How to Track Popular Topics on Social Media
In online marketing and business, the term trending is one of those buzzwords that get thrown around a lot. On Twitter, a post, word, or subject which is being discussed more than other ones is said to be in a trending topic or just a “hot topic”. Trending topics also become more popular either through the collective effort of internet users or due to an external event which prompts folks to discuss a certain topic. Let’s take a look at what constitutes a trending topic and how you can use it to your advantage in your own marketing campaigns.
To understand what makes a trending topic “trendy” we have to understand what constitutes a trending topic in the first place. Technically, a trending topic is a topic which receives enough interest from users over a period of time that it ranks favorably in search engine results. Search engines give preferential rankings to topics which receive sufficient amounts of interest from their users. For example, the term “concert and tickets” would likely appear high up in search engine results given that there are many people actively searching for concert tickets. The amount of people interested in searching for tickets to a given event will likely be determined by its popularity among internet users.
A good way to think of trending topics is as the lifeblood of trending topics. It’s through these trends that marketers are able to gauge the current interest in a given topic which helps them decide whether that topic should be repositioned into their product line or not. You’ll notice that most trending topics (such as music, sports, and technology) are in high demand and it is through the discussions of these topics that people who are interested in purchasing those products or services can find each other. This is the primary reason why it is important to use trending topics in your social marketing campaigns. However, to better understand how you can make the most out of this tool, you must know how to use trending topics to your advantage.
When using Facebook to track trending topics, it is important to remember that you do not need to include every single discussion on your wall. Instead, focus on the most popular conversations taking place in your network and notice the commonalities in these discussions. If there are commonalities among the discussions, then it is highly likely that these conversations can be converted into advertising opportunities once they start circulating throughout the internet. With this said, you can also identify the groups and pages that have the most potential for making a connection with you when you incorporate them into your Facebook marketing campaign.
It is important that you pay attention to how conversations on your network move. In particular, notice if certain topics trend for a long period of time without losing interest. This will tell you which conversations are worth pursuing and which ones are best left untouched. Remember, just because a topic becomes popular, doesn’t mean that everyone is discussing it or that it should rank high in search engine searches. If you find that topics trend for long periods of time and you haven’t been connecting with any significant groups, then you may want to start focusing your efforts elsewhere.
The #hashtag is perhaps one of the best ways to track trending topics on social media. With this tool, you can view the conversations that take place throughout the day on your network. If you use this trend tool effectively, you will be able to identify which conversations are of interest to you and which ones are not. In addition, by identifying trends, you will be able to easily pinpoint conversations that could become viral.