Staying informed about what’s happening in your industry—and beyond—is more than just an advantage. It’s a necessity.
Understanding trends and emerging topics allows you to create timely, relevant content that resonates with your audience. This is especially important in the awareness stage of the customer journey, where the goal is to attract attention and build curiosity.
Here are three powerful tools that help you spot and leverage trends before they become mainstream.
1. 🔍 Google Trends: Understanding Public Interest Over Time
What it does:
Google Trends analyzes the popularity of search queries across regions and languages over time. It’s a free, user-friendly tool that shows how interest in a topic has grown (or declined), seasonality, and regional differences.
Best for:
- Identifying trending keywords
- Understanding public interest around topics or products
- Creating timely blog posts, social content, and campaigns
Use it in the awareness stage:
Google Trends helps you identify what your audience is searching for—right now. By aligning your content with rising search trends, you can position your brand as relevant and in tune with current conversations.
Example: If you see a rise in searches for “AI tools for small business,” you can create an educational guide or video on that topic before your competitors do.
2. 🚀 Exploding Topics: Discovering Emerging Trends Before They Peak
What it does:
Exploding Topics scans millions of data points (searches, mentions, articles) to identify rapidly growing topics before they hit the mainstream. Unlike Google Trends, it focuses on emerging, not just popular, topics.
Best for:
- Finding “under-the-radar” ideas early
- Creating innovative content or products
- Building thought leadership around new trends
Use it in the awareness stage:
This tool is perfect for forward-thinking content strategies. By identifying what’s about to trend, you can create awareness content that feels fresh and insightful, giving your brand a head start.
Example: Spot an early-stage topic like “zero-click content,” and write a blog post or social media series explaining what it is and why it matters.
3. 🌍 Itonics Trend Scouting: Structured, Strategic Trend Management
What it does:
Itonics is a professional-grade trend and innovation platform. It allows companies to track, rate, and manage trends in a structured, data-driven way—often used for strategic planning and innovation roadmapping.
Best for:
- In-depth trend monitoring and analysis
- Connecting trends to strategic goals
- Collaborating across teams to align innovation and marketing
Use it in the awareness stage:
Itonics gives marketing and innovation teams a shared space to track early signals that may shape customer needs in the near future. Use it to align your top-of-funnel content with macrotrends that matter to your audience.
Example: Your team identifies sustainability and “low-waste packaging” as rising trends. Use this insight to position your brand values in early messaging and attract like-minded customers.
Final Thoughts: Why Trend Tools Matter in the Awareness Stage
The awareness stage is your first impression. It’s where you introduce your brand and begin building trust. By tapping into trend tools, you can make that impression timely, relevant, and impactful.
These three tools serve different purposes but can work beautifully together:
- Use Google Trends for current interest and search intent
- Use Exploding Topics to anticipate what’s next
- Use Itonics to plan strategically around long-term shifts
Being trend-aware isn’t about chasing fads—it’s about listening, adapting, and delivering value at the right moment. And that starts with awareness.