Facebook have released their latest 'Topics to Watch' report, highlighting the key topics and trends that are gaining momentum across The Social Network.
Launched earlier this year, Facebook's monthly 'Topics tow Watch' listing highlights emerging trends based on mention volume, velocity and other related engagement metrics. Facebook's data team identifies these topics then breaks each out into its own segment, with a description of the trend, a graph showing mention growth, and associated data around related topics and demographic popularity.
And while in itself the listing is interesting - knowing that 'Arboriculture' is seeing a sudden increase in attention, and who's discussing it, is somewhat fascinating - the real benefit of the report is that it can help marketers and brands get ahead of coming trends and tap into those that are seeing renewed interest.
For some, the connection to your brand will be obvious, but for others, it's worth considering whether any specific topic is gaining momentum within your target audience demographic, and how you might be able to use that in your marketing efforts. For example, as shown above, 90's style choker necklaces are seeing a surge in interest - could you incorporate that into an upcoming photo shoot? Can you bring embroidery into the background of your Instagram photos to link into that trend?
It's definitely worth considering - Facebook says that some 80% of the topics they've identified in the Hot Topics report have gone on to become more prominent trends, generating significantly more momentum and mention volume across their social graph over time. Rather than trying to play catch up after a trend has blown up, maybe you can get in on the ground floor and boost your messaging on the back of that initial surge.