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Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Guide

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Media monitoring helps organizations stay informed about what’s being said across online news, print, broadcast, podcasts, and other media channels. Whether you're tracking brand mentions, measuring PR performance, monitoring competitors, or identifying emerging trends, our expert guides, best practices, and industry insights will help you build a smarter media monitoring strategy and make more informed communications decisions.

Discover expert media monitoring guides, best practices, and industry insights to track brand mentions, monitor competitors, and stay ahead of the news.

Media Monitoring: Guides, Best Practices & Industry Insights

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.

Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?

The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

How do customers interact with my newly launched product?

How do I increase the productivity of my employees?

How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?

We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.

So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.

But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!

But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.

We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

Kim Cattrall takes the lead in a campaign celebrating the intelligence behind confident brand decisions.

Intelligence is always in style: Kim Cattrall stars in Meltwater’s new campaign

AI adoption is no longer the challenge—trusted context is. Most organizations have AI tools, but many still rely on disconnected, stale, or unverified data, limiting the quality and trustworthiness of AI-generated outputs. Meltwater MCP brings trusted, real-time intelligence into AI assistants.

Your Best Context is Already in the Room

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIn to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Internet trends come and go but perhaps none has been bigger this year than the ferociously adorable phenomenon that is Moo Deng. For the uninitiated, Moo Deng is a baby pygmy hippo who lives at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in the Chonburi Province of Thailand. She was born on July 10, 2024, but she has already risen to be one of the most famous animals in the world thanks to her playfulness and ferocity. The subject of countless memes, Moo Deng is a perfect case study in the lifecycle of internet trends. This year, she quickly became a global superstar, but is the Moo Deng hype “over”? We used our social listening and analytics solution to find out. 

From January 1 to November 11, 2024, there were nearly 6 million mentions of Moo Deng across all languages and channels, including social media, digital and broadcast news, blogs, and forums. That’s only 1 million fewer mentions than fellow breakout star Chappell Roan, an adult human being with a music career. Pretty impressive for a baby hippo who was just born this summer! 

Meltwater data shows that Moo Deng generated her first significant spike in conversation on September 2. That day she got her first taste of virality thanks to a post on X that simply exclaimed, “MOO DENG” along with four pictures of the shiny, plump creature looking ready to bite. 

This X post from @sighyam made Moo Deng go viral for the first time in September 2024.

However, it wasn’t until later that month that the then two-month-old began to reach mega virality.

Moo Deng mentions spiked even higher on September 10, when a photo of Moo Deng biting a leg went viral on X, kicking off a relatively steady rise. Just over half of all Moo Deng conversations so far this year occurred in September alone, when she averaged about 100,000 mentions each day.

The peak of Moo Deng-mania occurred on September 28, when her name was mentioned about 205,000 times. This was thanks to a Saturday Night Live skit in which comedian Bowen Wang portrayed Moo Deng complaining about the downsides of fame. The skit spiked the Moo Deng conversation to new heights as some praised it while others criticized it for potentially mocking Chappell Roan. That goes to show that, even for celebrities who are animals, controversy can generate the most buzz.

Mentions began to slide in early October and hit their lowest point in several weeks at about 34,000 mentions on November 3, 2024. So while Moo Deng is still massively popular, the height of the craze around her has passed. Overall, the Moo Deng hype lasted for about a month, but the precocious hippo is still a star we will hear more about in the future.

How did brands tap into the Moo Deng trend?

Brands and organizations across the world hopped on the Moo Deng trend, but the ones that timed their posts well had the best chance of hitting it big. 

This Instagram post from @thaisephora has gotten more than 11,000 likes since it was posted in September. 

For example, Sephora Thailand published its Moo Deng Instagram post on September 11, just after the Moo Deng leg bite photo went viral. Its clever take on the trend garnered thousands of likes and likely kicked off the Moo Deng makeup microtrend that took off a few weeks later. 

This post on X from @USDOL has been reposted about 9,400 times since September 20.

