Did you notice that once something big happens in the world, your Facebook news feed becomes over-populated with numerous topics connected to it?

The Game of Thrones finale was several weeks ago and most pages, both business and personal, posted something about it – a funny comment, a meme, a serious discussion, or a simple mention.

Another interesting and viral topic right now is Pokémon GO – there are thousands of pages on Facebook giving different tips and trick, opinions, how-tos and trivia connected to the game.

Sometimes, it seems plainly boring to see everyone sharing the same article, especially when you are not interested in Pokémon.

Piggyback your way to success

Most viral content is also a part of a big marketing campaign, and when other businesses and marketers use that content for the promotion of their own product, it is piggybacking since we feel inclined to hop on and share it on social media.

Although it can be frowned upon, this way of marketing has been active ever since Facebook invented “share” button.

However, the question is – should we use all viral trends to promote our business? The answer is definitely – no.

Because every trend, when overused, becomes mundane and potentially repellent to an average Facebook user scrolling down the news feed.

Viral trends should be used only when the time is right, when it feels right, and when it has really something useful to offer to the person clicking on your post.

Here are some of the general advantages of using viral trends for promotion:

1. Your brand’s message can get in front of more eyes

Being able to pass the message of your product and your brand by using viral trends is the ultimate form and it really takes a lot of creativity to come up with an original and appropriate context that will accompany the content.

For example, if you are trying to promote your restaurant, you can use Pokémon GO and come up with initiatives like luring Pokémon to your venue then encouraging people to “dine at our restaurant to be able to catch more Pokémon.”

2. It is (almost) free

If you are not planning on hiring someone who will come up with content surrounding viral trends, then it is free for you to think of your own campaigns and content, and share it on your blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.

It will take some time to come up with original material that have a personalized point of view on the shared trend.

However, if you plan a whole marketing strategy based on piggybacking on other viral trends, that would still require small budget.

3. It is fun for your customers!

The golden rule of sharing stuff on social media is that it should be 70% interesting and fun content shared from the pages that may be interesting to your followers, and 30% can be self-promotion.

This way, you will not bore your followers with offers and products, but will keep them entertained instead.

Therefore, viral trends can be a perfect combination of the two since it’ll still be interesting and gain new followers for you, but can also tie into something you’re already offering.

Now, let’s check the disadvantages and mistakes with using viral trends and how they can negatively affect the promotion of your business:

1. The “Gangnam Style” illusion

Gangnam Style was a cool, spectacular phenomenon, but it dried out and, suddenly, no one mentioned it.

However, there are businesses who will exploit it with the notion it is still “the thing” everyone is talking about.

In other words, if you use out-dated trends, there is a huge possibility that your marketing campaign will end up failing.

2. The wrong choice for piggybacking

There are marketing campaigns and viral trends that become popular on the internet and stay there for a while.

However, it turns out some do not really work and cannot reach the majority of every audience.

If you are planning on piggybacking, do extensive research on the campaign’s potential to fail.

3. It is not unique if everyone is using it

I mentioned previously how many exploit Game of Thrones to avert attention of Facebook users.

However, at one point, people were simply no longer interested in reading the same things over and over again – especially people who do not watch the show.

This is the key point is to always think about the people who do not know or are simply not interested in that viral trend.

If your audience is made up of many of those people, it may not be a fit for you.

4. Know a thing or two about the topic

A rookie mistake is to hurry up and share whatever you can about a trend without prior knowledge pf it.

In order to get noticed, it is vital to know a lot about the topic and be able to provide valuable information that will extend general knowledge.

If you just repeat what has been repeated a thousand times, you’re not going to stand out among the noise.

To sum up, in order to make the most of viral trends, you should take into account a few important things, starting with not overusing it in order to keep your audience entertained.

Furthermore, you should be in-the-know on the latest trends and always try to provide something new, useful, or funny about that trend that will benefit your audience.

With enough creativity and effort, you can successfully use viral trends to gain more followers and ultimately better promote your business or product.

Author Bio: Leah Cooper is a professional writer and editor at AussiEssay. She writes about different topics like e-learning, content marketing, blogging, self-development, and freelancing. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.