When attempting to engage an online consumer base, it’s important to be up to date with what is popular among the online community. What you may not realize is that this can change literally on an hourly basis. Staying up to speed, however, allows you to latch on to the latest trends and use them to your advantage.
Need something awesome to post on your company’s Facebook page? Post the latest meme! Looking for a fresh topic for a blog? Weigh in on the latest debates!
What makes this difficult, of course, is that keeping up with these trends can be time-consuming. And even if you’re just a little bit too late to the party, you could lose out on awesome opportunities. It is in that spirit that we have created “Ripe for the Picking,” a weekly look at what’s hot online.
Bashing replacement refs
The NFL’s replacement “referees” are a hot topic of conversation everywhere at the moment. I would bet good money that if you had walked into any random office building Monday morning, you would have heard several animated conversations about what can only be described as the bumbling antics of these wannabe officials during the Seahawks “win” over the Packers on Monday Night Football.
Got your own replacement referee joke? Create a meme of it and post it!
Bashing Apple’s maps app
You may notice a trend here, and yes, it’s true: bashing things on the internet never goes out of style. It’s just a matter of WHAT you’re talking some smack about.
In addition to the refs, Apple’s new maps app has been absolutely hammered all over the internet over the past week. The app, which replaced the Google Maps app in the iOS 6 update, has become notorious for giving inaccurate directions, misplacing landmarks, and putting roads where there are no roads.
A Tumblr account called “The Amazing iOS 6 Maps” has been compiling some of the best of the worst of Apple’s navigation nightmare. Also, memes have begun popping up, and even a UK train station got in on the action.
Have you found your own Apple maps issue? Maybe your company’s building is incorrectly marked. Maybe your city has a ton of mistakes in it. Jump on that hate bandwagon!
Gangnam Style
Let me preface this one by saying that yes, it actually has been around for a while now. The hit song by Korean singer PSY has become a huge sensation both on and off the internet, and thus has spawned many spoofs and tribute videos. The song has been covered by many different people and groups, including the U.S. Navy, and even North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un (not the real one, obviously) has gotten involved.
What’s worth noting is that the video is poised to pass Carly Rae Jepson’s hit “Call Me Maybe” as the most viewed music video on YouTube. “Gangnam Style” has already racked up well over 250 million views and continues to grow rapidly.
When it comes to marketability, simply referencing the song could be enough. However, if you’re feeling extra ambitious, perhaps you should consider creating your very own parody video. The more time and effort that’s put into it, the greater the chance it could go viral and earn your company ridiculous amounts of free publicity.