On September 20, the U.S. Department of Labor used a picture of Moo Deng getting sprayed with water to rack up tens of thousands of engagement actions on X and promote hydration at the same time. 

This Instagram post from @spotandtango has received more than 20,000 likes since it was posted on September 28, 2024.

Finally, dog food brand Spot & Tango drove a surge of social engagement with its post on September 28, the day Moo Deng mentions spiked highest.

For marketers, even the most viral of viral trends have a lifespan when it comes to visibility and engagement. So while Moo Deng is still a relevant and popular pop culture figure, for most brands, the time for trendjacking has passed.

Monitoring and assessing waves of online trends and conversations is key for marketers looking to connect with new audiences online. At the end of the day, the success of trendjacking comes down to timing, along with a few other key factors. Check out our Ultimate Guide to Trendjacking to learn more about how to leverage trends and use social listening to ensure you never miss the next Moo Deng. 

Is the Moo Deng Trend Over?

Arguably, no artist has had a bigger year than pop star Chappell Roan. The singer-songwriter’s debut album came out in September 2023, but she didn’t start drawing significant attention until nearly seven months later. Now, she is one of the music industry’s biggest rising stars, selling out her live shows and booking high-profile TV spots, like her recent performance on Saturday Night Live. Known for her theatrical, themed stage performances, Roan rivals the likes of other mega stars like Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter when it comes to being Gen-Z’s favorite music icon. How big of a year has 2024 been for Roan really? We used our Meltwater social listening and analytics solution to find out. 

How much did Chappell Roan’s visibility grow in 2024?

From January 1 to November 4, 2024, there were nearly seven million mentions of Chappell Roan across social and traditional media. 

Looking at the second half of the past 12 full months, from May to October 2024, mentions were a stunning 1,484% higher than they were in the first half, from October 2023 to April 2024.

What was Chappell Roan’s most talked about moment in 2024?

Chappell Roan’s visibility was boosted by a buildup of key live performances as well as a few viral social media moments. The ones that generated the biggest bumps in buzz were:

April 12: Her first of two performances at Coachella caused a 62% spike in mentions the next day.

June 9: Her performance at Governors Ball in New York City spiked mentions by 317%.

June 20: Her interview and performance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon created a 114% spike in mentions on June 21.

August 5: She made history with her August 5 performance at Lollapalooza by drawing the largest crowd ever for a non-headliner set at the music festival. The next day her mentions rose by 45%.

August 19: The rising star posted a video about the downsides of fame, including harassment by fans, leading to lively online discussion and a 29% increase in mentions on August 20.

September 11: Roan’s performance at the MTV Video Music Awards generated the highest spike in conversation all year, creating a 215% surge in mentions.

September 25: After a September 20 Guardian interview in which she mentions not endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in the lead-up to the U.S. federal elections, speculation began to rise around Roan’s political stances. On September 25, she posted a video clarifying her views, saying that she is reluctantly voting for Harris but doesn’t endorse her. That day mentions of Roan spiked by 147%.

October 25: While walking the red carpet at a movie premiere, Roan confronted a photographer that had previously yelled at her. The moment caused her mentions to spike by 141% and has since become a meme.

November 2: Roan’s performance on Saturday Night Live, during which she premiered a new song, spiked her mentions by 273%.

So while Roan has had many buzz-building moments this year, her biggest was undoubtedly her appearance and performance at the MTV VMAs where she accepted the award for Best New Artist.

Which country is talking about Chappell Roan the most?

Unsurprisingly, Chappell Roan’s home country, the United States, is where she is most popular. However, China is home to the second-highest volume of Pink Pony Club conversation, followed by the United Kingdom and Brazil. 

Which state or region is talking about Chappell Roan the most?

When we look at the results by state and region, Roan’s Chinese fanbase comes out ahead. The Chinese province of Henan is the top region for Chappell Roan conversation this year, followed by California, the setting of many a Chappell Roan song, and Texas.

What is the general sentiment around Chappell Roan?

