{"id":7426,"date":"2022-10-19T22:09:48","date_gmt":"2022-10-20T05:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/?p=7426"},"modified":"2022-10-20T00:16:02","modified_gmt":"2022-10-20T07:16:02","slug":"trendjacking-without-the-cringe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/trendjacking-without-the-cringe\/","title":{"rendered":"Trendjacking Without the Cringe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here are some cringey ideas for your next viral social media post: photoshop your brand\u2019s responses to Adam Levine\u2019s dubious DMs; make a meme out of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock; or make your team do some variation of that corn song on TikTok<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re lucky, you\u2019ll get a cheap dopamine thrill from the hundreds (er, dozens?) of likes. But, I\u2019d bet your audience is classy. Eyes will roll. Shame will be felt. Rather than dragging your team through the HR nightmare of writing flirty, fictional Instagram DMs to the Maroon 5 guy, play the long game in trendjacking instead. Your audience (and your marketers) deserve better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How could participation in an inherently fleeting trend turn into lasting success?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Effective trendjacking isn\u2019t glomming onto the same punchline everyone else is using. It\u2019s \u201cYes, and-ing\u201d the news. It\u2019s understanding a given trend and how you fit in (or how you don\u2019t<\/em> fit in and then backing off). Or recognizing the unique role your brand, data, or experiences play in a given news story, and creating the next chapter of the discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some ways to think through trend or newsjacking, which can be summed up in this matrix:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Trendjacking matrix by SparkToro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Do the work no one else is willing to do.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This framework is about grit and raw talent. It works well because you don\u2019t need a huge team or budget. You just need to be willing to put in the work and ideally, ship the product in a timely manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If everyone\u2019s up in arms about AI taking our writing jobs\u2026 could you make a writing tool<\/a> that weaves in capabilities from GPT-3? That\u2019s what Nathan Baschez and the folks at independent publisher Every.to<\/a> did when they built Lex.page<\/a> in just a few weeks. They got 25,000 signups<\/a> to their wait list in 24 hours. (Full disclosure: Writer Nat Eliason<\/a> and I<\/a>, friends of Nathan, were the only two creators who tweeted our excitement about Lex. Lex quickly gained attention from the tech community outside of my audience.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, you don\u2019t need to code an app in order to trendjack. Tap into questions worth answering \u2014 questions everyone in your niche is wondering about that have gone unaddressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s exactly what social media director Adrienne Sheares<\/a> did when she went viral<\/a> for posting about her focus group with Gen Zers.<\/p>\n\n\n

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@AdriSheares’ tweet on Gen Z using TikTok for search<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cAbout 40% of Gen Zers use TikTok for search?\u201d She wondered about the truth of this statement\u2026 along with the rest of us. Then, she went the extra step to seek out answers. Adrienne did the research: asking a group of Gen Zers to show her their process first-hand. When she shared those (fascinating) findings on LinkedIn and Twitter, the curious-but-uncertain audiences reacted with massive engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incredible outcome wasn\u2019t just the social media metrics \u2014 although growing her Twitter follower count to nearly 10,000 followers overnight wasn\u2019t too shabby. That singular event transformed her consultancy, brought in new business, and even earned Adrienne quotes in ABC News and PRWeek, and the New York Times reached out to interview her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a related note, for the first time ever, Adrienne is sharing the full story of this research and its results at our SparkTogether<\/a> virtual summit on November 10<\/strong>. Be sure to lock in your ticket<\/a> to learn from her and other marketing leaders like April Dunford, Ross Simmonds, Asia Orangio, Wil Reynolds, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about Adrienne from Rand’s video:<\/p>\n\n\n\n