How to Find Trending Topics in Your Industry

Recently, I’ve been thinking about how to find trending topics in your industry. Why? Because I’ve noticed that popular topics in my industry have just been way too competitive. A lot of giant marketing platforms and websites have written content about these topics and while I have important things to say, you’ll never see it because most people don’t go beyond the first page of Google to get the best answer.

So I figured, I need to identify trending topics in Marketing that aren’t being explained very well.

You can do the same thing for your industry here’s how.

How to FIND Trending Topics in Your Industry

In short, you’re going to have to be plugged into what’s happening in your industry. I keep a list of topics and phrases that I hear coming up.

For my example, I’m going to look at Web 3.0. I started hearing this phrase about a year or so ago. I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it, but I started seeing it crop up more and more.

Then I attended a webinar where they made web 3.0 their core marketing message.

I was shocked! I didn’t realize it was hitting the mainstream – so I started digging.

Start with Google Trends to See if Enough People are Talking

Google is a living breathing database. And that means that it can take time for certain topics to gain competitive traction.

This Google Trends line is telling me that this is a NEW topic, it has some conversation, but not too much.

Try Google Trends on your topic

Because the entire Google Trends page is filled with data — I know that it’s got more than 10K in search. (I explain this here)

Let’s take a look at a basic web 3.0 search

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I see a lot of wikipedia and informational articles. Notice that the questions are all around what it is, how it works, examples. CLEARLY people are unsure about what this is (I count myself one of them).

So, I ask something more specific — “Web 3.0 small business”

Entrepreneur magazine has already jumped on this keyword. And when you see that article, you’ll notice that it’s a lot of tech stuff.

In fact, most of the articles right now are not that easy to read or understand.

So this is an opportunity.

With a trending topic in mind, I want to see what other experts are talking about this.

Use Tools to Find Experts Talking About the Trends

My next step is to hit some tools and see who the tools think are influencers and if there are any influencers in this space that my audience can relate to.

Use SparkToro to Find Trends and Experts

SparkToro is a tool that helps you identify and track influencers in your industry. It does this by taking data from various social media platforms and then sorting it into an easy to use interface.

You can use SparkToro to find trending topics in your industry, as well as find experts who are talking about those topics.

There’s a free version and that should be enough to get you started.

Just this one search gave me hashtags and phrases that will point me in the right direction.

Grab Insights from Patterns

SparkToro will also give you some people to start researching and following.

Just remember, NONE of these lists are definitive, this is just a place to start.

What to do when the experts are not very relevant

As I click through SparkToro, I can already see that Web 3.0 is connected to cryptocurrency and blockchain.

I don’t think that my audience (aka you my dear reader) are quite ready for blockchain and cryptocurrency as it relates to your business.

Shoot – I’ve been investing in Crypto since 2017 and I’m not sure I’m ready,

So how do I make this accessible for you?

I’m going to have to hit some other tools.

BuzzSumo Helps You Find More Relevant Topics To Your Industry

I’m not sure what magical technology runs BuzzSumo, I just know that when I typed in my term “Web 3.0” I got slightly better content that’s more relevant to my audience.

BuzzSumo also helps you find influencers and authorities on a topic. AGAIN — this isn’t the be all, end all, but it’s a place to start.

I decided to see what happens with people associated with small business who tweeted articles about web 3.0

After some searching and clicking, I found a few people to follow and see what I can learn about existing topic communities or if there are any opportunities here.

Stop and Write Down Your First Impressions

In my 30 minutes of searching for and finding a trending topic that my audience NEEDS to know and understand, I learned that web 3.0 is a good choice.

Here’s why:

• The topic is currently very technical
• It’s in a space that my audience doesn’t feel comfortable with
• It’s going to be hot hot hot and they need to be ready
• There aren’t a lot of people in my space talking about this yet
• This opportunity will not be open for long.

What does my audience need to know in order to be successful around this topic:

• Entrepreneurs need to know how this technical topic will change the way they do business.
• What current marketing channels will be affected?
• How will this change impact the way business owners get customers?
• How can I explain this in a way that they can understand?
• What’s the impact on business owners who don’t shift to web 3.0?

This is just a general list of items that were top of mind for me as I thought about this trending topic.

Finding New Trending Topics in Your Industry is The Key to Getting Found

If you’ve been struggling with coming up with blog topics in your industry and competing with large companies with big budgets, start looking into trending topics. Make this a regular part of your content marketing strategy and use your insights and experience to build your brand.