When we narrow our analysis down to social media sources, sentiment around Chappell Roan is slightly more positive than negative. Most negative mentions arose in mid-August when she began speaking out about fame’s toll on her mental health and well-being. They then surged in late September and early October as discussion about her turned to her political views and non-endorsement of Kamala Harris.

As her popularity has surged, Roan’s image and music have influenced pop culture in a number of ways, including the emergence of new memes and trends. For example, her song "Hot to Go!" and its accompanying dance were summer hits that flooded online content this summer. Plus, videos in which one person says “I hope she plays ‘Hot to Go!’” only for another person to inform them that they are anywhere other than a Chappelle Roan concert remain a popular meme format. (Need a visual? Here’s one from the Los Angeles Rams and another from the Columbus Metropolitan Library.) For social media marketers, hopping on trends like these is a key strategy of driving engagement.

Charting Chappell Roan’s Rise to Fame: A Social Listening Analysis

Budgeting and saving are always hot discussion topics, but as the cost of living has risen globally in recent years — reaching crisis levels in many countries — that topic seems to have heated up. So, what are people saying? We used our social listening and analytics solution to see what a year of budget and savings conversations can tell us about the top messaging trends around this crucial subject.

Dive into even more consumer finance data in our banking and financial services industry report. 

Humor and relatability drive budget and saving conversations 

From October 16, 2023, to October 15, 2024, there were more than 2.6 million social media mentions of keywords and phrases related to budgeting and saving. Those conversations touched on everything from discussions about financial restraints to sharing advice on managing budgets effectively. 

Budgeting and saving mentions spiked highest on October 24, 2023 (17x higher than average) when a post on X joking about tight budgets went viral. Meanwhile, the second biggest day for budgeting and saving conversations was February 5, 2024, when mentions spiked 10x higher than average. That day another post on X joking about balancing saving money with enjoying life went viral, with one repost from an influencer reaching about 160,000 users that day alone.

This viral post from February has now been viewed about 9.7 million times.

Notably, the third-highest spike in conversation, 6x higher than average on July 23 this year, was driven by a Reddit post. The post in r/AskReddit asking “What’s your most money consuming hobby?” has generated about 19,000 replies from users revealing the sometimes surprising interests that break their budgets.

Responses to this Reddit post mention everything from watch collections to fancy cheeses to horse ownership.

While this post is not as straightforwardly funny as the other two that drove large spikes, it did include many funny responses. Rather, what seems to have driven the popularity of all three of these posts is relatability — almost all consumers can relate to living on a tight budget and giving in to the urge to spend money on something simply because it brings you joy. These posts are reassurance that other people are facing the same struggle.

Engagement with budget and saving content is seasonal

While the volume of conversation about budgeting and saving had several dramatic spikes throughout the year, spikes and growth in engagement with budgeting and saving content were much more isolated. First, engagement spiked significantly the day after Christmas and just before New Year’s Eve. Those days, several popular posts discussed personal finance and budgeting, including saving money and controlling expenses after the holidays. Some of the posts that generated the most engagement offered budget-friendly recipes and tips for saving money effectively.

After a dip in early June, engagement rose again from late July to early August. At this time, several posts mentioned budgeting for specific items, like wedding gifts and travel, likely reflecting the end-of-summer spending pressures many consumers face.

Finally, engagement has currently been rising since mid-September 2024, largely due to an increase in conversations about national budgets, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. 

Overall, these trends suggest that transition periods — just after top spending occasions like holidays and vacation time, as well as elections and national budget talks — are when social media users are most concerned with budgeting and saving.

Money and personal finances can be sensitive topics, but humor and frankness get social media users buzzing about the topic. While funny posts give people catharsis from anxiety about their spending, posts about budget-friendly recipes and DIY hacks offer them some of the solutions they are hungry for. Still, social media users are looking for more detailed insight into how they can effectively save money. 

The hunt for insight into how to get by in today’s economic landscape is part of why money-focused subreddits like r/personalfinance, r/Money, and others are so popular in this conversation. 

