How to Know Which Trend to Hop On?
If you’re a founder trying to build brand awareness online, the pressure to jump on every trend can feel very real. A sound goes viral, a new meme format drops, or a TikTok creator coins the phrase of the week—and suddenly everyone’s racing to recreate it. 🏃♀️💨
But here's the truth: not every trend is made for your brand.
In fact, chasing every trend without intention can make your content feel chaotic, off-brand, or worse—like you’re trying too hard.
So let’s talk about how to know when a trend is worth your time… and when to keep it moving.
Step 1: Gut check. Does it feel like your brand?
Before you even think about jumping into a trending format or audio, ask:
Does this trend align with our voice or tone?
Would our audience expect this kind of content from us?
Is this a trend we can contribute to creatively, not just copy?
If you’re a serious skincare brand with a calm, minimalist aesthetic, hopping on a chaotic “girl dinner” parody might dilute your brand perception. But if you're a spicy snack brand with Gen Z appeal? Go wild.
Step 2: Add, don’t echo.
The brands that win with trends don’t just follow them, they remix them.
That means you don’t need to do a trend just because it’s popular. If your team can add a POV, insert cultural relevance, or tie it back to your product in a clever way, then you’re in business.
Ask: “Can we say something new with this?”
Otherwise, it’s just noise.
Step 3: Use trends as a strategy, not instead of one.
Trends can be magic for Top of Funnel reach, but they’re not a content strategy. Let me repeat that louder for the people in the back: trends are a tactic—not a strategy.
That means:
You don’t have to hop on every trend.
You can be selective and still grow.
Your foundational brand storytelling matters more.
The best-performing social brands are built on consistent, clear messaging. Trends just help widen the door.
Step 4: Know your role in the algorithm.
Here’s the tea: trends benefit creators more than brands.
Brands are often last to the party and have less reach to begin with (hi, suppressed visibility 👋). So if you’re going to jump in, do it with strategy. Boost the post, pair it with community engagement, and always tie it back to a bigger goal (awareness, clicks, whatever makes sense for your funnel).
TL;DR for Busy Founders:
Don’t force a trend if it doesn’t feel like your brand.
Remix, don’t replicate.
Build your content house on strategy, not tactics.
Use trends as a tool to support, not define your message.
Some trends will be right for you. Others won’t. But when you move with intention, your audience always feels it.
And remember: what makes your brand memorable isn’t how well you follow the crowd—it’s how confidently you stand apart from it.
Want to build a scroll-stopping content system that plays your game, not the algorithm’s?
Let’s chat! -> https://www.lidavisocial.com/