Comparing maple to pumpkin spice illustrates several key points about how I like to use Google Trends as part of my search engine optimization strategy. As consumers, we know that pumpkin spice is popular and that interest in it peaks each fall (thanks, Starbucks). This makes the timing for any pumpkin spice promotion important. It’s high-competition so, you don’t want to be too early, too late, or too unoriginal.
At the same time, interest in maple flavor exists year-round. It’s a safe, stable option for a fall flavor. As you think about your content strategy, this information can inform how you spend your resources.
How Google Trends Works
Google Trends is a free data exploration tool. Marketers use it to understand audience interests in real-time. It often signals customer behavior by showing a shift in interests by topic over time.
Google’s search engine collects trillions of searches every day. They anonymize the data and group searches based on general query topics or specific keywords. You have to be careful when comparing data because it’s not a direct one-to-one comparison like you would get with AdWords. However, it can show telling trends in topics or keywords over time.
How To Use Google Trends to Plan
Here are three ways you can use Google Trends strategically.
- Find the perfect time to promote a hot trend. If you look at historical interest in a term, you can pinpoint where it peaks. You’ll want to release content just before that peak to ride the wave of interest. It can help you plan your seasonal content calendar.
- Compare terms to see which is more popular. Sometimes, a small tweak in working or two phrases for the same thing will reveal a difference in how users search. You can cross reference this with search volume in Google’s Keyword Planner (Adwords), to get even more detail.
- Whittle down ideas from a brainstorm. Sometimes, we have a lot of good ideas and aren’t sure which aligns with public interest. Google Trends can help you see which one has the most interest.
While it isn’t everything, a little exploration in Google Trends can help you narrow in on your content strategy.
Analyzing Top Fall Flavors in 2021
In 2021, I looked at the top fall flavors to see which ones have the most searches. It was just for fun because I wanted to see which fall flavors and scents seemed to be the most popular and most searched.
My list is a bit arbitrary but, I decided to include:
- Maple (and maple donut)
- Hazelnut
- Cinnamon
- Pumpkin Spice
The results were surprising with maple being the most popular all year. Obviously, a lot of concepts are wrapped up in that search term that extends beyond the flavor.
Similarly, cinnamon has been growing in interest both as the search term and as the spice.
Hazelnut is also growing in popularity as a search term.
Similarly, cinnamon roll and maple donut are also growing in popularity.
So, I decided to pit these terms against each other.
However, it appeared that these were not a fair comparison. Maple is so much higher than the others and some of the related search queries didn’t refer to food. So, I added “flavor” to each of the terms.
Maple Flavor wins year-round but, pumpkin spice starts to pull ahead in the colder months.
Then, I added “scent” to each of the terms. The results showed maple on top again.
Again, pumpkin spice scent pulls ahead in searches when the weather starts to get cold.
2024 Fall Flavor Trends
Now, I wanted to revisit the trends to see if maple still outranks pumpkin spice regarding searches.
If you look at related trends, you can see that in the fall, terms related to pumpkin spice are growing. Essentially, pumpkin spice has more seasonal interest while maple has more interest year-round.
Looking more specifically, because “maple” is vague, I compared maple flavor to pumpkin spice flavor. Maple flavor is still higher for most of the year.
The main takeaway? Maple flavor is a safe bet year-round. Pumpkin spice peaks in interest in the fall but, it’s also high-competition during that time.
So, what fall flavors are hot right now? For the past 30 days, pumpkin spice flavor and maple flavor have been neck-and-neck.
Here’s what some of the food publications are showing:
Apple Cider
View this post on Instagram
Appletini
View this post on Instagram
Apple Dump Cake
View this post on Instagram
Apple Cider Donuts
View this post on Instagram
So, I compared apple cider flavor with the other terms.
Then, I compared several apple food terms to each other.
Apple Pie definitely peaks the week of Thanksgiving each year.
What food writers are predicting for 2024:
- Mushrooms from The Kitchen
- White Chocolate from The Food Network
- Garleek from delish
- Fig leaf, whiskey, and mushrooms from National Geographic
- Mushrooms from Time Magazine
What to Watch
The food world is trying to make mushrooms a thing. So, it will probably be more of a niche trend with foodies. Apple flavors are something to keep an eye on, although they might not trickle into the public as a trend until next year or later.
For now, pumpkin spice is hot for fall with maple being popular all year.
Stay On Top of Trends
I’m Danielle, owner of The Shop Shop Marketing Agency in Lynchburg, Virginia. I regularly post about social media and SEO trends here and on social media. Sign up for my twice-a-year newsletter to stay inspired.
Further Reading
Sign Up for Freebies & Giveaways
I send emails twice a year with Lightroom Presets, printables, downloads & more.
