How to Find Social Media Trends: An Agency Guide

Are you a business owner or marketing professional? Are you struggling to figure out how to find social media trends? 

As of 2025, trends have become a big part of many businesses’ social media strategies. Regardless of what platform you’re on, you can’t scroll for long without running into several different ones–even if you don’t realize it! 

However, trends can be fleeting. For many people, it can feel like the magic of the moment passes before they can even get started. This can lead to some businesses and marketers feeling defeated and like it’s not worth their time. 

At HatchMark Studio, we help many of our social media clients stay current by making sure they are creating content using the latest trends. In this article, we will teach you how to find social media trends and why you should be adding trends to your content plans.

Key Takeaways

  • Spend time on social media platforms to discover current trends firsthand.
  • Regularly check trending hashtags and popular sounds to inspire your content.
  • Employ social listening and scheduling tools like Hootsuite or Sprout Social to gain insights while staying engaged on platforms.
  • Keep up with social media news and industry leaders for the latest trends and updates.
  • Participating in trends shows you’re relevant and can boost engagement and encourage team camaraderie.

First, it’s important to establish what we mean by “social media trends.” Although it may seem self-explanatory at first glance, it’s not as easy as it sounds when you go to do it for the first time. To clarify, a trend in social media can be anything from a popular dance or skit using a trending sound to a fun way to edit your videos. In other words, trends can vary widely, but they all share the common feature of gaining popularity quickly among users.

Also, for a trend to be a trend, it needs to be…trending. This means that it’s popping up everywhere on your feed. It’s on your trending hashtags. It’s easy to find on your trending sounds tabs. 

A trend isn’t a trend just because you want it to be. It needs total buy in and participation from the community and target audience you’re trying to reach.

Before you go out there and spend hours finding the hottest trends, you should know how. Here’s how we do it at our agency every day. 

  1. Immerse yourself in the platforms. This is non-negotiable and the most important one. First and foremost, you can’t expect to know what’s trending on social media if you aren’t spending the time on these platforms. Whether it’s you or an employee, you need to be immersing yourself in the apps and websites you’re making content for; moreover, this will help you keep a finger on the pulse of what’s hot. Ultimately, staying engaged is essential to staying relevant. 
  2. Search trending hashtags. Every social media platform has some form of trending hashtags or categories tab. Start off each day with browsing these tabs on your platforms to get a feel for what’s trending. This is a good way to find out what everyone’s talking about and look for ways you can chime in to be part of the conversation. 
  3. Listen to trending sounds. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok have trending sounds. This can be a song or a snippet of audio from a popular TV show or movie. It’s common for content creators to use these trending sounds to do dances or skits, adding their own flair on what other people are doing. It’s important to make sure that you find a way to make your content unique for your brand or product. If it doesn’t make sense for you, don’t do it! 
  4. Leverage third-party platforms. Social scheduling and analytics tools like Hootsuite and Sprout Social have social listening and analytics tools that can help you keep track of trends. While this should never be used to replace actually spending the time on these platforms, this can be a great tool to give you an easy-to-read, 30,000-foot view of what’s happening. 
  5. Follow social media news and influencers. No matter what industry you’re in, you need to be following social media news accounts. Follow the CEO of Instagram. Follow the top influencers in your space. You need to curate a feed that is going to help you make better content. Staying informed and up to date on the latest news and features is critical! 

Now that you have a better understanding of social media trends and how to find them, you still might be wondering…why? Why spend all of this time and effort on these trends? Here are three reasons. 

  1. It shows your audience you are paying attention. You’ve seen it before. The out-of-touch social media account that looks like it’s stuck in the past. It looks bad for your business. Staying current with the latest trends signals to your followers that you are active. You’re listening. You are taking the time to do the research and put in the effort. This will resonate with your audience and make you more authoritative. 
  2. You have an opportunity to get more impressions. Everyone wants to “go viral.” In the agency world, we hear it all of the time. The truth is, it’s not that easy. It’s also mostly just blind algorithm luck when it does happen. However, you can do everything in your power to increase the likelihood of it happening. That’s because participating in trending hashtags and sounds greatly increases the chances that your content will get more eyes on it. More impressions means more potential shares and engagement. You get the idea! 
  3. Encourage team participation and camaraderie.  A lot of social media trends require getting the whole team involved. Time and time again, we notice that businesses that put their team members in front of the camera do better on social media. Having fun with trends allows everyone on your team to get involved and be celebrated for their individuality. It’s a win for your social accounts and a win for your team. What’s not to love about that? 

Social media trends are here to stay. Therefore, adding them to your content shoots is a way to boost the visibility of your business and have fun while doing it. However, don’t just do it to do it. Instead, make it yours, have a strategy behind it, and ensure it’s feeding your bottom line. If a trend doesn’t make sense for you or your business, don’t do it. Make sure the traffic you pull in from the trends you choose to do is qualified, part of your target audience, and positively impacting your business.

Q: What are social media trends? 

A: A social media trend is a piece of content or template that is used on social media by a wide range of people. This can be a dance synced up to a popular sound, a funny skit, or a new editing technique. 

Q: What is the easiest way to find social media trends?

A: You can find social media trends by spending time on the platforms, searching trending hashtags and sounds, using third-party platforms, and following social media news accounts and influencers. 

Q: How do social media trends help my business?

A: Social media trends are a great way to show your audience you are paying attention, get more impressions and engagement on your content, and showcase your team by encouraging participation. 

Let Us Help You with Your Social Media

Whether you just don’t have the time in the day or you want a team to collaborate with, we’re ready to talk. We can help you with all of your social media strategy, content creation, and full-scale channel management. Our discovery sessions are always free and without obligations. Just contact us, and a member of our team will reach out to you to schedule a meeting!

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