Anchorman. You may have seen it, you may be familiar with “Sex Panther.” If not, where exactly have you been?  We are big Ron Burgundy fans in the office. We also have an aspiring actor in the office but that’s another story!

Something else that may have slipped under your radar is Google Trends. A great tool for understanding search behaviour vs time. So how useful is that? Well, take a look at this diagram below plotting the use of the phrase “well, that escalated quickly!” (Now you see the Ron Burgundy connection :-))

Google trends can be used to research and understand search behaviour, growing trends, brand mentions and also help you plan seasonal and event triggered marketing campaigns. You have the ability to look at data by year, by country, by phrase. Immensely useful stuff, especially for plotting your keyword strategy. You could use Google Trends to review your competitor brand mentions or to understand what is trending and what topics to “hook” into. For example , if you own a dog food company and you find certain breeds of dog are trending online , you can start to plan content around that breed.

Its also really useful to look at seasonal shifts  – see “skiing holidays” in 2013.

This sort of seasonal search data can really assist with planning budgets and also help you explore new markets – so searches for skiing holidays drop off in the Summer in the UK? So WHERE are they popular in those months? You can add in other locations – all fuel for thought when planning to enter new markets or maybe looking to drive traffic internationally.

Google trends is a fab tool to help you build your brand online – sometimes it seems an overwhelming task – but using this tool along with other can really help you get clarity on your approach and get ahead of the competition.

You can also use Google trends to review brand mentions and get a feel for which brands and products are being searched for – great for spotting new entries to the market sector and for up and coming brand mentions. Maybe it can help you develop budgets too – if Google Trends confirms you are being beaten hands down with brand mentions, is it time to step up your social media activity to drive awareness?

If you would like to know how to use Google trends as part of your digital marketing toolset, get in touch and “Stay Classy San Diego!”

Sharpmonkeys is a digital marketing agency based in Worcester UK.