Trending topics, ranging from the death of a major celebrity to the latest baseball scores, get lots of people talking. There’s no denying the fact that social media is here to stay, and news stories are broadcasted around the world in just a few minutes. How can businesses use trending topics to become more visible and competitive? Timing is a critical factor because if a conversation ends, then whatever comment you post won’t be seen.
When a news story goes “viral” it’s being shared on a massive scale, and millions of people are viewing and chatting about it. Knowing when one of these stories is out there on social media involves nothing more than checking in with Twitter and Facebook on a regular basis. Those two sites aren’t the only places you can look; there are quite a few of them with unique features. Here are ways to take advantage of trending topics.
Some topics are difficult to anticipate, and others are in plain sight. To be the first company to talk about a trending topic, look at your calendar at take note of upcoming occasions such as holidays, events in the entertainment industry, sporting events, or anything else of that nature that relates to your brand.
If you look at the left hand side of your Twitter profile, you’ll notice a list of trends. This is what Twitter users are talking about at this very moment, and you can adjust the geographical parameters to match your location. Another way to see what’s hot right now is to click the “Discover” button at the top of the page.
Facebook has a similar feature. In the right hand corner there is a trending topics section in the user’s news feed, and they’ll be customized for that particular user. There is a slight difference with Facebook: there is a short description of why these topics are trending. However, Facebook doesn’t list trending topics in “real” time like other sites.
Make a trending topic work for your company by adding relevant comments. Randomly sharing blog links will have little effect and can be detrimental to your image. When a big news story hits cyberspace join the conversation early, but use caution when trying to capitalize on a trend. Conversations flow in all directions and trending topics can change without much notice. Be careful not to post anything that appears inappropriate or irrelevant.
If you’re a regular user of Twitter, then hashtags will be familiar. They are an integral tool of marketing and can’t be ignored. Make a brand hashtag that is unique to your business. You can think of it as a social media signature, and it’s important to make it short and memorable.
When there is a trend that relates to your business, using a trending hashtag in your content update can get your message seen by a big audience. Just be mindful enough not to spam trending topics particularly when they’re not connected with your business. Your twitter account might be suspended.
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