5 Smart Tactics to Research Social Ad Trends

Looking to make the most of the holiday rush and ensure your brand capitalizes on every key opportunity?

Understanding the latest cultural and consumer shifts in your niche is crucial, and fortunately, there’s now an abundance of tools that can help you research, track, and analyze trends in real time. Staying ahead of these shifts could be the difference between an average season and an exceptional one.

Of course, staying tuned into trusted sources like Social Media Today is always a smart move (and if you’re not already subscribed to our free newsletter, that might be step one). But beyond that, here are several platform-specific tools that can give you deeper, data-driven insight into what’s happening in your space right now.

1. TikTok Trends

If you want a pulse check on cultural movements—particularly with younger demographics—TikTok remains the clearest window. Its native Trends tool is especially useful, offering insight into hashtags, conversations, and themes dominating specific industries.

The tool not only highlights trending hashtags but also provides additional layers: demographic breakdowns, related topics, and even examples of popular uploads. Beyond topics, it also tracks creators, video formats, and stylistic patterns gaining traction. In short, it doesn’t just show you what’s trending—it reveals how and why it’s resonating.

2. Reddit Pro Trends

Reddit has quietly become one of the most influential platforms in shaping consumer decisions. With 42% of users reportedly trusting recommendations on Reddit more than influencer content or traditional ads, the platform has carved out an important role in the era of AI-driven noise: authentic, unfiltered human perspectives.

The recently launched Reddit Pro Trends tool on mobile takes this further, allowing brands to monitor mentions, track keywords, and follow conversations as they unfold. That means you can spot consumer questions, pain points, or feature requests in real time—insights that can directly inform ad copy, product positioning, or even customer support.

3. Pinterest Trends

Pinterest has evolved into far more than a digital mood board—it’s now a full-fledged shopping inspiration hub. In fact, 80% of weekly Pinterest users say the platform inspires their purchases. With its user base now surpassing 578 million, that’s no small influence.

Pinterest Trends enables marketers to search trending Pins by keyword, surfacing the latest consumer interests tied to shopping intent. Whether it’s seasonal gift categories or niche lifestyle products, this tool gives you a clear look at what’s inspiring audiences to buy, which can directly shape how you frame your own seasonal messaging.

4. Grok

X (formerly Twitter) remains one of the biggest hubs for real-time conversation, with over 600 million monthly users still engaging despite the platform’s ongoing controversies under Elon Musk. As a marketer, the reality is simple: if your audience is there, you need to be listening.

That’s where Grok, the xAI chatbot powered by X posts, comes in. While it’s not processing every single post in real time, it’s still remarkably close, offering valuable insights into trending discussions and cultural shifts. By asking Grok specific, brand-related queries, you can uncover conversations shaping public perception right now, and use that context to refine campaigns or spot emerging angles.

5. AI-Powered Ad Tools

Finally, there’s the growing category of AI-driven ad targeting, which takes research largely out of your hands and puts it into machine learning systems built to detect patterns across massive data sets.

Meta recently highlighted that its AI ad tools delivered a 6% lift in average conversions—results that make sense given AI’s ability to cross-reference behaviors and interests at scale. Instead of second-guessing your audience segments, you can test AI-enabled targeting and see how well the platforms can expand reach on your behalf.

Each major platform now offers a variation of this: Meta has Advantage+, TikTok is developing AI targeting under its Symphony framework, Pinterest offers Performance+, X has integrated Grok into ads, and LinkedIn is rolling out Performance Max and Accelerate. Trying these—even in a controlled way—can reveal how advanced they’ve become, and whether they can push your campaigns to new levels.

These tools, combined with an attentive eye on cultural shifts, can give your brand a sharper edge this holiday season. Whether through manual research or automated intelligence, the opportunities to understand your audience—and act on that insight—have never been greater.

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