In today's fast-paced digital world, it can be challenging to drum up enough buzz and gain visibility for your brand. But there’s a tactic you can use to make your efforts more fruitful.
Enter trendjacking– the art of leveraging trending topics or news events to create engaging content that resonates with your audience. However, how can you ensure that you're hopping on the right trend at the right time?
Don’t worry! In this article, we'll explore 7 methods to kickstart your trendjacking strategy and help you stay ahead of the curve.
Trendjacking Explained
Trendjacking– or newsjacking (if you want to be fancy)– is all about riding the wave of what's hot and happening to create content that vibes with your audience. Think memes, viral hashtags, and breaking news stories. By hopping on a trending topic, you can create timely, relevant, and (hopefully) shareable content.
Here are some key benefits of trendjacking:
- Increases brand visibility: By piggybacking on a trending topic, your brand is more likely to be seen and heard by a larger audience, which is great for increasing the audience at the top of your marketing funnel.
- Boosts engagement: Trendjacking can help you create content that's more shareable, leading to increased likes, comments, and shares.
- Improved SEO: Trending topics often have high search volume, which means that creating content around them can improve your website's search engine rankings and bring in more organic traffic.
- Establishes brand authority: By creating content that's relevant and timely, you can position your brand as an expert in your industry and overtake your competitors.
- Cost-effective: Unlike traditional advertising, trendjacking doesn't require a big budget. All you need is a good idea and a knack for staying on top of what's trending.
- Sparks creativity: Trendjacking can be a fun way to flex your creative muscles and come up with fresh ideas for content.
Now that we’re on the same page, let’s jump into some trendjacking methods you can start using to build out a winning strategy.
7 Trendjacking Methods and Tools
From social media stalking (oops, we mean monitoring) to tapping into the latest pop culture trends, these techniques will help you create fresh and exciting content!
Social Media Monitoring
Social media is a goldmine of trending topics and conversations. To keep up with what's hot and what's not, follow influencers and thought leaders, and set up alerts for keywords and hashtags.
By tapping into the pulse of your audience, you can create timely and relevant content that gets noticed. Just be ready to pivot your strategy as needed.
Find What’s Hot with Google Trends
With the word "trend" in its name, Google Trends is a powerful tool for tracking the popularity of specific search terms and topics over time.
Use it to identify rising industry trends before they peak, find related queries, and monitor search trends as they occur. Create content that's optimized for the search trends to boost your visibility and relevance.
Keep Up with News Alerts
Stay on top of breaking news related to your brand or industry by setting up news alerts with Google Alerts or another news alert service.
Customize your alerts with specific keywords or topics and check them regularly to identify trends that you can leverage in your content strategy. Just remember to verify your sources and avoid fake news!
Hijack Hashtags
Join the conversation and get your brand in front of a wider audience with hashtag hijacking. Use tools like Hashtagify, Twitter Moments, or Trendsmap to find popular and relevant hashtags.
Create content that resonates with the conversation and tone around the hashtag, and use the hashtag in your post. Be authentic and engaging to maximize your chances of success.
Use Pop Culture Tie-Ins
Trendjacking pop culture is a fun way to create timely content. Stay on top of trends and memes by following social media accounts and websites that cover music, movies, and TV shows. Find creative ways to incorporate pop culture references that your audience will love.
Pro-tip: Don't be afraid to be a little silly and have fun with your content! It’ll help your efforts feel more genuine.
Take Advantage of Seasonal Trends
Whether it's Valentine's Day, the Fourth of July, or a huge sporting event like the NBA finals, there are always opportunities to create relevant and engaging content. You can combine it with other methods like hashtag hijacking and Google Trends to find what everyone is talking about at any given time of the year. Keep things fun and festive!
Leverage Automated Screenshots for Timely Updates
Now, here's the secret sauce: using an automation tool like ScreenshotAPI can save you time and help you stay on top of the latest trends. With ScreenshotAPI, you can get screenshots of hot topics in seconds. Simply enter the URL and let the tool do the rest. You can fully automate the process to get pinged when there's an opportunity to take advantage of!
Automated screenshots ensure your content is timely and relevant without the time-consuming manual process. Give it a try and see how easy it is to stay on top of trends and create great content!
Final Thoughts
So, that's the scoop on trendjacking methods! From checking out Google Trends to hijacking hashtags, these methods will keep you ahead of the curve and get your brand in front of more eyes.
But if you're ready to take your trendjacking strategy to the next level, there's one more tool you need in your arsenal: ScreenshotAPI. With its lightning-fast automation and beautiful programmatic screenshots, you'll be able to stay on top of trends like never before (plus - a lot more!).
And the best part? You can try it out for FREE with a 7-day trial and get 100 free screenshots– see for yourself how ScreenshotAPI can revolutionize your trendjacking game.