What Is Trending?
On Twitter, a post, word, or subject that is being said about a lot more than the others is deemed to be a trending topic” or just a “hot topic”. Hot topics also become popular overnight either due to an occurrence or due to a concerted campaign by online users. There are other reasons too which a particular topic can be considered as a trending topic. These reasons include:
Search engine ranking. If a search query is related to a keyword that is already being searched for, the results list out a lot more keywords than if the query was for a completely new topic. It also becomes important to note that the ones that emerge as the most popular trending topics are not always the most popular on the surface. Trends have varying degrees of popularity depending on the Internet users and the social media tools used by them to find the answers they are looking for. Some are overnight sensations while others can last for days or weeks together.
Branding. The name of a particular product or brand is often part of the trending topics on Twitter because they are taking the spotlight once again after a few months of dormancy. This period of time where a brand is relatively unknown or has been forgotten about is known as a “revision phase”. This also means that there is a big chance that the current lines of products being marketed may no longer be as effective as before because so many brands are out with new ones. As consumers get excited once more about their favourite brands, their taste buds turn to trending topics so that they can know what is in and what is out.
Live video content. Celebrities and other big personalities spend a lot of time streaming live videos onto the internet. If they are tweeting about something, chances are someone else is too, and this forms a base of people that can react to what they are saying almost instantly. If a famous person or brand streams their daily video content on their social media accounts, their followers will no doubt try to find out what is happening and tweet about it. Trending topics on social media platforms like Twitter are likely to be about the same thing that they are watching live on TV, which is why it is important that consumers know when something is trending, because they want to react quickly.
Viral videos. Viral videos are the ones that go around and spread through networks like Facebook, Twitter and more with the help of hashtags. A trending topic becomes viral when it is passed around to a large number of users who then re-tweet or re-like the original content so that it gets even more exposure online. Viral videos also have the benefit of creating viral buzz because the more people see them, the more the search engines pick them up.
Social media marketing. The rise of hashtags and the real purpose of them have created a new kind of marketing strategy. Brands can now use hashtags as a means to promote their product and encourage their fans’ engagement. This makes for a very effective way for the brands to connect with their target audience directly, and this gives them the chance to change the direction of the conversation by trending topics that are trending today. Brands that get involved with this strategy have a much better chance at turning their followers into customers.