Twitter announced that Wednesday's presidential debate was the most tweeted about American political event, which demonstrates the network is a mainstay of U.S. life with value for marketers.

Twitter announced on Wednesday night that the presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney was the most popular political event in the microblogging site’s history. For marketers, sharing interesting content related to any event driving major activity on the web can help boost brand awareness and attract prospects.

Obviously, there’s an element of sensitivity associated with political content, but sharing site content that applies trending news to an industry can help increase timely traffic. Moreover, the popularity of Twitter during such important events for Americans demonstrates the overall value of a presence on the website. Whether it’s with organic social media marketing or Promoted Tweets, finding a way to engage and convert relevant users can drive leads and sales for companies.

The trends companies can leverage for Twitter appeal extend beyond political events. Earlier this summer, Brafton highlighted Hashtag Pages from Twitter that aggregated social content related to major sporting events, such as the Olympics. Marketers should look out for Hashtag Pages for events and notable topics across industries, and Twitter trending topics reveal hot hashtags (Page or not!) that can be used to promote Twitter reach.

With so many people turning to Twitter and on other social networks to discuss major events and find interesting content related to them, businesses can use this fervor to increase their own visibility. Content marketing strategies, as well, can receive a lift from trending topics, by finding a relevant thread between the popular event and an industry. Moreover, the topic has remained a hot topic on the web since the afternoon before the debate, according to Google Trends. Developing relevant articles for popular topics can help sites stand out in search.

 

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.