How To Prepare For Fab Facebook Trending Topics Today To Build Your Authority Tomorrow

The opportunity: Facebook is testing out “trending topics” just like Twitter.

Why this matters:  You can get an edge on content that people WANT to read about and add that to your engagement on FB/Twitter/etc.

The solution:  Train yourself about ‘Twitter’ trending topics so when FB rolls it out …. you’re prepared to take advantage of it.

News.

Current news.

It’s one of the hottest commodities out there.  People WANT to be the first with the latest breaking news and engaging content.

Up until now, Internet users had to rely on Twitter for the trending topics.  But yesterday it was announced that Facebook is quietly testing out the ‘trending’ concept and alerting a very small user group base of topics that are gaining popularity.  You can read some of these updates over at:

• C|Net: Facebook Invades Twitter’s Territory with Trending Topics
• Fastcompany:  The Twitterization of Facebook Continues with Trending Topics
• The Verge:  Facebook Launching Trending Topics
• TechCrunch: Continuing The Twitter-Jacking, Facebook Begins Trending Topics Test For Some U.S. Mobile Web Users

So why is this such great news for businesses online?

Simple.

*When* FB releases trending topics across the board, you’ll have an instant glimpse into what people are talking about in real time online.

This will give you a starting point on curated content you can include, or posts you can share on your brand page, or…. see?

Should Trending Topics become available, chances are, FB will dedicate a page or a search about it.  Until then, the best way to prepare for Facebook Trending Topics is to familiarize yourself with how it currently works on Twitter.

You can find trending topics on Twitter via:

• Trendsmap.com
• What The Trend?
• The left-hand side of Twitter:

Take a good look at these sites.

You might truly be surprised at what counts as trends!  Still, though, let’s take the trending topic example above:

• “Is your password really protecting you”

You could share an infographic about password protection that is slanted to your Facebook Business page topic.

You could upload a Meme about passwords to your Facebook Business page topic.

You could post a controversial question about passwords – What is the WORST password you can imagine?

See?

Whatever you post in Facebook, make sure to tag it with your hashtag and include the trending topic in question (when trending topics become operational that is).

And that’s how you prepare for Facebook trending topics.  Always ask yourself, “How can I create more engagement in Facebook by using what everyone is talking about anyways?”

You might be pleasantly surprised by the answer.

Grow strong,

Barbara Ling