendjacking Examples
Trendjacking can take many forms, and plenty of brands have gotten it right. Here are a few trendjacking examples to inspire you.
Source: X
- Oreo’s “Dunk in the Dark” message as a nod to the 2013 Super Bowl power outage
- Burger King’s “Moldy Whopper” to show it uses real ingredients without preservatives
- The black and gold vs. blue and white dress, where NASA entered the conversation to share insights on lighting and perceptions
- Taco Bell’s “Taco Moon” that aligned with a major astronomical event in 2021
The assignment is clear: Find what people are talking about, then use those trends to support your marketing messages.
One thing each of these trendjacking examples has in common is their timing. These companies capitalized on trends that were relevant and already being talked about. Someone talking about “the dress” right now isn’t likely to use this trend effectively.
Tips for Using Trendjacking to Your Advantage
Want to use the power of trendjacking in your marketing? Here are some practical ways you can start implementing trends to grow your online presence and build stronger connections.
Use holidays and special events
Holidays and other special events (like the Super Bowl or National Pizza Day) give you a low barrier to entry. Most people are already thinking about and prepping for these special days, so you have an easy entry into the conversation.
Create themed content that plays off these events. This might be a quirky social media post or an exclusive offer for the occasion, for example.
Be quick on your feet
Timing is everything in trendjacking. Once a trend starts gaining traction, be prepared to make a splash. The key is to not overthink it. Just create something that’s relevant to the moment and let it ride.
Create your own challenges
TikTok dance challenges, the Ice Bucket Challenge, and the TikTok Olympics were digital gold for user-generated content. You can create your own themed challenge that aligns with your product or service.
React to competitors’ trendjacking
If your competitors have jumped on a trend, offer a witty response or an alternative take. For example, the sign wars between McDonald’s and Dairy Queen in Missouri went viral and brought attention to both brands.
Repurpose trends to fit your industry
Not every trend will feel like a good fit for your industry, and that’s okay. The key is to find the right angle. With a little creativity, you can adapt just about anything.
For example, if you’re selling tech gadgets, you can use fashion trends to talk about “dressing up” your tech. (So demure, so mindful.)
Avoid Common Trendjacking Pitfalls
When you’re tracking trends in the moment, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement. But as with any type of marketing, trendjacking can go horribly wrong if you don’t go about it correctly.
Here’s how not to do trendjacking:
- Don’t jump on the wrong trend. If you try to force your way into a trend that doesn’t align with your audience or values, it can feel out of place.
- Don’t arrive to the party late. Timing matters, so make sure you’re choosing trends that haven’t yet peaked.
- Avoid offending your audience. Certain trends, such as those tied to sensitive topics or social movements, require extra caution.
- Don’t overdo it. Constantly chasing trends can make you appear reactive rather than original or strategic. Use trendjacking sparingly.
- Make sure you understand the trend. Remember DiGiorno’s disastrous use of the #WhyIStayed hashtag? Talk about awkward!
- Don’t ignore your analytics. Just because you’re riding the trend wave doesn’t mean you’ll be successful. Make sure you’re tracking the performance of your trendy content and adjusting your approach as needed.
How to Implement Trendjacking in Marketing
There are plenty of places where you can find inspiration for your trendjacking campaigns. Let’s look at a few options and how to surface the best trending topics for your marketing.
Marketing Trends
Popular marketing trends can give you some food for thought. For example, using MS Paint to make billboards and collateral had a moment. Amateur artwork was all the rage for a brief time, and it became a viral joke.
You can also tap into influencers and other types of user-generated content to see the type of content they’re creating.
Social Media Trends
Trendjacking social media ideas will give you inspiration for days. Social media trends tend to carry a lot of weight with audiences. It’s also where trends go viral, which gives you an inside look at what people are sharing and talking about.
You can start with your own social feeds. See the types of content others are talking about and pick out trends that might fit your brand. Our free eBook, The Ultimate Guide to Trendjacking, provides more guidance!
Social Listening Tools
Meltwater’s social listening suite simplifies the search for trending topics. Using AI and data science, social listening tools monitor for keywords and phrases, including how often they’re used and how people are talking about them. It compiles these findings into reports and alerts so you can decide on your next steps.
Built for trendspotting and trend detection, Meltwater constantly monitors conversations across all social media channels. It can detect spikes in the number of mentions of a given topic or keyword so you can hop on trends before they go viral. Better to be an OG than a late follower.
Using Meltwater for Trendjacking
Meltwater’s social listening suite lets you be everywhere all at once. You can monitor unlimited keywords related to your brand, product, or service, then get alerts when people are talking about those keywords. Meltwater also analyzes the sentiment behind these conversations so you can gauge whether these mentions are positive, negative, or neutral.
Learn more when you request a demo by filling out the form below!
