We all must have heard of the classic saying ‘Hit the iron when it’s hot’. While this line has multiple connotations and references, when it comes to the social media marketing world, there couldn’t be a better way of expressing the need for trending posts.
A trending topic is as hot as an iron rod in a furnace and it needs to be hit upon instantly. Time and again, the digital marketing industry has proved this. No sooner than an event or a topic starts trending online, countless brands jumped onto it with quirky and witty campaigns. The Superbowl, Oscars and Olympics are all popular examples.
This strategy not only helps in promoting engagement but acquiring fan loyalty. Audiences (especially on Facebook & Twitter) love brands that are smart enough to leverage a trending topic. They appreciate the brand’s effort and wit to come up with a campaign that is based on a hot topic.
For example, since Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar over the weekend, brands all across the globe are pouring out witty posts on their social accounts. For those of you who are wondering how these brands manage to do this, here are 3 quick tips that you can follow in order to achieve a similar feat –
1. Pre-Plan: Let me tell you that designing posts over a trending topic doesn’t happen randomly or instantly. They need pre-planning. A lot of social media marketing strategists plan much in advance for such events and prepare their team to work overnight. Copywriters and designers come together and churn out posts as soon as they know a topic will go viral. So even before the Oscar for the Best Actor was announced, marketing managers across the globe would have prepared to watch out for interesting events and happenings during the ceremony. This way, various brands are able to leverage over trending topics and manage to boost their following almost instantaneously.
Logan Paul, a popular celebrity on Twitter caused a sensation with this well planned video which is going viral across the globe. Observe the video and you’ll realize that it was not only pre-planned but very well executed and shot –
2. Keep it Short & Quirky: The world already knows that Leonardo won the Oscar. So how can you make this information more appealing to your audience? By making it witty and quirky, like this page did! PicToLine, a popular Media/Publishing Facebook page made this GIF that everybody is sharing across various platforms – via GIPHY 3. Relate To Your Brand: Not only is it important for your post to be witty or humorous but you need to relate this to your own brand. You need to remember that a thousand other pages would be putting up similar posts. So make your post unique. Here are two examples of Indian brands that have really cracked this – USTRAA, a popular brand in India that manufactures grooming products for men and is popularly known for its beard wax, came up with this intelligent post – 
NDTV Good Times, a popular lifestyle television channel used this event to wish its viewers a Happy Leap Year –
Now the next time you see a big event coming up, you will know how to prepare yourselves to go viral. Follow these three simple tips and make a great post for your brand!
