How to utilise Google Trends to boost social media engagement

To build engaging social media content, you need a good database of search activity to work from. What are social media users engaging with on their channels? What are they searching for? Google Trends is a nifty tool which provides this information and more.  Its features have proven to be useful in social media campaign development and below you can learn how to do just that.

What is Google Trends?

It is a public website providing a window into all things search.   It analyses and presents particular search queries, and the frequency it was searched on Google over a period of time.  It gives the user an idea of what is popular and isn’t dissimilar to the trending feature on Twitter. To create engaging content, step one is finding out what people are interested in.  Google Trends is packed with features that can help any small business or social media manager do this.

Creating interesting content

Social media engagement is a metric of how effective your campaign is.  A post’s effectiveness can be measured based on the number of:

• Likes
• Comments
• Shares
• Clicks

Google Trends has a trove of information that can be used to create content which is trendy, relevant and aimed at improving engagement.  Explore determines a terms’ popularity as a search topic or a search query.

The following filters can be used to refine the data further:

1. Location:

   The search can be tailored to a specific area that allows you to focus on keywords and topics which are relevant to your region. If you’re hoping to run a PPC ad campaign on social media, look at what searches are being conducted for your services or products, and in which specific geographical locations.

2. Time frame:

   Pulls data for a specified period. Data is accessible from as far back as 2004! This filter is handy when planning seasonal campaigns.  You can learn what is popular amongst your target market during a time of year.  Examples include Chai Cinnamon Lattes in autumn or bikinis in summer.  It is also useful for determining fads and niche markets that arise and disappear over time.

3. Particular search:

   A term’s popularity as a Web Search, Image Search, or News Search can also be filtered. Images are a vital component in creating engaging content.  According to Buffer, Tweets with an image gain 150% more retweets than those without them.

4. Comparison:

   Allows you to pit your search query against a competitor’s.

Finding relevant keywords

The most effective campaigns are ones that are pertinent to the times.  The Google Trends Explore function can be used to determine relevant terms.  It also offers you related topics and related queries that give you the right amount of keywords and potential hashtags to use in your social media campaigns.  The Trending function provides data on daily and real-time search trends. This can also be useful to obtain keywords and topics that are current.

Google Trends can effectively improve social media engagement.  It offers several features that, if mastered, can give you usable data that is perfect for your target market.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

Fancy increasing your social media platform engagement? Are you interested in discovering more about Google Trends and how it can improve your digital campaigns? Check out our accredited digital marketing courses today!