How To Increase Your Readership by Using Trending Topics
One of the easiest ways to increase readership, viewership, and direct engagement with your social media marketing topics is to address trending topics. Social media users are naturally talking about these topics and want to learn more, so if you have timely, related content on your website or social pages, potential patients or clients will have a better chance at discovering it.
The challenging part is finding out which topics are about to trend before the wave has already hit full power. Then, you can produce relevant content and have it up and ready for people to refer to when they all begin discussing these subjects. Even if the trending topic has already had thousands of hits, it’s not too late to join in on the conversation and showcase your content as well.
When following your social media strategy, it’s important to schedule topics ahead of time, but you should always make time to create content that is on par with topics that are trending in your local area and around the globe.
If you’re struggling to get people to read your practice’s content, you’ve come to the right place to get a better understanding of trending news and how to utilize them at your practice to get more readers!
What are trending topics?
Before we tell you how to take advantage of trending topics on social media, let’s take a look at exactly what they are.
These are subjects that, for various reasons, capture the attention of a great number of people in a fad-like fashion online. They can be quite random, or they can be relevant to any current news, events, pop culture, or people. They also come into the public consciousness fast, peak quickly most of the time, and then typically fade away over a short time, so you have to act fast to catch them.
Now, it’s important to understand that just because something is a trending topic doesn’t mean you’ll always be able to apply it to your industry or help you market your practice to patients or clients.
You have to be mindful of which topics you choose to produce content for, as they should always be a topic that will appeal to your ideal audience and interest them enough to consume it.
How can you discover relevant trends in time to use them?
A variety of websites can be mined to find information on popular topics that are being discussed online. Some sites, such as Google Trends and BuzzSumo, are specifically designed for business owners and other professionals to easily use.
Some other sites that help to curate current topics of discussion include:
Then there are other websites that offer their own specific trending topics based on certain buzz words or phrases and hashtags that are being talked about by users. Social media platforms that do this include Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
When you type in these key phrases or click on the trending topics that have already been curated for you by the platform based on your location or what is trending worldwide, you’ll be able to see all the content other users are posting as well.
How can you make use of trend information?
Once you’ve looked over these trending topics, you must decide if they can be applied to your industry and if you should or shouldn’t create content for it.
For example, let’s say that you are an eye care professional and due to the current outbreak of the Coronavirus, or COVID-19 as the World Health Organization has named it, you can send out information to your patients about how the virus has the potential to affect their eye health.
There have been recent studies that suggest that COVID-19 has the ability to cause conjunctivitis, or pink eye, in some patients. So, you want to provide your patients with as much information as possible as to how to stay protected.
You can go on your practice’s Twitter account to see the hashtag #coronavirus is trending, and utilize it to get your content out to as many people as you can, including your own patients.
If you’re a veterinary practice owner, you could also use this opportunity to inform clients about how there is no current evidence that suggests that the virus has any effect on pets or livestock. But, they should take the necessary precautions and practice good hygiene and wash their hands after handling their pet or any animal.
This content can be in the form of a:
- Blog post
- Graphic
- Short video
- Infographic
- Listicle
If this topic is relevant to your industry you should take advantage of the situation as soon as possible and produce content that will encourage your readers or viewers to take a look.
Posting your content directly to your social accounts or to your website is a great way to generate more readers. Topics related to your targeted audience will do best at drawing in prospective patients and impressing current ones.
Should you stick to topics that are closely related to your practice?
As a rule of thumb, yes. Going off-topic too often, or about things your patients or clients aren’t interested in, risks giving off an unprofessional and unrelatable persona online. With that being said, try to stay on topic to make your account more useful to your targeted demographic.
How can you optimize your content to be shared on all platforms?
After you’ve created this engaging content that is relevant to your patients, you should always include a share button so readers can easily share it to whatever platform they choose. You also want to be able to repurpose all your content on any social website.
Learn More: How to Boost Online Engagement
Screenshot your tweets and post them to your Instagram story. If you’re running an email campaign, link to your relevant blog post. Share any images or graphics you’ve created on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Make sure your content is available to users on every platform so you can maximize your online reach and improve conversions.
Read More: Should Your Small Business Be Utilizing the Story Feature on Social Media?
Leveraging Trending Topics in Your Social Media Strategy
These are some simple ways that you can use trends to inspire content, draw in readers or viewers, and promote your business in the process. You’re sure to come up with even more methods as you gain experience with trending topics.
Do you want to learn more about increasing traffic to your website and increasing your web presence?
Learn the most efficient ways to boost web traffic by calling us at 800.792.8384 or click here to discover our digital marketing solutions.
