Your business has been keeping up with your blog posts this past year, you know how beneficial it’s been for your company. Not only does the blog drive traffic to your site (dually providing a possible source of profit), but it also provides tremendous value to your readers. Since your audience is eagerly awaiting content for the next 365 days, it’s best to pull together a game plan right now!
How far out can you plan?
How can you define the next twelve months of editorial blog content if you don’t know what will be trending in the future? It’s certainly a fair question, but you need to think of the bigger and broader picture. There are always topics that your customers will want to read about that you can pencil into the calendar. Of course, as the article approaches, you need to find the most up-to-date information and statistics to share with your people.
Luckily, there are top online resources for blog content ideas and the latest word on the street. Check them out:
Print publications
Yes, our world still uses ink! Magazines and newspapers are an ideal spot for topics that have already been thoroughly researched. Once you dissect this mountain of content, share the top takeaways (and your opinion) in an engaging blog.
News websites
Industry-specific sites will always be your best friends when you are cultivating ideas to write about. After all, these are the stories that you are seeking out to read! Pull out over-arching topic ideas that you are most drawn to and include them on your editorial calendar.
Bloggers you love
What better place to get inspiration than from the people that inspire you? Your favorite bloggers already have their pulse on the issues that matter most to you and your target customer, so think about how you can bring even more insight into the stories that people are flocking to.
Trending topics
There are two ways you can tackle the hottest topics out there. The first approach is to wait until the dust settles. In a timely manner, you can cover a trending topic with all the facts (breaking news can often be very incomplete in the moment it happens) and include insightful hindsight. However, don’t wait too long or you run the risk of the topic becoming irrelevant.
The second method is to do blogs right when the trending topic is hitting the scene. That means you will need to bump an existing editorial calendar item to the following month. Either way, you’ll have a great blog to share!
People
Who can you interview and feature? The CEO of your company? The intern who handles your social media? Someone important in your industry? For example, consider tackling an in-depth profile piece with a person that is an integral part of a story, and even have a separate blog requesting questions for a Q&A that this person will answer in a later story. Profile pieces can be one-of-a-kind home runs for blogs.
On the street
Literally. Ask your customers – either in-person or via social media – what they want to read about. You may be amazed to learn which topics you need to be covering.
Your employees
What is your staff interested in? What do they know the most about? Your employees are a great resource just waiting for you to use. You will likely be blown away at what they know and who they know. Bring it to the forefront!
Your analytics
Let your numbers lead you. It won’t take long to know what bombs and what soars. Use your analytics as your compass to gauge new ideas!
Is there a follow-up?
What blogs in the past got the most traction? Can you follow up on this story with an update? Or, is there a different spin on this same topic that you can take on? A blog series may be extremely powerful if it’s done right.
And…mix it up!
Blogs are no longer limited to paragraphs of text! Even great pictures are so yesterday. Sprinkle in interactive media like short videos to keep people engaged and coming back for more!
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