Do you ever feel like you’ve written a blog about literally every topic relevant to your audience? Sometimes coming up with an idea for your next blog seems like an impossible feat. Frequently finding new ideas can be challenging whether you’re new to the world of inbound or a seasoned pro.
The first step is to know your audience. Yes, the ever-important buyer persona. But, you’re not worried about your reader; you can create buyer personas in your sleep! No, the real question is what topic should you focus on that your buyer would care about and find value in? Here are 5 tips to help you brainstorm an blog topics your readers will love.
Look for trending topics
Find out what trends or topics are hot right now in your industry. Check out industry leaders’ websites and blogs to see what topics they’re covering. Is there new research related to your industry that could affect your business and/or customers either positively or negatively? Not only can you build a solid topic off of these facts, but they will also add value and credibility to your post.
You can use Twitter to track trending topics through hashtags. What popular hashtags are others in your industry using? Figuring out what has people in your industry talking and building a blog based on that is a great way to create awesome content that people will want to read and share.
Explain a new industry product or technology
Is there new software, a product, or technology gaining traction in your industry? Why not research that new item and teach your readers how to use it, highlight its benefits or drawbacks. More than likely people are interested in learning about this item, but they don’t want to or don’t have time to do the research themselves. Why not do the legwork for them and provide a condensed version that’s easy for them to digest. People want to read a blog not an instruction manual.
Check out your organization’s most popular blogs
What’s worked for your organization in the past can be updated and reused. Look for fresh content to update the original post or write from a different point of view. You can also repurpose content from popular blogs to create infographics, white papers, and eBooks. Past blogs can be used to identify popular keywords you can use in your new post.
Use topic generators and analytics
The HubSpot Blog Topic Generator is a great tool that will give you several blog titles you can run with. All you have to do is insert three nouns related to what you want to write about and relevant blog titles will be generated. I think it’s always easier to start writing when you have a working title and HubSpot’s generator is a great way to get started. Even if you don’t use one of their topics it’ll at least get your brainwaves flowing.
If you aren’t already utilizing Google Analytics you should start. Google Analytics allows you to see your site metrics including SEO reports. You can see what keywords people are using to find your site and what pages they are viewing the most. Once you identify these keywords and/or popular pages you can build blog topics based off that information.
Find out what your customers are saying
If you’re struggling to find a topic that will resonate with your readers go straight to the source for inspiration, your customers. Check with whoever regularly speaks with customers to find out commonly asked questions or problems. This is an easy way to find out what your buyers want to know and then deliver that information.
When writing any blog it’s critical to focus on what your audience wants or needs. Brainstorming new topics can be challenging, but there are a few things you can do to find out what currently interests your potential buyers. Pay attention to trending topics and industry news. Recycle your popular content and if you don’t typically interact with customers talk to those on staff that do to find out popular questions and concerns. Be proactive in your search for blog topics and awesome content will follow!
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