One of the traditional, time-tested ways of doing any type of marketing, including content marketing, is to take advantage of popular interests, trends, fashions, styles, etc. and leverage the built-in interest these subjects have to produce content that is being actively sought after.
There are many ways of researching trending subjects so we are not going to take the time here to dive into that aspect of it.
Where we want to begin is when you have done your research and are now ready to produce something.
Because, right off the bat, you face a challenge: “hot” or “trending” subjects are, by definition, what other marketers are going to be focusing on as well — so how do you stand out from the crowd? How can you be “signal” and not “noise”?
Trending Topics Strategy #1: Explore an Interesting Nuance or Sub-Topic
Explore an interesting nuance or sub-topic. This one is properly the easiest one to execute on. Take a good look at the coverage on other websites. What aspects of the subject/trend are they not covering? Can you shift the focus just a bit, introducing consideration of a sub-topic that has been left unexamined? If so, good for you! You can be the first to publish on it.
Trending Topics Strategy #2: Stir The Pot
Stir the pot – Create some controversy, take a strong stand against the majority, put the subject in starkest terms. This approach may require that you have strong nerves and be able to withstand industry/peer/social pressure and perhaps even criticism. But in some instances, nothing promotes and gains you visibility like some controversial remarks.
Trending Topics Strategy #3: Set Them Straight
Set them straight – This could be considered a part of strategy #2. You believe others are wrong, explain and defend why you are right. You can sometimes use this as a “comment” content marketing strategy if you can reply in the comments area of another blog post or article. Again, you can be controversial but only if you have the stomach for it and make sure that you can back up every controversial claim you make with clear and conclusive data.
Trending Topics Strategy #4: Offer An Upgrade
Offer an upgrade – When others are not wrong, but not completely right, explain why your approach is more correct, more accurate, more effective. This is not quite the “intensive” approach that is involved in tactics #2 and #3. This will probably require less research and preparation and is usually viewed as being more positive in tone than the “stir the pot” approach because with this tactic you are not going into a full-attack mode, just offering a correcting influence.
A Word Of Caution About “Trending Topics”
Keep in mind that, while targeting trendy subjects can bring you some good site traffic and visibility, by definition trendy subjects have a notoriously short shelf-life. Trendy subjects that were indeed in the spotlight last year may be completely forgotten a year from now and replaced with some other new, shiny interest area.
This means that while you are enjoying that boost in marketing that targeting in-the-moment topics bring you, that you also need to focus some of your efforts on creating evergreen content as well — content marketing dealing with aspects of topics that never seem to go out-of-fashion, that are of perennial interest. (Side note: look for an Articlez.com blog post soon on the topic of evergreen content!)
Speaking of content marketing, do you have your 2018 content marketing strategy in place for your business or organizational website? If not, why not? The 2018 year is now fully upon us, with unlimited opportunities — so don’t procrastinate any longer. Need help with some strategizing? Just drop us a line via our support ticket system, through your Articlez.com account. Don’t have an account? No problem – just sign up – there is no cost or obligation for doing so.
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