Flowchart: Should My Brand Hijack This Twitter Trend?

Every day, a new Twitter hashtag magically emerges and fills our lives with something unexpected. Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re a little dark and confessional, but they always seem to connect strangers.

And every day, a brand comes along, sees those connections, and thinks: Oh yeah, it’s time to be a part of the #conversation. This usually doesn’t end well.

At best, you’re Denny’s and manage to be hilarious and self-aware.

when you check the trend feed and it's obvious someone's just putting whatever in there pic.twitter.com/i72gxjLeLW

— Denny’s Denny's (@DennysDiner) February 25, 2016

At worst, you end up like these brands.

Example of a brand using a trending topic without understanding the context #Advertising #SocialMedia #WhyIStayed pic.twitter.com/iTSmfaT6Xv

— Scott Paul (@scottfpaul) September 9, 2014

At Contently, we decided to create a handy flowchart to help brands out. (This flowchart was actually in the Summer 2016 edition of Contently Quarterly, our print mag, but I totally forgot to post the standalone infographic until now. Divisible content!)

So should your brand hijack the latest Twitter trend? Once you print this flowchart out and tape it to the forehead of your 23-year-old social media manager, you’ll never have to worry about a tweet gone wrong again. Click on the flowchart below to see it up close.