In the world of Twitter, a small word, term, or even topic which is discussed at a quicker rate than other more popular topics is considered to be a trending topic. Trending topics also become popular due either to an occurrence which prompts individuals to discuss a certain topic or just because of the general popularity of the topic. For instance, last year Barack Obama won the US presidential election. This happened because a lot of younger voters were inspired by his message of change and were inspired to go out and vote for him. He also received an amazing amount of support from younger people. The same phenomenon is happening right now with the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.
However, identifying trending topics can be quite difficult since it is also the same with identifying what actually constitutes a trend. Many experts believe that identifying trending topics on Twitter is done based on how frequently conversations about the subject are taking place in real time. Twitter’s search engine allows one to see how many conversations are taking place in real time, as well as how many people are responding to them. The Twitter Search tool can be used to discover what topics are being discussed on the social media site.
However, trending topics can also be affected by the type of audience which is participating in the discussions on the site. Twitter targets a very wide range of audiences, which can mean that certain topics which would have been trending weeks earlier might become less popular months later. The audience which a social media site targets depends largely on how broadly those audiences can be reached. If the target audience is very narrow (such as a younger audience), then a topic related to that audience may not be discussed as much on the site. As such, it is important to monitor and analyze Twitter trends carefully to identify potential trends which would in the future become highly relevant to a targeted audience.
In addition to analyzing trends using trending topics, another way to analyze these trends is to look at the way that Twitter users are actually participating in the conversations which trend. Trends can be analyzed using hashtags. A hashtag is a pre-defined label which lets users browsing Twitter know what the recent topics on the trending topic are. Popular hashtags appear more frequently in the search results, which allows Internet users who are searching for specific information to find the trending topics easily.
Trending topics can become highly influential as other users begin to post their opinions about these topics. This results in increased visibility of these trends and the associated conversations. The sheer popularity of these trends can also result in more traffic for particular brand or product. For instance, the #hashtag trend which appeared during the summer of 2011 has resulted in an explosion in interest for a range of brands. These brands have used the increased visibility of these trends to significantly increase their online presence and fanfare.
The ability to analyze and track Twitter trending topics enables companies to measure the performance of their current marketing campaigns, as well as gauge any changes which may be necessary. Companies may wish to monitor and analyze their trends in order to determine whether new marketing initiatives are working or whether their current campaigns are achieving the company’s goals. Companies may also want to adjust their strategies to meet the changing trends on twitter, so that they can continue to successfully market their products. Tracking and analyzing Twitter trending topics is therefore an important aspect of a successful internet marketing campaign.