Being Trendy

Being Trendy

How To Identify & React To Trending Topics

testing the new iPhone/maximising your opportunities using hashtags & trends

iPhoneX/8 Features Demo: The Trendiest Thing Around – Leaked Video.

 

 

We’re not trying to spread more #fakenews but instead, we’re trying to show you how to take advantage of trends to reach more people. After all, being on trend is pretty trendy.

As you may have guessed by now our iPhone video isn’t real.

 

A trend, by definition, is the general direction in which something is developing or changing, something that is the subject of many posts online. They can take the form of a single word or phrase accompanied by a hashtag, for example, #ihavethisthingwithfloors. Weird right? (Go on, click on it, take a look!)

These have the power to capture the interest of your audience and give a ton of opportunity for your brand. By using hashtags, you can find a load of information related to whatever subject you’re interested in. How you choose to approach hashtag and trends as a business very much depends on your brand personality and tone of voice. Also, your sense of humour.

Being on top of trends on social media can increase exposure and engagement for your brand and business, making you more visible and recognised by consumers. This will help you succeed in your market, or at least help spread the word.

Shaun identifying trends

Shaun and Danny planning our campaign

Going onto any social media platform and monitoring conversation is the best way of becoming aware of emerging themes and trends. There will always be a mass of online data you can collate from social, this may seem daunting, but it’s a great way to understand consumers.

What we’ve done with our iPhone leak is an example of piggybacking on highly relevant trends. The launch of the new iPhone is one of the biggest digital events of the year and we would have been stupid not to take advantage of the occasion. Don’t get us wrong, we don’t sell iPhones, but we do know that our audience is interested in the latest gadgets and tech. We identified the opportunity and then have planned to spread our content to relevant audiences with the use of hashtags, influencers and social advertising.

The iPhone X is to be officially launched on Tuesday the 12th September and following multiple leaks and the beta of iOS 11 it’s been trending across platforms for a while. Taking advantage of the conversations in the lead up to the official launch show to share our content to get it in front of the right people at the right time.

So, what can I do to identify trends?

You can use tools like Google Trends, Answer The Public or the trending bars on the side of Twitter and Facebook to see what your audience is talking about whether that be cats playing the keyboard, the latest iPhone or motivational quotes on a Monday morning.

Using Google Trends or your own data collation & observations from online you can identify which trends you’d like to take advantage of. Then, using websites such as Answer The Public, you can see what the public is searching for around a certain topic. Now you’ve got to be creative, come up with a campaign idea or even just a simple status update that uses a relevant trend hashtag and meets an objective. Your content is then in front of a relevant audience and hopefully, your objective will be met whether that’s brand recognition, increasing engagement or finding new customers.

Now you’ve got to be creative, come up with a campaign idea or even just a simple status update that uses a relevant trend hashtag and meets an objective. Your content is then in front of a relevant audience and hopefully, your objective will be met whether that’s brand recognition, increasing engagement or finding potential new customers.

If you conquer the growing market, you’ll soon be the trendsetters yourself (see what we did there). The cool, fashionable kids, the popular crew that others will aspire to be. The power and control that goes hand in hand with being trendsetters would help make your brand awesome. But remember, a trend will eventually die out, so it’s imperative to know what the next big thing will be.

Here at Giant Campus, we take digital marketing seriously, and so should you. We have a range of workshops and training sessions designed to help make digital easy for you and your business. Take a look at some of our courses here and become even more trendy than before.

Alternatively, if you want to work with an agency that integrates creativity into the technical elements of digital marketing, check out our sister company, Sleeping Giant Media.

Amber Vellacott

Amber Vellacott

Content Marketing Lead

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!

EP Scheme

EP Scheme

Work Placement: EP Scheme University Of Kent

creativity is the soul of the true scholar

It’s the start of term for many people this week, but at Giant Campus the learning never stops.

For the last two weeks, Giant Towers has played host to students from the University of Kent giving them an insight into the world of a digital marketing agency.

As part of the universities EP Scheme, these students were awarded work experience with us after racking up a number of points by taking part in co-curricular activities. During the two weeks spent with us, they rotated departments to get an understanding of everything involved in our organisation. This involved a day or two in Giant Campus, Digital Creative, SEO/PPC, Marketing, Office and Finance. Each department had tasks for them to complete and they all did a wonderful job.

Whilst they spent time with Giant Campus they were tasked with coming up with some creative campaign ideas, pitching them to the team and then coming up with a strategy to implement them. In order to do come up with these campaigns, they had to identify our brand, tone of voice and unique selling points by use of online research and asking the team questions.

We love to educate people in creative ways, if you’ve attended one of our courses then you’ll have experienced this first hand. Letting the students have complete creative freedom in this project was imperative and they really did deliver. We can’t give away any of their awesome ideas, but you may see them floating about in the future.

The ability to think creatively and outside of the box is becoming more and more important in the workplace, with more employers recruiting people with creative degrees and backgrounds. It’s time to recognise the importance and value of creative education.

 

“My work experience at Giant Campus has been great! Danny and Amber have been very supportive and friendly making me feel welcomed.  This work experience placement has given me the opportunity to get a real insight into marketing, where I put my thinking into creating new marketing campaigns. Not only was this exciting, but I developed my creative thinking skills in order to generate ideas and was introduced to digital marketing e-learning courses and concepts which will be invaluable in my future career. This is everything I could have asked for from Giant Campus.”

