We understand small businesses — we are one! You have to become expert in everything, fast. And in today’s market, that includes content marketing. So you’ve started a blog, but you don’t know what to write. You need a content strategy! A good one will take the pain out of coming up with regular blog post ideas.
(If you’re still wondering why you actually need a blog, read this: Why Blogging Is Key To Your Marketing)
When you’re a small business owner, coming up with regular content that adds value for your existing customers, or content that will entice a new audience of potential customers, is hard work. Writing a blog is the last thing on your to-do list, so coming up with great blog post ideas is always a last minute scramble. That is, unless you have our Content Strategy – Gold Report.
Even if you don’t. This list of category suggestions will help you to come up with blog post ideas easily, without pulling your hair out. All YOU need to do is write them…
Need help with your content strategy? Click here to get started.
Before You Start
Your content strategy should link back to your business goals and marketing aims. So before you start thinking about topic ideas, you need to understand your business and your target market. Blogging is a bridge between your business and its buyers, so your blog posts need to work both for you and your audience.
Blog posts should “add value” for your existing customers. In other words, they should give something valuable to your readers for free. You also want your blog posts to bring new customers to your website.
So first, have a think about:
- What are your business goals – what do you want to achieve with your blog?
- What are your company values – these could become useful blog post themes.
- Who are your ideal customers – demographics, buying behaviours, problems etc (this tool will help you do this)
Here Are Some Easy Blog Post Ideas
✔️ Problem Solving
You can base these posts on the customer profiling you did before you started thinking of blog post ideas. What are your customers’ pain points? What issues can you help them to resolve?
Or you could ask your customers directly on social media and during the sales process. If you do this, make sure the blog post is seen by the customer who asked the question. This is a powerful way to demonstrate that, as a business, you listen to and value your customers’ concerns.
✔️ Entertaining / Interactive
All work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy. (It’s true!) So think about how you can entertain your audience. An entertaining blog post might be a quiz, game, or poem.
An entertaining blog post must still be relevant to your business and your readers, of course. But you’re allowed to show the playful side to the business on your blog every once in a while. Consider your business values — do you believe in fun, or family, or challenging the status quo? Show it!
✔️ Humanising
Blog posts written by your staff members and/or CEO will humanise your business. It’s also a great way to cultivate thought-leadership by presenting your people as experts.
Of course, they needn’t actually be written by those people. When we write blog posts for our clients, we interview the proposed author and then craft a blog post in their tone of voice.
A quicker way to produce a humanising blog post is to share “behind the scenes” photos of the team at work or at events. A combination of these two tactics has the powerful effect of putting names to the business, then faces to the names.
✔️ Tutorials
Can you use your blog to demonstrate best practice use of your products or services? Have you launched a new product you’d like to showcase? People are more likely to take an interest in it if they see it in action and understand how best to use it.
Video is great for this. It needn’t cost the earth. Do it yourself, or check out our video storytelling packages — they’re designed to keep costs down.
✔️ Successes & Testimonials
Everyone loves good news. Plus it shows your business is good at what it does.
- Won an award? That’s definitely blog post material.
- Reached a major project milestone? Explain what it is and what it means.
- Have you delivered something an exceptional service to a client or customer? How has it improved their life? Can you share a case study with results or a testimonial?
✔️ Beliefs & Passions
Give your business personality by sharing blog posts about your company values, mission, or key aims. If you’ve got key business pillars or service offerings — for example, ours are Strategy, Content, Training — use them as starting points for blog post ideas.
AND REMEMBER… When it comes to writing blog posts, storytelling is a powerful tool to create engagement.
***Now that you’re on your way to smashing your blog content strategy, click here for top tips to make writing them a breeze.
If you’re still struggling to craft relevant, optimised blog content, we can help. All the info you need to know about our content writing services is on this page. Shout if you have any questions or click the banner below to get started!
For more tips and tricks on awesome blogging as a business, check out our free Be The Drop podcast. Subscribe to hear more best marketing strategies for small business – we release new content each week!
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This blog post was first published on Nov 23rd 2017. It has been reworked and republished to bring it up-to-date.