Covid-19 & Trending Topics
Covid-19 is here to stay for a little while. All the news these days revolves around Covid-19. All other news simply fall short because the crown is here. It seems whatever your content, unless its somehow related to Covid-19, it does not arouse any interest in reading. So, can this Covid-19 be part of your content strategy, since it is such a trending topic?
Well, the fact you might be reading this article means we are creating Covid-19 related contents. In content strategy, we know that creating content in line with the current trending topic(s) is a good approach. So the answer is yes, you can create Covid-19 related contents as your content strategy. Of course depending on what you write and does your content falls under Query Deserves Freshness (“QDF”), your contents may get some good traction. In this post, we shall discuss about developing your website contents with trending topics.
Identifying a Trend like Covid-19
First and foremost, how do you get to know a trend? It is not easy to know a trend before it starts. Or rather, it is impossible to do so unless you are the one creating it (or think you are creating it). Therefore it is usually you are already in the trend to know it. There are 3 phases where you can be in a trend namely the early phase, in the eye of the storm or the tail-end of the trend. There are tools that can help you figure out this:
Above are free tools you can use. There are some paid tools which you google on internet too.Once you pick up something that you think it might be a trend, you can Google it up with Google Trends to check. You will also see that some products or services are seasonal in nature from the trend so you might want to write something about that product or service just before or at the early stage of the trend. If you are receiving more news on a certain topic on your Google Alerts, you know that that is a trending topic too. From Reddit, you can see trending videos, images or articles. Sometimes a viral video is pretty good to talk about. You can choose the location of your trend for all the tools above. You can also choose the period of the trend for Google Trends and Reddit.
In theory, we want to catch as early of the trend as possible. And in ideal scenarios, the trend setter. In reality, such trends come and go. There are trends that are short-lived and there are trends that last for a longer period. As much as we do not want, it seems Covid-19 trend will stay for a while. Although we hope this trend may die off soon.
Relevant Content is Key
There is a saying “Content is King”. But I also heard somewhere “If Content is King, then Context is God”. Although you may know the trend, is it possible for you to write anything and everything about it? This is where context becomes important. As a rule of thumb, write a trending topic if and:
- You can relate that topic to your products or services;
- Topic justify your overall branding and image you want to project to your target audience;
- Be natural in linking the topic to your products or services;
- Avoid writing QDF contents unless you are ready to do so.
Covid-19 is a trending topic. Trending topic relates to content marketing. We find the link and relevance to use this trending topic related to our services. Relevant content is still the key for content marketing strategy. And it must fit your long term branding for your company, products and services. If you have difficulty trying to link a trending topic to your product or service, I suggest you should not write about it. An awkward article is better off not published. I would in general avoid QDF contents. In the case of Covid-19, it would be like news pertaining the latest number of infected cases, death and regulatory changes. Unless you are in the news where QDF contents are essential, I think writing contents that can endure time is better off.
Conclusion
Write with a purpose for trending topics. We have mentioned that content marketing we write are for 2 purposes – for search engine and to engage the customers. A good use of a trending topic helps you to stay in the game of content marketing. A wrong use of a trending topic may destroy your branding for your service or product. I find that establishing the natural link between the trending topic to your product or service is the key in developing your contents around a trending topic.
There are short trends and longer trends for any certain topic. Be mindful to engage wisely with your target audience that your contents stay relevant. For me, if Covid-19 were to last that long until Christmas 2020, I will probably write another article then.
I hope this trend topic of Covid-19 is short-lived. But I must also be prepared if this becomes a longer term trend. Meanwhile, I hope all of us stay safe and healthy.
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