Twitter Trending Topics: Everything You Need to Know About How to Use Them

The challenge of the digital world is to always keep up with trends, especially in a world where trends constantly come and go. The mystery of this world is that trends do not last, they change rapidly and sometimes overnight.

Twitter is known for its continual changes, and these changes are mainly based on twitter’s algorithm. In the case of trending topics, the algorithm identifies the elements that might increase the popularity of a certain topic. This requires factors such as volume and time. Volume is the number of tweets on the topic and time is the amount of time that is needed to generate the volume of tweets.

Trending topics, across social media channels, can be proven powerful for your digital marketing campaign, for your content, and for reaching out to your target audience with a profound message. Likewise, Twitter trending topics are the latest source of information to stay up to date on what’s fresh, popular, and interesting. You get to learn what people want to talk about, how they are feeling, and what their thoughts are. So, having this as a reference point you can create campaigns and content based on topics that actually matter.

But let’s get things started from the very beginning!

What Are Twitter Trending Topics And How Do They Work?

The concept around Twitter trending is understanding which topics are popular among users.

Twitter trending topics come from the number of mentions and the engagement achieved by the most popular keywords, hashtags, and topics. As soon as a user starts following a topic automatically more news, tweets and trends will appear on their Twitter homepage.

So, based on your interactions twitter shows you what it thinks you will be most interested in. This is convenient because you get to explore what is trending around the world, not only in your local area. Trending topics are primarily based on twitter’s algorithm, as it discovers what people like to discuss and therefore it regulates what is popular to share.

The idea behind these topics is to transfer twitter towards conversation and away from on and off comments.

How And Where To Find Twitter Trending Topics?

In general, you can find Twitter trending topics on your homepage feed, by clicking on the “Explore” tab, and then you can navigate to the trends section, to explore what are the latest trending hashtags and topics.

The category “Trends for you” is a feature that gives the opportunity to users to choose and follow trends they find interesting from a list of topics. This section offers recommendations about what is currently trending in your location and you can choose to comment whether you find it interesting or not.

The “What’s Happening” section includes popular topics, but you don’t only see popular tweets that are constantly shared and commented on, but also a synopsis of stories and headlines affiliated with the tweets to provide you with context.

Another way of exploring what’s trending is to navigate to the “More” section, on the left column of your profile. There you will find “Suggested Topics”, under the section “Followed”. The topics you follow are used to personalize the tweets, events, and ads that you see, and show up publicly on your profile.

Likewise, you can click on the section “Suggested” to explore all the categories, for example, you will see the category “Arts & Culture” with the plus symbol right next to them. By pressing click on the plus symbol you will notice a drop-down menu with more specialized topics regarding every industry. As soon as you start following some trends your feed page will show you topics of your preference based on the algorithm.

You also have the opportunity to check what is currently trending by location, either that’s your city or the entire global Twitter community, by setting geographical preferences so you can explore what’s trending on your current location.

To personalize your feed you need to click “show more” on the right-hand side of your trends page, navigate to your explore page and then click on the gear icon at the top, right next to the search bar. From there, you can set your preferences to reflect the trends you want to appear on your feed.

Why Are Twitter Trending Topics Important?

The importance of creating campaigns and topics is based on the fact that trends are the means to get to know your audience. What do they want to hear about? What do they care about? These are the questions that need to be answered and Twitter trending topics could help you.

As mentioned before twitter trends can support you while conducting extensive research in order to stay informed about the topics that matter the most to your audience. It is a way of interacting and keeping in touch with your target group and as a result, you can create better campaigns, evolve your content, and in general your brand image.

The campaigns you build need to be authentic in ways that grab your audience’s attention, and by doing so you can connect with them and understand their needs in terms of content creation. Being up-to-date and relevant are some of the most important connotations regarding the digital world.

Twitter trends assist marketers in actively participating in a real-time conversation and being aware of the latest things that are happening in the digital community. These trends help you explain the sentiment around topics and how people respond to them. As the platform regularly introduces new features, the ways to engage with your audience through trends and topics multiply.

How Are Keywords And Hashtags Related To Tweets?

Twitter trending topics uncover the stories and concepts people talk about, along with tweets about these topics. In that way, you are informed about the words and phrases people talk and use to search for topics.

People have the tendency to react to the news by rushing to social media posts and therefore these topics are ranking in the trends list. By checking a variety of Twitter trending topics we realize that these trending hashtags often reveal breakout search terms hours in advance, so trending hashtags indicate future search trends. This enables marketers to be proactive with their campaigns by adding relevant keywords.

Being involved with trending Twitter hashtags can help you attract more audience that finds interesting what you have to say. Some might discover your products or service through hashtags, while others might start following your profile.

What does exactly mean for a hashtag to become trending? Hashtags, like trending topics, are selected based on what’s trending on Twitter, on a global or regional level, or by twitter’s algorithm that analyses an individual’s interests. Using hashtags enables you to join and monitor the conversation on relevant hashtags, as hashtags are a dynamic avenue to brand awareness and success.

Although the trends page will present you with the most popular hashtags and topics related to your interests, sometimes it might fail to foresee what you want to appear on your homepage. So, if you want to succeed in data drilling of a less popular topic you should figure out keywords to search for these kinds of topics. Paying a visit here could help you with monitoring keywords and hashtags.

How To Use Twitter Trending Topics

You can use Twitter topic trends to observe and understand what is going on around the world and consequently get a comprehensive insight into what are the interests of your target group, so when you reach out to them you generate conversation directly about what is important to them.

How is this feature useful for marketers?

