The Socialize Podcast

Helen: 00:00

Welcome to the Socialize Strategy. Happy Friday. I'm podcasting on the go this week from an Airbnb an Airbnb that is actually sparsely decorated, if I'm saying. It's it's very nice, but it doesn't have a lot of decor. So this is the best spot I could find with some light coming in the window and this is just a lesson to you to say that no matter where you are, you can always figure out how to make content.

Helen: 00:24

Alright. The topic for today is Trends versus original content ideas, when to use them, why to use them, how to balance, and the whole ball of wax. I'm going to start with describing the types of trends in case you don't even understand what trends are, and I'm sure most of you that are listening do understand what trends are. But for the new people who have just rolled in, I just want to describe the types of trends that there are. And I will put them into two buckets, two different buckets and one being audio driven, which is one type of trend where an audio is trending and that and a lot of people are using it in the same style of content to put something on the screen, to talk about whatever it is that is relatable, and you can go back to Tuesday's newsletter and see some examples of trends and how people use them in different ways.

Helen: 01:18

But the other type of trend is really something that is not attached to any specific audio, but it's something that a lot of people are doing. For example, the Roman Empire trend, when there was a situation going on where women in particular were asking their significant other if how often they think about the Roman Empire, and that became a thing because unbeknownst to many of us ladies, men think about the Roman Empire often, apparently. So that was a really funny trend that was going on, and then it became what is the female version of the Roman Empire? What is it that's on our mind all the time that we don't even realize we think about often? So that's a conceptual trend.

Helen: 01:58

So we've got audio trends and we've got conceptual trends. And the audio trends are usually driven by the audio, but then different people will use that audio in different ways. And a lot of times, the trend that is the visual idea trends along with the audio. So if someone's lip syncing something, like, I don't wanna be friends, that's trending right now. And it's, I don't wanna be friends, and it's like people screaming why that they don't wanna be friends and then putting text on the screen saying why they don't wanna be friends with someone.

Helen: 02:32

So that's an example of an audio trend. So it's driven by the sound, the sound is getting pushed out by the algorithm because a lot of people are making videos using that sound, so the algorithm picks that up, becomes aware that that is something popular and that starts to be pushed out in the algorithm. Okay? So that's an audio trend, and then the other one is a conceptual trend. And now let me just go back and say why to use trends in the first place.

Helen: 03:00

And it really is for that reason I just described. When the algorithm is pushing out a trend, you have more likelihood to be seen and have your video get some views. You might land on the For You page more likely, and then you'll have that benefit of getting in front of new viewers and build your audience that way. And so I'm going to explain how that's done, but that's the reason to use Trends because the audio is being favored. And when an audio or a concept is being favored, more eyeballs will tend to see it.

Helen: 03:35

So a lot of people will come on to social media and they think they're gonna just talk about their podcast or they're going to share about their business or talk about what kind of coaching they do. And they're not maximizing the opportunity on social media which is driven by trends. So yes, you can do that content, you can make your original ideas about your business, whatever it is you want to talk about, but balancing in those trends now and again gives you an opportunity to get in front of more viewers, get more views, and potentially get those viewers to turn into followers. But that's the part where you have to connect the dots and that's what I want to describe now. In order to connect the dots and get your viewers on your Trends to then become followers of your content, there needs to be a motivation for the follow.

Helen: 04:28

There needs to be a connection to what you're offering people on social media, what serve how are you serving your audience? How are you adding value to your viewers if they find you? So that is why it makes so much sense to connect the trend to something that you are doing. And I'm going to use my own examples because that's the best way to describe something is to understand by example. So there's a trend going on right now where people are using how do I even describe this trend?

Helen: 04:58

Where people are saying, they're kind of going back in time and then they're predicting the future. So for in my case, was she doesn't know it yet, but she's going to post a stop motion tutorial and gain a million followers on social media and become known as the TikTok teacher and then da da da da. So it's like this prediction trend. And so if I was to just use the prediction trend and not mention my expertise, I've wasted that use of the trend. If I would just have used it, for example, to simply, talk about my cancer journey.

