Little Miss and The Power of Social Media Trends

Last week, the Little Miss meme trend took over social media with organizations and celebrities alike participating in appropriating British author Roger Hargreaves Little Miss and Mr. Men book covers into individualized feelings and personalities representing brands.
Initiated by Tumblr user notyourgaybestie in June 2021 and made popular by @juulpuppy on Instagram in April 2022 the Little Miss trend is still popular today.

“She’s a 10 but…” and the POV video are other social media trends popular right now, but how do you know when something is a trend, how do you know what trend is right for your brand, and how do you know when to participate in a trend?

We break down the four ways to identify social media trends and how to recognize if a social media trend is right for your brand:

Have you seen this social media trend for longer than three days?

This is the easiest way to figure out if something is a social media trend.

Oftentimes, brand managers can be late to trends because they’re working on other marketing campaigns or the person managing the social media presence is the business owner. By the time they’re aware of a trend a day or two may have passed.

Considering the algorithms and the timing of the News Feed brand managers may not be aware of trends until days after it began.

All of these factors contribute to the longevity of a trend and how people become involved.

If people have been posting about something for longer than three days you can bet it’s a social media trend.

Have you seen brands and celebrities apply this trend to themselves and post it online?

A surefire way to know if something is a trend is to research and measure what the cultural curators of your community (and those to which you aspire to belong) are doing with their brands.

This act is called social listening and it can be really helpful in predicting how to respond as a brand to both trends and crises on social media. Pay attention to what your competition is doing, listen to larger brands like multinational organizations, and watch how celebrities participate.

Reese Witherspoon got caught up in the trend herself posting Little Miss Uses Legal Jargon In Everyday Life on Instagram — a reference to her star-making role and a part of her brand as the infamous, yet fictitious lawyer, Elle Woods, in Legally Blonde.

Can this trend be applied to your brand authentically to reflect your brand personality?

Absolutely! You can tie a trend back to pain points you hear from prospects, a day in the life of an entrepreneur, how you provide the best value for your clients, what makes you different from your competition — you can be as creative as you want, but don’t force something that doesn’t ring true for your brand.

If you don’t typically participate in trends and your subject matter is serious then a social media trend may not be the best move for your brand. It can ring hollow, feel fake, or sound tone-deaf. Stick with what your audience responds to by measuring your insights and analytics then post similar content. Again, social listening is important in understanding what your audience finds value in and why they’re following you instead of your competition.

Believe it or not, every trend is not meant for you and your brand. Your audience will know if the trend aligns with your brand and the content is authentic.

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