This post was originally published on September 6th, 2018. Updated for August 25th, 2020.
Writing content for your company is a lot like eating asparagus; either you like it or you don’t. Even if you do enjoy writing about topics to help engage readers, it can really be problematic when it comes to finding a good or suitable topic to write about that is within your company’s expertise.
Many businesses are even obligated to get a blog post out there every weekday. If you’re shocked by how much work goes into a certain blog, just know that they are getting their material from various other sources. You could be doing the same, and with all the methods for generating business blog ideas at your disposal, you can have a blog that is rich with information by the end of the week. Here are nine methods to help you come up with clever ideas for your blog.
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1. Observe Your Competition
Any other business that serves the same purpose as yours is considered the competition. Only, they either run it in a different location or on a larger or smaller scale. Competitive websites with successful blogs probably have tons of great topics that you could use as inspiration for your blog posts.
No matter what kind of business you run, whether it’s web design or beekeeping, you will find hundreds of blogs with good content. Without stealing content outright, you should be able to find some refreshing ideas for blog posts by looking at your competitors.
2. Solve The Audience’s Problems
You can use your blog in the same ways you would sell a product: to solve a possible problem that your audience may be facing. Brainstorm issues your users have. Then, address those problems with helpful advice on your blog.
For example, some people might be wondering how to tell whether or not a Rolex is a counterfeit. A watch collector or merchant who owns a blog would see this as an opportunity to show their audience what makes a Rolex real and one a knock-off. It’s an informative topic that they can go into great detail for their readers. There are hundreds, if not thousands of problems within your industry that you know the answers to.
3. Brainstorm With Your Other Staff Members
It certainly does not hurt to ask coworkers or other team members for ideas on blog posts. Everybody has different perspectives, views, tastes, and outlooks on your business. From the IT department to the secretary, from the most experienced worker to the aspiring rookie, you are sure to get a myriad of responses that can turn into good ideas for the company blog.
Conduct brainstorming sessions once a week or month and collect topics on a list that you might find useful and productive for a blog post. If your company is too big to fit everybody in the same room, just choose a select individual from each department and give them all some time to think from there. In this case, two or more heads are better than one.
4. Log Onto Social Media
If your company does not have a social media presence yet, you are already bringing up the rear when it comes to digital marketing. From one social media website alone, you could go in many different directions looking for ideas for your blog. If you manage your own social media profile, you probably have consumers that contact you with questions, comments, and concerns that they are facing.
You can even visit social media pages of competitors and observe what kinds of topics they and their consumers are talking about. From Twitter to Facebook to YouTube, there will almost always be somebody that can give inspiration for a clever blog post in the future. You can even research this information from anywhere you go at any time, so there is never a right or wrong time to look for the next inspirational post, since it’s out there, of course.
5. Enlist The Help Of Influencers
An influencer is an individual that has the power to influence a large number of people into buying a product or not buying a product. These people will usually have a large following on websites or social media accounts. If you are a business-to-consumer company, you can find an influencer with an audience that might be a good fit for your products or services.
Follow the influencer on their websites and observe the behavior of his or her following. What do they like talking about? What might they have a problem with? The things readers express publicly might give you great ideas for your blog.
6. Ask For Customer Feedback
If you have a newsletter that many people are subscribed to, you have a direct line of communication to your most loyal of consumers, partners, and patrons. Newsletters allow customers to get the latest on your business, blog posts, events, and other information that they are looking forward to receiving directly in their inbox.
Conduct a survey to these subscribers and ask them what kinds of content they would like to see on your blog. You can even conduct a Q&A or mailbag blog post on occasion that would be exclusive to your newsletter subscribers, giving incentives for even more people to subscribe to you.
There are many customers eager to answer questions or give comments directly to you, so of course, you should allow them the opportunity, especially if it means acquiring more ideas for blog content.
7. See What People Are Reading About
One way to guarantee success is to know exactly what kinds of blogs are generating clicks, and which ones are not. Google’s algorithms allow you to see ranked blog posts as they appear on their search results. If a blog is ranked up high, you know it’s one that many people click and want to read more about.
Just by using Google, you can look for trending or popular phrases to find some great and knowledgeable blog ideas, all depending on what you type into the search bar. So long as you can find a successful blog that’s in your wheelhouse, you can capitalize on the success that a possible competitor might be enjoying at the moment.
8. Share What’s Happening With Your Company
Of course, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes in your company, and many people want you to pull back the curtain and share some of those scenes with them. Talk about positive happenings within your company, invite them to some upcoming public events, and share some great news that will make outsiders take notice. You can even conduct interviews with other employees or associates that can count as a blog post, as these interviews often contain a lot of information, and give exposure to a certain individual or company that could draw eyeballs over to your blog.
9. Continue Off Of A Successful Blog Post
Perhaps you have written a blog post that garnered thousands of views, hundreds of comments, and even mainstream attention from other businesses and personalities before. It may even make you feel good revisiting the post from time to time and reading all the positive remarks. Usually, you can think of enough material for you to make a sequel post, such as a “years later” post if it involves a specific event or anything related to that particular topic that you are fond of writing about.
If you do not have a successful post, look back on a blog that you really enjoyed writing, since you have the willpower and knowledge to write more posts about that particular topic. You may just end up writing a whole series of posts that are filled with passion and enjoyment that might pique the interests of other curious readers. As long as you enjoy writing about a topic appropriate for your company, work no longer becomes “work”.
Conclusion
Don’t think you are running out of creativity and inspiration. There are many different sources where you can find great ideas for blog posts and ways to benefit your business as well. From getting recognition from outsiders to seeking opinions from consumers, finding ideas for your company’s blog is a win-win situation. You are sure to find great content to write, just as much as your consumer base will have great content to read.
