PracticalDermatology

One of the simpler ways to receive more responses, appreciation, and shares on social media is to keep a tab on current trends in the social media world. Leading social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest have the potential to provide a strong boost of online popularity to your articles, blog posts, images, videos, or new, informative links from your website, particularly if they relate in some way to the latest topics, news, or events of interest to a majority of people.

Here are a few tips that can help you to stay on top of social media trends for the sake of new content creation.

Employ Popular Social Media Hashtags

The hashtag is one of the most important tools you can use to identify popular topics, people, events, and conversations that are currently taking place on social media. Twitter has been a pioneer in the use of hashtags, and Facebook has also joined the hashtag bandwagon. You can search for dermatology related specific hashtags from the Facebook search bar. You may also find hashtags on other popular social media platforms, such as Instagram, and use them on Facebook and Twitter.

All you need to do is click on the desired hashtag to get re-directed to its feed. It will show you the latest trending conversations and topics related to that hashtag. On Twitter, you can begin by creating a stream with social media hashtags of your choice, or look for the latest trending hashtags on Hashtag.org. If you like a particular hashtag, you can create a new stream with it.

make Use of the “Trending”
Feature on Facebook

Trending is an innovative Facebook feature that displays a list of hashtags and topics that have recently moved up in popularity on Facebook. The trending list will be customized using various factors such as the pages you have liked, your location and what is currently trending on Facebook. Just click on the relevant topic of your choice under “Trending” on the right side of your News Feed. It will show you a feed of stories related to that topic that have been shared by people and pages specifically with you or have been shared publicly.

Check out Google Trends

Google Trends is a powerful tool that will reveal how frequently a particular search term is being used in comparison to the total search volume across various regions. Google Trends will also show the news related to that search term and how the news is impacting the search term popularity.

An additional feature is Google “Hot Trends,” which shows the top 20 hottest or fastest rising search terms of the past hour in the United States. Hot Trends also provides a history feature that allows you to browse the hot searches of the past. You can analyze this information to choose the most effective topics for your social networks, blog, and website.

Engage with Industry
Influencers on Social Media

When you are conversant with the use of hashtags, you will gradually come across a number of highly active and insightful people on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks in the field of dermatology. Prepare a personal list of such people, and review their social media entries periodically to know the kind of topics they are talking about.

You can also engage with them directly through social networking: Ask questions or seek new ideas. Sharing of ideas is one of the great benefits of social media, and there is every reason for you to engage with key influencers in order to gain valuable insights about relevant issues of the present and the near future.

Make Optimal Use of Google Alerts

You can set up Google Alerts for some terms related to dermatology. If you wish to follow certain industry influencers, journalists, association heads, or leading experts in your area, you may set up Google Alerts for them as well. This will automate your search for current information to some extent, and you will receive alerts in your email Inbox whenever content is posted on the web related to these specific terms and names.

Be selective in your choices for alerts and go for the option of receiving the alerts in a bunch once a day. Google Alerts will allow you to be among the first ones to know any news, event, or development in the field of dermatology, so that you can be among the first ones to write on it over social media, blogs, or your own website.

Join Relevant Groups on LinkedIn

LinkedIn provides users with the opportunity to connect with professionals and peers in the area of dermatology and numerous other fields. One of the interesting features of this network is LinkedIn Groups where professionals with common interests in a particular area can come together and share ideas and information and learn from each other.

Conversations and discussions on these groups can provide you insights about the latest trends and topics that are likely to generate the interest of your target audience. You can also attend webinars related to your field to gain similar insights and stay updated with the latest trends.

Maximize Your Visibility

These are simple, yet very effective ways to stay relevant in your online marketing and content development efforts and achieve maximum targeted visibility for your practice. The Internet has grown into an incredibly large information storehouse, which makes it easy to lose perspective and make misdirected efforts. You can stay on course by keeping in touch with the trends, and harness the immense power and reach of the Internet to your marketing advantage. n

Naren Arulrajah is President and CEO of Ekwa Marketing, a complete Internet marketing company which focuses on SEO, social media, marketing education and the online reputations of Dermatologists. With a team of 130+ full time marketers, www.ekwa.com helps doctors who know where they want to go, get there by dominating their market and growing their business significantly year after year. If you have questions about marketing your practice online, call Naren direct at 877-249-9666.