How to Use Trending Topics for Your Business Social Media Success
We’ve all seen those trending topics on different platforms, right? And sometimes you really have to twist your posts into a pretzel shape to use them appropriately. Trending topics can be a godsend if you like to be more spontaneous than scheduled.
Scheduling is Not Spontaneous
If you do like scheduling your posts ahead of time, you might like this post: Automation and Social Media: You Need to Learn to Balance. I recommend that you use a combination of both automation and spontaneous posts to succeed. If you rely upon either only spontaneous or all scheduled posts, you won’t be successful, in my opinion.
Trending Topics on Twitter
Trending Topics on Twitter
On Twitter, trending topics can appear and disappear faster than you can say “Taco Tuesday.” And if you’re tweeting about Taco Tuesday on a Friday, you’ll definitely feel as though you’ve missed the boat! So how do you keep in mind your audience as well as take advantage of a trending topic? Let’s take a look at a few.
Note: Change trending topics for your audience’s location, not yours. So, for example, if your audience is in a different state, then use that location. Because it’s not about you, it’s about them.
https://twitter.com/DarrenKavinoky/status/920766184403845120
Look at the trending topics above. Of the list above, I could probably use #WednesdayWisdom for my audience. When I click through the hashtag, I find the tweet above that might be of interest to my audience. So I’m going to like it and then retweet it.
Tweepsmap and Trending Topics
Tweepsmap and Trending Topics
One of my very favorite ways to see who your audience is and what they care about is to use Tweepsmap.(follow them on Twitter!). You can see the trending topics for your followers, and based upon that, craft tweets to target your biggest groups of followers and what interests them. For instance, based upon the information above, I have more followers in New York than San Francisco, so I should actually look at the trends in New York over those in San Francisco.
Tailor Your Message
Now, based upon what the trending topics are for your audience, you can tailor your posts for what they want to hear about. Again, you can use Tweepsmap to figure this out. Tweepsmap has a category called Intelligent Publishing, where you can see what your followers are talking about, and how they feel about it (not just based upon emojis, but sentiment analysis). The top topic my followers are interested in is #marketing, which is simple enough for me to write about, since that is what I do! So by simply adding the #marketing hashtag to a post, I’ll have tailored that post! Pretty nifty, huh? By the way, you might like this post: Twitter Trending Topics: Secrets for Using Them.
What’s Your Take on Trending Topics?
Do you like them, hate them, or ignore them? Leave me a comment! Thank you!
Hi Carol,
Thank you for this reminder. I need to get back to doing that even if it’s just a couple of times a week.
Hi Patricia,
I’m so glad it was a good reminder for you!
A big Aha! for me was to look at my audience’s interests, not my own. And to find their trending topics and location as well. That is a shift in thinking.
Thank you for stopping by!
Carol
You are quite right, Carol.
That is a good point for me to also consider.
Hi Patricia,
Even a top three or a top five may be a good bet for a list. One time I did one with a 100 and it was a lot of work!
Carol
As I work mainly in super-serious B2B tend to focus on long-term needs rather than following the latest viral trends.
Having read your article, I did a quick search for current top trends. Apparently something called “Super Slimey” is trending big right now.
“The Super Slimey Guide to B2B Content Strategy – With Extra Slime,” anyone?
Hi Clement,
I hear what you’re saying about B2B. Trending topics aren’t for everyone. There may be an occasional trend that would be worth following, but overall maybe not too much!
I like “The Super Slimey Guide to B2B Content Strategy,” though! :D
Thank you for stopping by!
Carol
Trending topics are something that we have to take advantage of. This counts for all social networks, not just Twitter. If you come up with something unique, emotional or funny that is related to some trending story, you even have the opportunity to create a viral post that will bring a lot of users to your profile.
Thanks Carol for sharing this method!
Hi Jarvee,
I meant to cover all the different platforms, but once I got started on Twitter, the blog post grew and grew! Yes, I agree with you that using trending stories is good to follow on every platform. It’s fun, and adds spontaneity to your accounts.
Thank you for stopping by and commenting!
Carol