Marketers, especially in the finance sector, have many untapped opportunities to bring consumers valuable budgeting and saving information. However, that information needs to draw attention with humor, creativity, relatability, and authentic insight into common financial pressures or risk being lost to the black hole of the internet.

Budgeting and Saving Buzz on Social Media

Consumers are at a tipping point when it comes to tipping culture, especially regarding the food service sector. From U.S. ballot initiatives about what the minimum wage should be for tipped workers to memes about iPads with tip options showing up in unexpected places, there is widespread debate about tipping’s place in society today. But which way is the digital chatter trending? We used our Meltwater social listening capability and Meltwater consumer intelligence solution to get a pulse on the online conversation about tipping in food service. 

Explore more consumer insights about the food and beverage sector in our data-rich industry report.

How do social media users feel about tipping?

From January 1 to October 22, 2024, there were more than 60,640 English-language posts about tipping in food services across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Reddit, X, and forums. Overall, there are about four times more negative posts about tipping than positive ones. 

The conversation was at its highest this summer, with the volume of posts from June to August being about 42% higher than from March to May. This increase in posts may correspond with more people going out for food during the warmer months and vacation time. Interestingly, though volume peaked in August, engagement actions peaked in July thanks to one particularly buzzy Reddit post (more on that below).

Of the posts that mentioned particular service experiences, nearly half mentioned sit-down and dine-in restaurants. Of those posts, many expressed negative views on tipping culture with several highlighting increased pressure to tip due to pre-entered tip screens on iPad devices at restaurants. 

About 40% of experience-specific posts mentioned pickup and takeout orders, with many questioning whether or not tips should be expected. In both segments of the conversation, the most engaging piece of content was this Instagram post from comedian DL Hughley featuring a video from on-the-street interview series Subway Takes. 

This post about tipping generated the most engagement actions of those that mentioned eating at restaurants and takeout orders.

In it, comedian Robby Hoffman shares her opinion that businesses should pay employees a living wage instead of expecting customers to give a mandatory tip. The post has generated 30,477 likes since April.

Each month except August, Reddit was the top source of social media conversation about tipping. Fittingly, r/tipping, a community of about 28,000 members dedicated to U.S. tipping culture, was the top subreddit for the discussion. However, the Reddit post that generated the most engagement came from r/AITAH, a subreddit with about 2.5 million members where users ask for judgment on their behavior, and significantly boosted engagement actions for the overall conversation in July. The post in question asked “AITAH for not tipping after overhearing what my waitress said about me?”, generating about 56.2K engagement actions. This included about 8,200 comments weighing in on racial discrimination and when it’s appropriate not to tip.

This post about tipping generated the most engagement actions on X.

On X, where about 30% of the overall tipping conversation originated, August was the top month for relevant mentions. The most engaged post from X, posted on August 26, came in response to a screenshot of a post from a server complaining about European diners leaving no tip on a $288 bill. That highly engaged response, arguing that “Tipping should be something extra for wonderful service, not wage subsidizing” generated more than 57,000 likes, about 1,600 reposts, and 411 comments.

Other top X posts from that month include one featuring a video of a tip screen at a fast food drive-thru and another asking users how much they would tip on $74.42. Both, like other highly engaged content in this discussion, touch on consumer questions about what is the new norm in tipping.

While the idea of “tipping fatigue” has emerged over the past few years, our analysis reveals a consumer attitude that may be more akin to “tipping anxiety”. Reddit, where netizens go for advice and recommendations, may have emerged as a top source for the tipping discussion because so many people discussing tipping are looking for answers on what is appropriate in today’s economic landscape. Across sources, engagement is high with content that speaks to this anxiety as people seek out reassurance that their tipping practices and views are correct. Tipping’s impact on workers and businesses is a prominent thread of the overall tipping conversation. However, when it comes to the buzz around being a food service customer today, our analysis suggests that the current state of tipping culture is souring the experience. 

