When it comes to social media and blogging, there’s nothing like finding a topic or hot button that seems to fly off the shelves every day. As I’ve found in my own adventures, many things that catch my interest turn into long-trending subjects. I’ll highlight here what I think are the best trends to follow. Hopefully you’ll take what you’ve read here and use it to generate your own hot topic ideas.
If you’re following a niche, one thing you want to do is find out what is trending with your chosen niche. On Twitter, a trending topic, term, or even topic is said to be a ‘trending topic’ or a ‘hot topic’. More often than not, trending topics become particularly popular either due to an occurrence or through some concerted effort by online users. A good example of this would be the recent BP oil spill. As with many other topics, the initial burst of interest came after people got together to discuss their reaction to the news. In time, other entrepreneurs took up the banner and began selling their own versions of ‘trending topics’.
There is also a trend amongst marketers and podcasters to have daily podcasts related to their particular niche that include video content, links to social media, and of course, links back to the blog or site they host. The benefits of this are manifold: for one, it helps podcasters keep their audiences up to date with what’s happening in their industry. For another, many individuals may not be able to make it to podcast events live, so podcasts allow them to capture and present live videos of these events as they happen. Many brands, especially live video brands, have been capitalizing on this trend by adding streaming video content to their existing blogs or sites.
A third example of a brand who has made a name for itself based on its own collection of trending topics is Apple. After the release of the iPad, there was a huge surge in interest in this technologically advanced product. Apple quickly set out to document all of the various trending topics that were occurring around the internet, and has made them into the basis of their live store, which sells exclusively through the iShop. This provides customers with an easier way to shop for the products that they want while participating in a heated debate over design.
Trending topics trend because they provide something of value to users, whether it is information entertainment, or social fodder. When brands take advantage of these trends, they gain a devoted following who eagerly anticipate each new update. This is very different from traditional forms of marketing, which are based on creating a product or service that solves a problem and then hoping that enough people will buy it so that they can earn a profit. Trending topics trend because users see something that will either enhance their experience with a certain product or website, as well as providing some sort of knowledge that helps other consumers. In fact, when you are trending topics, you are trending the way information is being disseminated.
With the advent of Twitter and Facebook, marketers have realized that they no longer need to wait for customers to come to them before they can tweet about a hot trending topic. The fact that they can now do this through millions of users tweeting every minute makes it possible to stay one step ahead of competitors. A good way to keep abreast of these trends is to monitor your company’s Twitter account for clues to upcoming trends, and use the trending topic as a way of asking your followers questions that they will feel compelled to answer. You can even tailor specific questions for certain groups of followers to ensure that their answers resonate with you.