I did not watch Love Island. And yet, I still know Amaya Papaya is not a new Erewhon smoothie, we stan Nicolandria, and a mommy, a mami, and a mamacita are not the same. While I don’t love the island, I do love pop culture, and I’ve absorbed this information tangentially through my favorite content creators, podcast hosts, and IRL friends. Many of whom were posting memes, analyzing episodes, and all-around locked in to the past season.
The ebbs and flows of pop culture are somewhat calculable. For example, a reality show with high ratings will likely be discussed on social media. But it’s hard to predict exactly what is going to be a meme-worthy moment, and when it’s going to occur. Managing a brand’s social media means curating content against an ever-ticking clock to go viral. There’s value in likes and link clicks, but a misplaced attempt to talk about a trend just adds to the noise.
When it comes to tapping into trending topics, how should your brand invest accordingly?
What’s the connection to your brand?
The difference between “Did you see that?” and “Didn’t see it.” starts with your brand’s connection to the topic. Content just for content’s sake is skippable. While it’s rare that a trending topic will tie directly into your brand’s products and services, there should still be a connection between the content you are producing and what your brand is selling.
Leading rice and grain company, Success Rice, effectively leveraged the aforementioned “Mommy, Mami, Mamacita” meme to showcase a new, larger size of its Jasmine Rice. The post personifies the larger size box as the “mommy” and the original size box as the “daughter.” The post works because it’s using the pop culture moment, a conversation between castmates on Love Island, to promote a new product, the larger size Jasmine Rice, a message directly related to their brand.
Ask Yourself:
- Does the trending topic relate to something your brand is already talking about on social media?
- Will your audience recognize the connection between the trending topic and your brand’s message?
Can you act quickly?
Someday (soon), another season of Love Island (or the next dating show du jour) will premiere, and your brand’s feed will remain the same. The online audience is fickle and jolts from topic to topic. Like other advertising and marketing collateral, your brand’s social media content is likely subject to rounds of approval before going live. Depending on the brand’s organizational structure, these approvals can take some time. While that time elapses, will the moment pass?
Acting quickly is essential to capitalize on trending content. When the cannabis brand Curio’s actual company name was the solution to the New York Times’ daily word game, Wordle, they had a short window to act, while “Curio” was still the answer, to create a video that both showed off the response and incorporated some brand messaging. By the next morning, they had a fun post.
Ask Yourself:
- How long will it take to get the post up on your brand’s social channels, including content creation and post approval?
- Will this trending topic stay relevant for that duration of time?
Does the post work outside of the context of the trend?
At some level, we’re all chronically online, but social media is vast, and conversations vary from platform to platform, and audience to audience. I see hyper-niche content regularly, where I have to tap a Gen Z associate to contextualize it (hi Sophia!).
When you’re tapping into trending content, think ahead to how the content will look in a couple of weeks. Can the post stand alone and make sense? While News Feeds are designed to showcase the newest content, For You Pages and Explore Pages display the most engaging content. Your followers will see your brand’s post shortly after it’s posted, but your potential new followers, discovering your account, may see the post a couple of weeks later.
Our favorite coffee shop, Order & Chaos, also repurposed a Love Island meme featuring castmates discussing their “dream date” scenarios. The dream date referenced is “grabbing an iced coffee from O&X and walking around the harbor.” While these screengrabs are related to the show, the message stands with or without having watched it.
Ask Yourself:
- Without the context surrounding this trending topic, does the post still make sense?
- Is there overlap between this trending topic and my brand’s audience?
Potential to become problematic?
If there is one thing I’ve learned from reality TV, it’s that everyone has receipts (proof, timeline, screenshots). From the Bachelor, to the Real Housewives, to even this most recent season of Love Island, cast members are constantly being exposed. As pop culture enthusiasts, we have seen the full gamut of bad behavior from melting down at the Jersey Mike’s to arrestable offenses, no matter how much vetting goes into casting these shows, people have the potential to be problematic. This is doubly true for accidental viral stars, who were living their lives as private citizens often with no intention to be under the scrutiny of the entire internet.
On the most recent season of Love Island, two cast members were dismissed during filming because of the use of racial slurs on social media. The casting company failed to find this content, but eagle-eyed fans discovered the content and demanded the cast members be removed from the show, forcing production to respond.
(Does your brand have a crisis plan in place? If not, start here.)
When tapping into a social media moment, brands are assuming a risk. The reality show cast member quoted in the screengrab may have said offensive things in the past, and social media detectives are on the edge of their armchairs to unearth them. A brand’s definition of problematic certainly ranges, but no brand wants to platform an intolerant character for the sake of likes and clicks.
Ask Yourself:
- Is there anything overtly problematic about this trending topic?
- What steps will my brand need to take if problematic information comes out about the subject featured in the post?
The days of “going on the computer” phased out sometime around the infusion of smartphones into society. We are all always connected, whether we’re sourcing or scrolling, and the corners of the internet we occupy are vastly different. Tapping into trending topics in a way that’s timely, not try-hard, involves a bit of forethought. When a social media moment arises, ask yourself the following questions to plan an effective and creative way to chime in. The difference between “did you see that?” and “didn’t see it” hinges on the way you participate.
Should Your Brand Tap into a Trending Topic – Yes or No?
What’s the connection to your brand?
- Does the trending topic tie into something your brand would be talking about anyway?
Can you act quickly?
- How long will it take your brand to create a post, get it approved, and post it? Will the trend be relevant by then?
Does the post work outside of the context of the trend?
- If someone who has no background about the trend, will the post still make sense?
Potential to become problematic?
- If something problematic does come out about the subject of the post, is your brand prepared to react?