| By Aashish Pahwain Marketing & Sales Guides|Reader DisclosureDisclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means we may earn a commission if you click on some of our links.
Today, staying ahead of the curve is more important than ever. Knowing what’s trending can give you a competitive edge in your industry and help you stay ahead of the competition. Luckily, there are plenty of resources available to help you keep track of trends.
From social media to news outlets, you can find a variety of sources to stay informed on the latest trends. But instead of having you search for them yourself, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best sources for trend spotting.
Search engines are a great place to start when looking for trending topics. They are intent oriented and track search terms to see how they are changing over time. This information can help you understand what people are interested in and determine whether or not a trend is worth jumping on.
Google Trends
Google Trends is the most well-known search engine trend analysis tool. It lets you see how specific terms have been trending over time. You can also compare two terms to see which is more popular.
You can even find industry-specific, country-specific, and time-specific trending data.
The best part? It’s free!
Exploding Topics
A standalone trend analysis tool, Exploding Topics helps you find new and upcoming trends. It does this by utilising and analysing Google Trends and Google Adwords API to identify keywords that are seeing a lot of growth on the internet.
You can use it to identify new content ideas, understand what your competitors are writing about, and find new angles to explore trending topics.
It operates on a freemium model, with a limited number of topics available for free and the latest and more comprehensive data available with a paid subscription.
Treendly
Treendly is a trending topic analysing tool similar to Exploding Topics that uses Google Trends API along with Adwords API to identify new and upcoming trends.
Along with the category-wise trend analysis, it also provides you with a manual search option to find trends for specific keywords.
There’s also a free course on how to ride the latest trends for you.
This tool also operates on a freemium model, with a limited number of topics available for free and the latest and more comprehensive data available with a paid subscription.
Social Media Trendspotting
Social media is an important source of information when it comes to tracking trends. Not only do social media platforms have their own trending topics lists, but they also offer insights into what people are talking about on a broader scale.
Twitter Trends
Twitter’s trending topics list is one of the most well-known and widely used sources for tracking trends. It offers real-time insights into what people are talking about on the platform.
You can use it to find out what topics are popular in your industry, see what your competitors are tweeting about, and get a sense of the broader conversation around a topic.
It’s powered by an algorithm that takes into account a number of factors such as hashtags, the number of tweets, the velocity of tweets, and the engagement around tweets.
Sparktoro
Sparktoro is a tool that helps you find the most popular content on the web. Besides this, it provides a free Twitter trend finder and analyser.
You can use it to find trending topics on Twitter, see what content is resonating with people, and get insights into the competition.
The best part is that you can find trending topics based on previous dates and months too.
BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is a popular content analysis tool that helps you see the most popular content across all social media platforms.
It lets you see the most popular content for a given topic, time period, or platform.
You can also use it to see the most popular content for a competitor or compare two pieces of content to see which is more popular.
Beyond just content, it also offers insights into who is sharing the content and how it’s being shared.
Reddit Rising Posts
If you’re looking for a less mainstream but nonetheless important source of information on trending topics, Reddit’s “rising posts” list is a great place to start.
All you need to do is head over to your niche-specific subreddit and sort the posts by “rising” to see the latest and most popular topics in that community.
You can also check the “Top” tab to see the most popular posts across that subreddit.
This is a great resource for finding new content ideas and for seeing what the niche community is up to.
Frontpage Metrics
Frontpage Metrics is a Reddit trend analytics tool that offers insights into the fastest-growing subreddits on the platform.
Subreddits are communities on Reddit that are dedicated to a specific topic.
The tool lets you see the growth of a subreddit over time, how many subscribers it has, and what is the growth over day, week, and month.
It’s a great resource for finding the fastest-growing subreddits in your niche.
Industry-Specific Trendspotting
Industry-specific trend analysis is an important part of tracking trends. It can help you see what topics are popular in your industry, understand the competition, and get a sense of the broader conversation.
Feedly
Feedly is a freemium RSS reader that lets you follow industry-specific blogs and publications.
You can use it to see the latest trends in your industry, read insights from experts, and stay up-to-date on the latest news.
Feedly is a great resource for staying up-to-date with the latest news in your industry.
For example, you can find out what topics are trending in your industry and get insights into the competition without having to follow every single blog and publication in your niche.
Trends.co
Trends.co is a premium newsletter started by people at The Hustle that covers the latest trends in business, technology, and culture.
You can use it to see the latest trends across all industries and get insights into what’s happening in the world.
If you’re already a subscriber to The Hustle newsletter, you’d know how informative and helpful their newsletters are.
Wiki Trend
Wiki Trend is a valuable trend watching website powered by Daniel Levine and The Avant-Guide Institute.
The website has 11 industry specific trend categories and over thousands of trend articles.
You can use it to find trends in business, culture, design, fashion, food, health, home and garden, real estate, retail, technology, and travel.
It’s a great resource to get broad insights into trending topics across all industries.
Innovation Trendspotting
Innovations are what keep businesses thriving and the world moving forward.
That’s why it’s important to keep an eye on trends in innovation and see what new ideas are emerging in your industry.
Product Hunt
Product Hunt is where you can find and vote on the latest products and startups.
You can use it to see what new ideas are emerging in your industry, get insights into what people are excited about, and see the latest trends in product innovation.
Moreover, you can even get a sense of the competition by looking at the most upvoted products.
Trend Hunters
Trend Hunters boast itself as the #1 largest and most powerful trend platform where its community of 274,648 Hunters hunt new trends.
The platform posts daily, weekly, and monthly trend ideas, lists, videos, photos, and even insights from brands and trendsetters.
The platform also offers premium custom research options for those who need it.
You can use it to get insights into global trends, understand what people are excited about, and see the latest trends in product innovation.
Trend Watching
With its proprietary trend intelligence platform, Trend Watching posts daily innovations, insights, and trends from thousands of sources.
The platform offers trend reports, courses, webinars, events and a subscription service where you can subscribe to free trend updates in your mailbox.
You can even apply for their premium plan if you own a brand that wants a detailed trend analysis.
If an individual, their academy offers a variety of ways to learn about trends and even offers certification in Trend Research.
Springwise
Springwise is a trend-spotting platform that offers daily, weekly, and monthly trend roundups.
It has a library of over tens of thousands of trends and decades-old archives to search through.
The trends are categorised by innovations and the countries that they have originated from.
Try it to get insights into global trends and see the latest trends in different industries.
The Current Daily
The current daily is a leading news aggregator focusing on fashion, retail, and innovation trends.
Here you’ll see daily stories on the latest fashion trends, how technology impacts the retail, and what new products are being launched.
It’s a great resource to find new disruptions and learn who is leading the charge in your industry.
Podcasting Trendspotting
Podcasting is on the rise, and with it come new trends in the industry.
Podcast Notes
Podcast Notes boast itself as a platform offering the best ideas from the world’s best podcasts.
The platform offers insights and trends from podcasts in business, design, culture, food, health, lifestyle, and travel.
The best part, you don’t have to listen to the podcasts to know about their contents. This platform has it all written for you.
Go On, Tell Us What You Think!
Did we miss something? Come on! Tell us what you think about our article on trend spotting in the comments section.
A startup consultant, digital marketer, traveller, and philomath. Aashish has worked with over 20 startups and successfully helped them ideate, raise money, and succeed. When not working, he can be found hiking, camping, and stargazing.