Exploring Tipping Culture: Insights from Social Media

Spend a day running errands and you’re likely to run into a bay of self-checkout machines at your local discount or grocery store chain. First introduced at a Kroger store in Georgia in 1986, self-checkouts became more popular in the early 2000s. They have since become a controversial topic among shoppers, with some praising the technology for streamlining the retail experience and others trying to avoid it at all costs. Ask your coworker, neighbor, or friend and chances are you will find someone with a strong opinion about self-checkout, but a consensus is a bit harder to come by. We used our Meltwater social listening and analytics solution to get closer to the truth about how consumers view self-checkout.

Want to connect with retail customers? Check out our retail industry report. 

The self-checkout digital conversation overall

From October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024, there were about 168,000 social media, blog, product reviews, comments, and podcast mentions expressing an opinion about self-checkout. There were about 458 mentions of the technology daily, with higher mentions on average from October through mid-March.


Walmart was the most-mentioned organization, followed by Target. This is likely because both stores introduced new self-checkout policies this year. 

When it comes to how people feel about self-checkout, sentiment is much more negative than positive. 


As our AI-powered insight feature summarizes, many positive posts mention loving the convenience (as well as the ability to steal easily), while many negative posts mention technical, social, and economic frustrations with the systems.

Learn more about why AI-powered insights are important for marketers.

Our analysis found that X — followed by Reddit — was the top source for self-checkout opinions. Let’s dive into the conversation on each of these platforms to drill down on the emerging narratives.

Self-checkout opinions on X: A multitude of frustrations

Mentions on X, where nearly half of all mentions came from, spiked highest on March 15, 2024, thanks to rising discussion of self-checkout frustrations, including accessibility for people with disabilities, item limits, and potential subscription services for use. The second-highest spike was on November 18, 2023, when a discussion full of mixed opinions arose on their convenience, accuracy, and efficiency. 

This was the second most-engaged post about self-checkout on X.

4 discussed whether (and how) self-checkouts facilitate or encourage theft

3 discussed a viral video that allegedly shows a store’s employee calling the police on a customer struggling with self-checkout

2 mentioned the loss of jobs and shift of labor from paid workers to the consumer

1 mentioned John Mulaney’s recent appearance at a tech conference at which he made fun of attendees for looking like they believe in the future of self-checkout 

Overall, praise for self-checkout on X is few and far between. However, of the 15% of positive mentions, many highlight convenience and efficiency.

Self-checkout opinions on Reddit: Generational divides

On Reddit, which had the second-highest volume of self-checkout opinions at over 7,400 mentions, generational differences emerged as a leading talking point. For example, the biggest day of self-checkout discussion on the platform was on January 21, 2024, sparked by a post in r/science sharing a then-recent Drexel University blog about research into self-checkout’s effect on customer loyalty at grocery stores. The brief link-sharing post generated about 3,300 comments, with discussion touching on the forum’s focus on science while veering outside of personal shopping experiences. 

The most upvoted comment, and its top response, on a r/science post about scientific research into self-checkouts and customer loyalty.

The post’s top response critiqued the study for not controlling for age, the assumption being that the loyalty of older customers would be impacted more than that of younger ones.

Other top subreddits for self-checkout discussions included r/retailhell, a forum for retail workers to vent, r/Millennials, and r/GenZ. Redditors in these discussions expressed a wide range of opinions about using self-checkout themselves; however, the popular perception in some of the most engaged posts is that hating, refusing to use, or struggling to use self-checkout is associated with the Baby Boomer generation. Meanwhile, though many members of these non-Boomer communities perceive themselves as more welcoming of the technology than older generations, they still have their complaints, with members of r/Millennials having only slightly more positive opinions (12.7%) than members of r/GenZ (12.3%). 

So, what do shoppers like about self-checkout?

These upvoted comments from a Reddit post about self-checkout at Aldi stores summarize what some consumers love about the technology.

While self-checkout has its haters, many people love the technology. According to our analysis, some of the top qualities shoppers love about self-checkout are:

Efficiency: Many positive opinions mention using self-checkout to get in and out of stores fast, especially if consumers are buying just a few items during busy shopping times. 