Helen: 05:35

If I was to say, oh, she doesn't know it yet, but she's gonna go blind, end up with lymphoma, go through chemo, lose her hair, and regain her eyesight, that would be a a good use of the trend to say, oh, then she came back from cancer, but it wouldn't tie it into what I offer on social media. So there wouldn't be a way for a person to know that they should follow me because I haven't used the trend to tell why I'm here on social media. Alright? So take a pause on that one for a second. And realize that what I did instead with the trend, for example, is I said I posted she doesn't realize it yet, but she posts she's gonna post this tutorial.

Helen: 06:13

She's gonna go viral. This she's gonna gain millions of followers, get known as the TikTok teacher. And then I went on to say, and then lose her eyesight, go blind, go through cancer, da da da, regain her eyesight, beat cancer, and continue to teach content creators how to create content. So I used it to tie in that after all of this, what I've gone through, I am now teaching others how to create content. So in a sense, I am, I don't wanna say selling my business, but I'm explaining my offer to people through that trend so that if someone new happens to see my content because that that audio is trending and then more eyeballs are going to get on that on that video, they will more likely think, oh my goodness, she teaches she teaches creators?

Helen: 06:59

Let me go back and see some of her other videos. You get it? So that's the bridge. You have to use the Trend and make the bridge to why the person will then go and look at the rest of your videos or some of your other videos or check the link in your profile to find out more about you. The Trend needs to be used to get your viewers and turn them into followers.

Helen: 07:20

So the advantage of getting in front of more people, but then being able to secure them as followers. And that's the reason to use trends. And that's a long way to get there. But it was an important way to to I think it was important to understand how to make that connection and really understand the difference between just doing a lip sync trend for the sake of the fun of it versus using it intentionally and then having it serve a purpose on your content, on your page, on your for your business. All of this is so important because it's really how you're gonna grow.

Helen: 07:59

And if you just think, oh, I'm gonna do some videos that's gonna be about my coaching business, and then I'm gonna do some videos that's just gonna be me being having fun lip syncing, that's fine, except your lip sync video is gonna probably see more views since it's a trending audio, and then people aren't gonna know what else you do. They're not gonna be able to tie to connect the dots and think that they should follow you. Okay? I think that's I'm probably as clear as I could explain it. I I try really hard to be crystal clear and and make the points, but I just wanna make sure you understand how it all ties together.

Helen: 08:33

That's important. And then there's this other part, which is balancing because if you are only doing trends and you're never sharing your expertise, then you're doing yourself a disservice in the other direction. And I will say, worked with someone recently in a private one on one session who really understands how to do trends and they were used doing trends. They're doing it in their office. I don't wanna say what the business is.

Helen: 08:58

But in their office, they were doing trend after trend after trend, and the people really understood how to do the trends. But they were this person who was running the business was never really sharing or speaking about her expertise and so you weren't really getting this person's an expert in this. You're not getting that from just trends. You can't just use a trend and tell someone you're an expert without showing that you're an expert. So that would be like me just doing trends about being someone who teaches content creation, but never doing any videos where I'm teaching content creation.

Helen: 09:31

You get it? I'm teaching the tutorials so it makes sense when someone sees a trend and I'm calling myself the TikTok teacher or the content expert or whatever, that they're then going to be able to go to my page, then they're going to see other videos of me sharing my expertise and then they are going to trust and potentially follow. That is a long way to get there, but boy, it's important. And it's such an important thing to understand about social media because I think a lot of people don't. They just think we're gonna have fun.

Helen: 09:59

We're gonna lip sync. We're gonna do trending dances. And I love to do all that stuff. I do. I pride myself on my trending dances and my outfit changes.

Helen: 10:07

And occasionally, now that I have a large enough following, I occasionally just do the trend for fun without having it be a purpose. But when I was building my account, when I was building my following, I was making every single video somehow intentional back to what I was doing so that I could tie the dots together, could connect the dots and tie, you know, tie the whole thing together so it would make sense. I'm getting tongue tied speaking of getting tied. I'm tongue tied. It is a vacation week so I'm not maybe I'm not on top of my game.

