One of the things we do for our clients is to provide title brainstorming for blog posts. We will work with ideas the client has, but we also like to make sure everything stays on schedule so we also brainstorm titles.
Part of the title strategy is identifying questions the target audience is asking. Another aspect of the title strategy is figuring out what the popular topics are for the industry.
I wanted to go a little deeper into that latter aspect of a blogging strategy. And really it applies to just about any content strategy that you may have going on right now or plan to have in the future.
So here are a few things to consider…
1. Blogs
One way to identify popular topics is to look at popular industry blogs. You probably know one or two of the blogs in your industry. They may be organization blogs or even blogs that your competition hosts. You can also use Google to search for “your industry” and blogs and find blogs that way. Obviously Google is good at identifying the popular blogs for any industry.
Look at the posts on the site. Usually you’ll see repeated themes and this is a good indication that people are interested in these themes and that the writers want to continue to focus on those.
You can also look for categories to identify popular themes and topics.
2. Social Media
Social media is where many people go today to talk about popular topics. You probably follow some industry influencers. If you’re looking at the industry blogs you can usually find the authors on social media. They are often influencers and you can look at the people they follow, re-share and engage with to identify more influencers in the industry.
See what those influencers are sharing and talking about. See what questions people are asking them on social media. This is another good way to identify topics.
3. Internal Analytics
If you have a blog that’s been around for awhile you can dig into your own analytics to see what people are interested in. You’re looking for individual posts, but really you’re looking for posts that touch on the same subject or theme or topic.
Let’s say you’re an auto repair shop. You blog about all kinds of topics, but you see that posts relating to air conditioning have been popular. This is a good indication that people want content in this area so you can look to write more on the topic. Not 100% of your content, but perhaps more than you’re doing now.
4. Customer Support & Sales
The people that interact with your customers are usually very in tune with what your customers care about the most. They’re probably asking lots of questions about your specific products and services. Those can lead to some blog posts and topics, but really you’re looking for topics that relate more generally to your industry.
Remember, with a blog you’re really looking to attract people that don’t know about your brand. So that will mean you want to write about general industry topics more than specific product information.
Again, you’re the auto repair shop. Go talk to the person at the front desk or the person that talks to customers on the phone. See what topics they are discussing the most. They might say that there has been an increased interest in tires the last few months. That is probably a good indication that you should blog more about tires.
5. R&D
Research and development is an area that is looking ahead. It doesn’t always mean technology. I just really feel that it’s the people that are looking ahead in your industry.
For example, I worked for a shoe retailer for a time. When I was looking for blog topics I would often speak with the merchandisers. These folks were in charge of what footwear would be released six months and even a year into the future. I could take this information and create blog posts.
R&D is ahead on what topics are likely to be popular in the future. You can use that to create posts that will have a good chance of finding an audience in the future.
Conclusion
As you identify popular topics, look for gaps in the coverage. You can provide unique opinions on things others are writing about. That is a fine strategy. But look for gaps in the coverage. This can be a great opportunity because you know people are interested in the topic and you can see where the coverage is lacking.
One last example… Let’s say you’re in the auto industry again. Lots of people are talking about new cars that are coming out. People are obviously interested in buying cars. But you see that not many people are talking about information for buying used cars. That can be a focus for your blog that is likely to attract an audience.