How To Pick Blog Topics For Your Small Business
Selecting which blog topics to write about for your small business is an important first step towards producing content that your readers will find valuable and helpful.
The process begins with defining your target audience(s). By creating an avatar resembling your ideal customer, you can determine the topics you need to write about in order to answer questions they might have about your product or service.
Second, give yourself the best chance of sticking to your blogging plans by not over-committing to what you are able to produce. If you can only realistically write 1 article per week, then only include 1 article as your expectation.
Whether you have determined you will write 1, 3 or 5 articles per week, each of these articles should address a question you feel your prospects might have as they move through a typical buying cycle of awareness – evaluation – decision.
For example, let’s say your company sells travel packages to Bali. Someone wanting to learn more (they are becoming aware that they might want to travel to Bali) about travelling to Bali might want to know about things to do in Bali, shopping, best time of year to go, dining options, safety, etc. An informative article on Bali travel tips would answer these types of questions. Next, your prospect will likely begin to look at options for packages (evaluate) including hotels and inclusions like meals and tours. A blog article comparing the amenities of various hotels and/or details about local tours they will experience will help them begin to envision themselves on the beach. Lastly, as your potential client begins to decide which company they will book their travel through (decision), you need to convince them that your company is the best option. You can do this by creating an article using several pictures and testimonials from happy customers.
It’s important to note that for each article, you should include a little nudge towards whatever the next natural step might be. Using a Call to Action (CTA) within or at the end of your blog posts will make it easy for your prospect to take the next step towards engaging with you. A Book Now! CTA would belong at the end of a blog article geared towards someone in the decision stage. Any earlier in the buying process would not be a logical next step as they are probably not ready to buy yet. A content rich downloadable ebook on travel tips on the other hand, would be a great fit for someone in the awareness stage as they are still researching if this destination is a good fit for them. You might think of this as a “lead magnet”; something that you hide behind a form asking for an email address before they receive the document – but be mindful that what they will receive must be of high perceived value to them. If the information is not of high quality, consider offering it up without asking for any contact information in exchange.
While selecting the actual topics for your blog is very important, as you can see from the above example, you must also allocate time and/or resources to create logical CTA’s which will encourage readers of your articles to take the next step towards you. Furthermore, this process allows you to monitor the effectiveness of your blog efforts!
Hope this helps!
Leanne