Helen: 10:41

But I do, during this vacation, have been thinking about how to make content and I had already had tutorials ready to post. So I had four tutorials ready so that I could in between my fun roller coaster videos and my theme park content because I'm doing those types of things with my family this week, I wanted to have my tutorials to post. So I'm constantly rotating in. Tutorial, fun, fun, fun, tutorial, fun, fun, fun tutorial. And the fun, fun, fun is usually a trend and some kind of vlog or something about what I'm doing.

Helen: 11:16

But I always am rotating those tutorials in because when someone sees me because of a trend, then they might go to my page. They don't have to scroll 20 videos to find out what my content is about on a regular basis. So it's connecting, balancing, and connecting. So it's connecting your trend content back to what your page is about and balancing your page so that there's enough trends but also enough original content so that you're not too heavy in either direction. And I find that type of balance is what your sweet spot will be.

Helen: 11:51

And what will happen is on the For You page, you'll end up getting the the most popular thing that gets the most views on your page. So my things that end up getting more views are tutorials. So my things in between don't get a lot of views. Occasionally, when I do a trend, it will get a good amount of views, but my followers have already followed me for tutorials. So when post tutorials that usually gets the most views.

Helen: 12:17

So you'll get to a place where you'll see what you need to serve up more frequently versus what you need to do for your own fun and you'll find your own balance. But the whole idea here is not leaning too hard in one or the other direction so that you find a happy medium. I'm looking at my lighting because I don't even know what's going on right now. Speaking of content, this is not the best content in terms of visuals. But I'm here because I like to show up and I like to make sure I'm consistent.

Helen: 12:47

And every Friday, I put this podcast out, so I am making sure it happens while I'm on vacation. And see, I'm doing it in a messy Airbnb room, I'm making it happen. So that's a sign and I am going to be working on this in the studio upcoming is how to balance that content, how to get enough, get ahead of it enough so that you're prepared for when things are busy in your life or let's say you do want to go on a hiatus for like a week or two or three, some people like to take four week vacations. I wish I was that person. But you can continue to keep your content going and no one would be the wiser.

Helen: 13:22

I think the people that know that I'm away are watching my stories. So they are seeing my posts every day on my Instagram stories because that's where I'm sharing my daily my daily, like, I guess, vlogging, day to day, if you will. But that's the kind of thing where you can plan enough and balance enough and get ahead enough by getting your content ready and getting it into your drafts. So don't panic about having a lot of drafts because it is it's okay. I have lots of drafts.

Helen: 13:53

We had a discussion about this in the studio when somebody said they didn't like to put a lot of drafts in the and keep a lot of drafts. And they I said, many drafts do you have? She says, 45. I said, oh, I have 1,500. So I guess she's fine with her 45.

Helen: 14:08

She was laughing. But we do have fun in there. We do have a really good time in the studio. And speaking of that, I'm going leave you with this. We are shifting platforms for the studio.

Helen: 14:17

I'm so excited about it. I will be moving over to Mighty Networks, which is where, it's a woman owned platform. The founder is very, very she's so awesome at community building, and the platform is way more focused on being having communication within it so that the members can connect with each other and there's just more opportunity for connection in there. And as well, I like the format of the way things are laid out so it's really easy to find the events, the tutorials, the things that I'm offering, the mini challenges and all of the things that I'm providing week to week are going to be much easier to access in that app because it's designed for that. I think that I started with an app that I thought was designed for that, but it turns out that the platform I'm on now is way more digital product heavy.

Helen: 15:07

They are just trying to provide a gateway to digital products and I am trying to build a community of content creators that can support each other and help each other and befriend each other because together we can really do amazing things. I'm gonna leave you with that. Happy Friday. Have a wonderful weekend, and I'll see you next week. Bye.

Helen: 15:28

Thanks for listening.