Updated April 2023
Your customer personas are on point. Your content is search optimized. And your social media accounts trumpet your brand’s key offerings. You’ve got all the trappings of a successful digital marketing strategy.
But do you have your finger on the pulse of the latest social media trends? If not, you could miss opportunities for next-level digital marketing success. Social media trend data provides real-time insights into consumer demand. This valuable intel makes it possible to develop content that’s responsive to hot topics and raises your brand’s profile.
Social Media Trend Analysis: 5 Resources You Should Be Using
Social media trends often occur spontaneously. (Who came up with Nyquil chicken, anyway?) But with so much data readily available, many platforms are getting better at predicting them. Using these forecasts and historical data can help healthcare organizations with content ideation.
Incorporating trend data into a hospital marketing strategy takes a little finessing. Many predictions and trends aren’t directly related to healthcare. But finding ways to tie them back to your brand can help you connect with new followers.
Here are 5 resources that can help you:
TikTok’s 2023 What’s Next trend report
TikTok is an excellent platform for connecting with Gen Z users, and it’s also gaining traction with other age groups. Users enjoy TikTok’s fresh takes on health information, such as debunking common myths (like how much water you actually need to drink per day) and day-in-the-life content from various providers.
The 2023 What’s Next trend report doesn’t offer guidance on specific health topics, but it’s still a gem. A key trend is empowering people to seek change and take action toward their goals. And for many people, these goals relate to health and wellness.
Read more: Should Your Hospital Be on TikTok? 5 Considerations.
Your hospital can leverage this opportunity by contributing to TikTok communities. This is where users go to connect with people who have similar goals. Content supporting these health journeys is a great way to show that your organization cares for people even before they become patients.
Pinterest Predicts
Pinterest Predicts is the trend prediction report for this visual discovery engine. Pinterest is becoming the go-to place for planning big changes. More than 400 million people per month use this platform. And it’s no longer limited to food, fashion and décor. The report and data behind it have legit credibility, making it a trusted source for topics that matter to hospital audiences.
In the last 3 years, 80% of their report predictions have come true. The trends this platform identifies take off faster and have more staying power. Pinterest trends tend to sustain monthly growth 20% longer than internet trends.
Fresh ideas healthcare marketers can leverage in 2023 include the 4th trimester (the first 3 months of a baby’s life). Growing families want to know what to expect once their baby arrives. And their loved ones want to know how to support them.
Find out more: Using Pinterest in Hospital Marketing: A Case Study.
Instagram’s Trend Report
Instagram’s 2023 Trend Report provides insights into what matters most to Gen Z and millennials. Although they’re currently low utilizers of health services, this is bound to change as they get older. Planting the seeds with this audience now, using content that appeals to their interests, can put your brand front and center when they need care.
Key Instagram trends for healthcare marketers to home in on include:
- Supporting social causes: Gen Z’ers are activists and look to social media for opportunities to support causes they believe in. Specifically, audiences want to know what they can do to better support disability advocates. Your organization is in a great position to answer the call with helpful tips and resources.
- Climate change: As the world continues to warm, a hot topic in 2023 will be beauty products offering sun protection. Healthcare marketers could pivot on this by promoting dermatology services.
- Financial literacy: Instagram users will learn new skills and side hustles more this year. Information about how to spend their hard-earned healthcare dollars wisely is a nice complement. Young healthcare consumers could benefit from information on accessing care and alternative payment arrangements, like self-pay services.
Google Trends
Ok, so this is about search and not social media. But we can’t write about trends without a nod to the original trend tracker. With nearly two decades of input from billions of users and trillions of searches, Google Trends is a valuable resource for marketers seeking hard data to inform their decisions. It’s one of the world’s most extensive search data sets.
With Google Trends, it’s easy to view data in real time and as far back as 2004. You can also compare topics side by side to easily assess trend performance over time. Options to filter by specific health categories make this an ideal resource for people who want to get into the details before committing to a trend.
Hot topics by health subcategory include:
- Mental health: Tylenol and autism
- Health conditions: Damar Hamlin’s injury and aphasia
- Public health: Peanut butter recall
- Women’s health: PCOS belly
Social listening
An essential adjunct to trend analysis is social listening. Using keywords, special tools and artificial intelligence, social listening helps you look beyond likes and mentions to evaluate your current strategy.
Are people sharing critical feedback about your brand on social channels? Is your competitor doing something particularly well? Is there online chatter that could give way to the next viral trend? Social listening gathers relevant intel to answer these questions so you can make informed decisions about how to proceed with social media marketing.
Social Media Trend Analysis: Next Steps
If you need help analyzing trend data and determining what it means for your organization, Aha Media Group is here for you. We can figure out which platforms best align with your goals and the content that will help you achieve them. Explore our content strategy services.
