Why Your Brand Should Avoid Trends on Social Media

Whether it’s Tebowing, The Grimace Shake, or the Pass it on and Double It Challenge, chances are your brand shouldn’t partake in it.

Yes, trends are fun, but can be largely ineffective. Let’s look at the pitfalls.

1. Brands miss a lot more than they hit

When social media becomes brands, talking to other brands, and doing challenges with other brands, it’s corny. And more importantly, customers see through it. Trends are for social media users, not brands.

2. People remember the trends, not the brands

The goal on social media is to do effective brand storytelling that brings audience members closer to the brand. The better and more applicable the story is to the audience members, the more likely they are to remember it and your brand.

This is the sticking point with trending content/challenges. To your brand, the trend is happening once, but for the consumer, their feed is inundated with the same style of content over and over. Meaning the audience is more likely to remember the trend as a whole versus what brands partook in it.

3. Brands are late to the party

Lack of speed and relevance are two things that hold brands back from trends. The internet moves fast, with trends becoming popular and then played out, all within a few days. That, and many trends don’t tap into the brands’ ethos making them irrelevant to business success.

So, if your brand has layers of approvals and can’t tie the trend back to your brand goals/vision/ethos, then it’s best you get back to the drawing board.

Instead of chasing reach through trends, create your own narratives online.

Happy creating,

Jordan

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