Setting your own pace: On the flip side, some people like that they can take their time with self-checkouts.

Avoiding social interaction: Whether they regularly dislike face-to-face interaction or are just having an introverted day, a lot of love for self-checkout comes from people who appreciate not having to make small talk while shopping.

Having options: Sometimes shoppers want to use self-checkout. Other times, they don’t. However, many consumers appreciate having the choice.

Retail marketers have endless insights to gain from how consumers talk about self-checkout, but here are three of the biggest ones revealed by our analysis:

News articles about self-checkout are surefire sparks for discussion about the technology online, highlighting just how eager consumers are to share their opinions and experiences about the topic. Marketers and retailers alike can meet this eagerness by giving consumers more arenas and opportunities for expressing their self-checkout likes and dislikes.

Hating or struggling with self-checkout is commonly associated with older people. Whether or not this perception is rooted in reality, accessibility and usability are real concerns around the technology. At the same time, some prominent content associates younger generations with using self-checkout for theft. Both assumptions paint these generations in a negative light that retailers can combat with on-the-floor changes and marketers can combat with messaging.

Self-checkout is a hot talking point as more stores adopt or adjust their approach to the technology. Marketers and retailers need to stay on top of these conversations to see what is and isn’t working as consumers’ perceptions of self-checkout continue to evolve.

Looking for more data on the retail sector? Learn more about how consumers discover and research their favorite products and brands in our retail industry report. 

What Consumers Think About Self-Checkout

Connecting your brand with the latest trends is a great way to get your audience’s attention. When you become a part of what people are already talking about, you have an easy “in” into their conversations. It can get people talking about you just as much as the trend itself.

This process is what we call trendjacking, and there’s an art to it. It’s not just about finding what’s trendy and then slapping your brand on it. Rather, you want to find a way to authentically connect with that trend in a way that helps your brand stand out.

Let’s explore trendjacking and how social listening can help you leverage it in your social media marketing strategy.

Tips for Using Trendjacking to Your Advantage

How to Implement Trendjacking in Marketing

Trendjacking meaning: The art of using popular trends or topics in your marketing to make your brand visible and relevant.

Our trendjacking definition doesn’t just include trends like fashion and color schemes. We’ve seen brands trendjack memes, viral videos, events, interests, and anything else that’s part of our digital pop culture. 

Say your favorite coffee shop shares a video of employees doing the latest viral TikTok dance challenge. Suddenly, they’re no longer just a coffee shop; they’re part of a much bigger conversation.

Part of what makes trendjacking so alluring is its immediacy. Brands have to stay on their toes and quickly identify trends as they emerge. Companies need to be reactive as well as creative to put their unique spin on popular topics. Otherwise, they get lost in the noise or don’t appear authentic.

TIP: Learn all of the do's and don'ts of trendjacking, as well as real world examples, in our Ultimate Guide to Trendjacking!

Comparing newsjacking vs. trendjacking, there are some similarities between the two. However, newsjacking stays in the news lane. It focuses on breaking news stories, such as a major weather event or a corporate scandal. 

By comparison, trendjacking sticks mostly to cultural themes. These are things that trend over time, not just in the moment. 

Trendjacking might not have the same adrenaline rush as newsjacking, but it does allow brands to better build authenticity without seeming too opportunistic.

Social Listening

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Social Listening

Is the Moo Deng Trend Over?

Charting Chappell Roan’s Rise to Fame: A Social Listening Analysis

Budgeting and Saving Buzz on Social Media

Exploring Tipping Culture: Insights from Social Media

What Consumers Think About Self-Checkout

What Is Trendjacking and How Can You Use It For Your Brand?

What Social Media Users Are Saying About Overtourism

Drive Business Growth with Social Media Intelligence

The U.S. Fed Interest Rate Cut: Key Insights from the Digital Conversation

Pumpkin Spice Lattes and the New Holiday Marketing Calendar

Fashion Trend Forecasting: The Ultimate Guide

New York Fashion Week 2024: The Biggest Topics and Trends

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