There seems to be a lot going on in today’s ever changing modern world. It takes just 6 seconds to give birth to an internet celebrity. Videos go viral all across the world in just a couple of hours. So yes we are caught in the middle of a whirlwind of content.
It takes quite a bit of skill to keep up with all this since trends can disappear almost as quickly as they can become trends. But if you can then there is lot of opportunity to join the party and put a word or two about yourself out there.
With all this happening here are a few tools put together by Hubspot that will you make use of trends whenever they pop up and use that content to turn it into something meaningful and relevant to what your brand talks about.
A Simple Guide to Navigating Trending Content
Discovering Trending Content
1) BuzzSumo
Price: Free version available. Paid packages are broken down into three categories: Pro ($99/month), Agency ($299/month), and Enterprise ($999/month).
With the help of BuzzSumo’s “Most Shared” function, users can easily identify what content has worked well in the past. What’s more, the “Trending Now” function can display the most popular content being read across the internet within the last two hours.
The “Most Shared” function is perfect for mining ideas for your next content campaign, while the “Trending Now” function is ideal for tapping into articles and conversations that people have responded to in real time.
2) Content Explorer by Ahrefs
Price: Free trial available. Paid packages are broken down into three categories: Lite ($99/month), Standard ($179/month), and Advanced ($399/month).
This is another great tool for finding the best performing content in a desired niche. Simply input your keyword — for example, let’s use “content marketing” — and filter down the timeframe you’d like to see results from. That’s it.
The tool simply lists the top pieces of content from the past month based on social shares. (Zazzle Media’s very own Simon Penson is actually featured in the number three spot … so it’s obviously a smart tool.)
3) Google Trends
Price: Free.
Google Trends is a great resource for surfacing some of the biggest daily headlines, as well as stories on the rise.
It’s easy to use and, as a Google tool, is informed by more data than you can shake a stick at.
Analysing a portion of Google searches, it examines the number of searches carried out for certain terms, against the total searches done on Google over the same time.
It then ranks the most popular stories trending in order of popularity. From there, simply click on the story to find more information on why it’s trending and where.
4) EpicBeat
Price: Free version available. Paid packages are broken down into two categories: EpicBeat Plus ($39/month // $268/year) and EpicSuite ($249/month).
EpicBeat is a helpful tool designed to simplify trending content research. You can search for content by topic or website, or explore curated topics.
With each search, you’ll gain access to social sharing counts, as well as some insights behind these shares — for example, EpicBeat provides a list of people that have shared a specific piece of content in the last seven days. This information can be used to inform the audience you should be focusing on, while also providing a selection of influencers for you to seed your finished content out to.
5) Reddit
Price: Free.
Commonly referred to as “the front page of the internet,” Reddit should be one of the first destinations you visit to find out exactly what people are buzzing out during the day.
From news and videos, to funny stories and conspiracy theories, the content on Reddit often reflects the things that people across the world are finding interesting … in real time.
To uncover some potentially undiscovered viral content, check out the “rising” tab. This will help you jump on trends early, so you can beat all your competitors to the chase.
Creating a Calendar of Upcoming Events
Some events are always going to be massive. From the Oscars to the Olympics, the calendar is filled with world-famous events that will be latched onto by brands.
That’s why it’s so important to create a definitive calendar of upcoming events. With a calendar in place, you’ll be more prepared to create marketing campaigns in response to the events that align with your brand and your audience’s interests.