Well, to begin with, tweeting only for your business purposes is not actually helping your business grow. It is necessary to expand the topics of discussion to approach a broader audience. The Twitter trending list allows you to profit from the topics your audience cares about, in order to start conversations and as a result to engage with them and make sure your business’s brand name is spreading and gaining awareness.

By retweeting a trend or using a trending hashtag you expose it to a potential new audience. If you publish regularly about topics associated with your brand and business, people following these kinds of topics are more likely to find your content rather than if they were just following tweets from experts or brands associated with your industry.

According to twitter’s blog announcement, the fundamental function of this feature is to stimulate conversation.

Here are some ways for you to incorporate this new feature into your Twitter strategy.

#1 Explore what’s trending in your niche

Algorithmically, Twitter will show you prominent topics related to your interests. If you are already active in following trends on Twitter and interacting with content related to yours, you get to see trending topics that reflect your interests.

It can work as research, especially if you are trying to discover what people are talking about and what is important to them. Also, if you are not part of the same demographic group as your target group, this can prove useful since you may not know what the latest trends are.

Another important thing to remember is that you should stay on top of Twitter trending topics, as they change on a daily basis. This doesn’t require a lot of time, even 10 minutes a day is enough for you to discover what’s trending related to your brand and stay ahead of things.

This is a great way to engage with your audience, interact and generate conversation.

At the same time, by keeping up with news and trends you get a better perspective about your audience’s interests and how your business impacts them. So, in a few words, this information helps you keep your buyer persona up-to-the-minute and it allows you to build a more detailed Twitter marketing campaign.

#2 Retweet interesting topics

The retweeting process is one of the easiest ways to grow your audience and interact with the one you already have. If you mention someone’s name, for example, a blog author, in a retweet you will instantly be in front of that person’s audience. This is the perfect way to gain more followers, enhance your visibility and fill up your feed while engaging with the digital community.

#3 Follow accounts of professionals in your field

Twitter trending topics can help you find brands or experts that are well known for discussing topics and ideas related to your industry.

By following people with powerful Twitter accounts you can check what type of content they are posting and that is the equivalent of keeping up with the current Twitter trends and insights. Also, reviewing their profile might help with learning how to optimize tweets to rank the Twitter topics tab.

Simultaneously, by checking your competitors’ tweets for a specific topic in relation to your industry, you can keep a record of their actions, and then you can start creating content or building campaigns that help you improve this topic.

#4 Check users’ opinions on a topic

Once you completely understand a trend, you can delve into how people react and feel about the Twitter trend. Popular topics commonly reflect news, stories, and events around the globe and that is equal to evoking emotions. So, you have the opportunity to search for the right tweets that will enable you to comprehend your audience and their feelings.

The main idea is that every topic should provoke a variety of emotions, so the right tweets will help you understand how your audience feels about a specific topic.

#5 Create content regarding the trends in your industry

After searching and following accounts you should start creating content that addresses the trends that are dominant in your industry’s field.

For instance, if your audience is talking about a problem your product or service can solve, you can start posting more about it, provide an informative description of how to solve the problem or create content that mentions your brand. Posting tweets about a topic is the kind of strategy that allows you to learn what your target group is extensively discussing and how to respond to it instantly. Even if you do not rank among the firsts, you can still get reach or growth simply because you are replying to everything your target group wants to learn.

#6 Learn more about hashtags and optimize them in your own tweets

Hashtags can help you optimize your tweets with trendy keywords or phrases. As soon as a person clicks on a hashtag, instantly they will be exposed to tweets that use this hashtag too. People mostly discover your tweets under the topics category, if someone is talking about a specific trending topic, it’s possible to find your tweets from clicking on a hashtag you have posted. In case you notice that many people in your field are posting tweets with certain hashtags, you should take that into account and create tweets that combine that hashtag to optimize your content and Twitter account.

Twitter trending hashtags enable you to enhance your content and build better Twitter campaigns.

#7 Take A Stand

It is important to share a broader vision so you can add authenticity and humanity to your brand image. As you see certain stories and topics dominate the conversation on Twitter daily, you should not be afraid to share your perspective, words of justice that could provoke change and raise awareness.

It is not mandatory to simply retell stories and reshare tweets in order to jump into the ongoing conversations. Addressing directly the issues your audience cares about is essential so you can experience that feeling of accomplishment, and work for the greater good, for example by sharing your resources.

Bringing value and enlightening thoughts into a conversation will allow you to generate notice and increase your brand recognition.

#8 Understand Your Audience’s Sentiment

Twitter trending topics can help you understand the sentiment around a trend and how people are feeling regarding this trending topic. The great thing about trending topics is that you can see exactly their responses, besides what they are talking about.

More specifically, social media sentiment is the approach and feelings people have about a brand on social media platforms and it is based on comments, shares, and mentions.

For example, if you are launching a new product or service and you want to know your audience’s attitude towards it, a quick browser around the tweets will help you comprehend how your target audience feels about the new product/service. To achieve that you need more than just the volume of posts since you need an in-depth understanding of whether the mentions are positive or negative so you can discover an addressable outcome.

To Sum Up

Twitter has always been the kind of platform that generates trend-based conversation. So, being active on what’s trending will help both users and brands dive deeper and understand what is important to the audience.

Make sure that you are involved in your niche, while following the trending topics, in order for twitter’s algorithm to show you more about your area of interest. So, in a word Twitter trending topics offer insights on how to engage with your audience and grow your community. Don’t forget to dive into a variety of geographical areas, to learn more about different local audiences and impressions. Also, have a look at Mentionlytics to check out how you can monitor and analyze your brand’s image and benefit from the useful insights.

Originally posted on Mentionlytics: https://www.mentionlytics.com/blog/twitter-trending-topics/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=medium