If you’re running a modern business then social media should already be a huge part of your strategy. You should already be engaging your audience and potential customers with fresh, innovative and relevant content. But what if your social media feeds are feeling a little stale?
Trending topics have revolutionised the way content is accessed as the most discussed topics on any given platform are given prominence. Essentially they show you what people are already talking about and can be adapted to location. Trending topics is where you should look to get inspiration for your next social media conversation.
Relevance
It’s a good idea to look into trending topics on Facebook and Twitter for ideas on how to get the conversation going and attract new customers. However, you shouldn’t just jump on the most popular subjects if they aren’t relevant to your business.
Look for topics that fit your business well and use them to inspire your conversations but don’t be tempted to jump straight on the bandwagon. Look at the context of a hashtag to avoid a potential PR nightmare. Brands are largely perception based so you need to ensure your social media is perceived positively.
Don’t force it
This kind of real-time marketing only works if it’s natural. Don’t try to force content out just to take advantage of the hottest trend. If nothing jumps out at you it’s best to stick with your current content strategy. Latecomers to the trend won’t be viewed positively; they’ll be seen as behind the times. Think about what works with your target audience.
Trending topics will help you to see what is already resonating on social media; combine that information with your knowledge of your audience to see if a trending hashtag is worth you jumping on.
Be social
It’s easy for businesses to forget to be social on social media and just use their channels to push their products or services. This alienates the very people you joined social media to attract. Social media is a community and communication is incredible important to contribute to that community.
Get involved in conversations and try not to spend so much time looking for segues in the conversation to move into sales mode. Just enjoy engaging with your potential customers – they’ll be more likely to shop with you if they don’t feel like your brand is being rammed down their throat.
Getting noticed
You want to get noticed for the right reasons, so be engaging and outward looking. Humanise your business with genuine opinions and thoughts on current events or even carve out a niche as an amusing “thinker” with quips of the day.
Be generous with content. Share content that you find interesting and relevant to your business even if it didn’t come from you in the first place. Make sure you are commenting on the content of others. And try to think local! Global will get you seen by more people but the majority won’t be able to spend with you so narrow your focus to local users where possible.
Advertise
If you’re taking inspiration from a trending topic or there’s a super relevant one to your industry it might we worth dropping a few dollars on targeted advertising to promote your business whenever anyone searches the relevant hashtag.
So instead of spending loads of money on market research or desperately floundering behind the times invest in your social media strategy and look to trending topics to influence your conversations. With a little bit of smarts you can turn trending topics to your advantage and gain access to a whole new market and build the engagement levels with your target audience.
