A trend is an activity, topic or hashtag that is popular on social media at a particular moment. It is highlighted by platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to encourage discussion and engagement among their users. Trends can be a huge boon to brands, influencers and other individuals who utilize them for publicity and exposure. Getting a trending topic or hashtag can significantly increase the visibility of a post or campaign.

Whether you’re trying to promote your latest product (#iPhone7), a creative work (#TheAvengers) or just shameless self-promotion (#Kardashian), making it into the trends can help you reach a large audience with a relatively small investment. If done correctly, this can boost the visibility of your brand and its content, while also generating more engagement on your posts and videos.

But there is a lot of confusion about how trends are determined, which can be confusing for anyone who has tried to make something trend on the platform. Many people assume that the trending topics are based on the most searched terms on the site, but this is not the case. Trends are determined by an algorithm that looks at search history, geographic location and accounts followed on the site. These factors all contribute to the trends you see when using Twitter or Facebook.

In addition, the Trending section is personalized for each viewer, with topics tailored to their specific location and account settings. This means that a US viewer will see different trends than a UK or Spanish viewer, which is understandable given the large differences in demographics across the globe.

Another factor that affects trends is the threshold for appearing on the list. Some channels that are frequently uploaded may not appear on the Trending list due to their low view count. According to Stephen, a YouTube creator who scraped data from the Trending page for his video analysis channel Coffee Break, a channel that uploads regularly will have to have at least 500,000 views in order to make it on the list. This is a very high threshold, and it would be nearly impossible to maintain such a view count for an entire year.

While there are some limitations to the accuracy of the Trending section, it can still be helpful for marketers to know how to use it. The best way to maximize your chances of a topic trending is to create and use unique hashtags for your campaign, and to choose a topic with strong interest in your target audience. Also, if the topic you are promoting is news-related, it will be much easier to trend than a celebrity or other non-news-related subject.

Trending is a complex and ever-changing phenomenon that can be difficult to keep up with, especially for newcomers to the world of social media marketing. But the potential benefits of a trending topic are significant, and it is well worth the effort to try to get your content into the list as often as possible.