– Harigna Hinglajia

 

“My time working in the Giant Campus team was short but sweet. I was given the opportunity to come up with ideas for real-life marketing campaigns and then present them to Danny and Amber – a bit like Dragons Den! This was a very enjoyable task in which I gained a valuable insight into what they get up to as well as constructive feedback that I can use if faced with a similar task again.”

– Dom Boorman

 

“Working with Giant Campus was an amazing opportunity. A true insight into how to teach and market invaluable skills. The company works with both professionals and those wanting to improve their own knowledge and these skills are taught by industry leaders of SGM. GC is run by Danny and Amber who truly convey their passion into the company and what they teach, and it was a pleasure to spend some time with them.”
– Harry Potter 

 

 

Keep a lookout for these guys in the future! It’s been a delight working with them all, they’ve worked super hard and each and every one has impressed us on a daily basis. Good luck!

Amber Vellacott

Amber Vellacott

Content Marketing Lead

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!

3 ways to learn digital, for FREE!

3 ways to learn digital, for FREE!

3 Ways To Learn Digital Marketing For Free Online

don’t use a lack of knowledge as a barrier to doing digital properly

Marketing your business on the world wide web can seem overwhelming at times, there’s no doubt about that!

To help you work through the mass of information, we’ve put together our three of our favourite (and free) learning platforms that help you to improve your digital marketing knowledge.

Google Primer

First up is Google Primer, an app based platform available on Apple and Android smartphones. Primer has a number of short digital marketing lessons. All lessons are created by marketers and are aimed at professionals with some experience in marketing, with a variety of intro and advanced level content. Primer’s subjects delve deep into core subjects surrounding marketing and running your own business.

Being an app with short lessons means you can complete a lesson or two during a quick break, on the train or whilst walking from the car to the office. Made primarily for mobile, the content is presented in a clear and easy to digest way that allows for practical take aways. The app contains activities and interactions that lead you to your goal of improving whatever path you’ve chosen to follow.

What does GC’s Head Boy, Danny, have to say on Google Primer?

“This is the perfect platform for small business owners and big business marketing execs. ‘Primer’ has some fresh ideas that are easy to put into action. The user experience is awesome! Lovely illustrations and explanations and a great navigation so you can leave and pick up where you left off with no problem. It feels like a knowledgeable friend is guiding you through, the tone of voice is familiar and fun meaning it can explain some pretty complex subjects in a fun way.”

Facebook Blueprint

As the name suggests, Blueprint provides you with an inside look at how Facebook works. As a global training and certification programme covering all aspects of marketing on Facebook and Instagram, Blueprint is the place to be.

It allows you to follow a tailored learning path, specific to your job role. There are hundreds of free lessons for intro levels, and to top up your current knowledge, there are more advanced options too. This platform is inclusive of all levels.

This e-Learning platform requires you to have a Facebook account in order to log in, but who doesn’t have an account? It’s 2017!

Blueprint is mostly composed of written learning content, this is great for on-the-go learning because it won’t eat into your data allowance like video will. Whilst it’s only focused on Facebook and Instagram, this doesn’t limit your learning. Some skills are transferable across different social and digital platforms. With not much visual learning, it is quite different to the other e-Learning mentioned in this post. However, depending on your learning style, this might work perfectly for you. It also gives you plenty of practical bits to put into action straight away after the lesson.

“Blueprint is great for practical learning, plenty of stuff you can do straight away after the lessons to see what works best for you.”

Google Digital Garage

Google’s Digital Garage is an online e-learning platform. You can complete the lessons on your desktop or download the brand new app to learn on the go. The app version offers audio files for the lessons if you can’t find the time to sit and watch the videos.

This platform offers free online marketing training that’ll get the right digital skills YOU need to grow your business and/or career. Composed of 89 lessons with assessments at the end of each, you can earn a certificate in The Online Marketing Fundamentals. This certificate can be placed on your Linkedin profile and your CV! Google Garage is used by 5 million users world wide, if that’s not a validation of its capabilities then I don’t know what is!

The platform has a mix of written content, explainer videos, animations and interactive elements. You can start the platform by setting out the goals you’d like to achieve and the right learning paths will then be set for you to work to.

Anyone can benefit from Google Garage, regardless of their skill level, goals or background. Lessons range from getting started online, utilising mobile and search through to building your online shop.

What does GC’s Head Boy, Danny, have to say on Google Garage?

“It is very education focused compared to the other platforms, with a series of Learning Objectives and assessments. The platform takes assessment and understanding seriously, which it should. Just because it’s about digital doesn’t mean we should lose the educational focus.”

“If Google Garage is the what and why… Blueprint is very much the how (of Facebook anyway).”

We recommend that anyone, of any level, takes part in all of these e-Learning courses. Use them as part of your internal marketing strategy, develop your teams and don’t use lack of knowledge as a barrier to doing digital properly. Everything we have mentioned here is free, easy to do at any time of the day and will actually improve your digital skills as well as add some valuable certifications to your CV.

What are your thoughts on the learning platforms we have discussed here? We would love to know if you have completed any of them, have they helped? Are you now a better marketer? Comment below and let us know.

Amber Vellacott

Amber Vellacott

Content Marketing Lead

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!