How to Strategically Choose Maximum-Impact Content Topics

When business owners decide to start blogging, their mindset generally falls somewhere on a spectrum between:

1. “I have a million ideas!”
2. “I have no idea what topics to write about!”

Struggling with mindset 2? You’re not alone. Every business owner fears they’re going to run out of things to talk about, even if they’ve been creating content for years.

Trust us, you’re not. We never have, for ourselves or any of our clients, some of whom have published over 300 blog posts.

Whether you’re just getting started or getting out of a rut, here’s how to choose blog topics that make an impact — and ensure you never run out of ideas.

How to Choose Blog Topics: 5 Idea-Generation Tools

1. FAQ

Frequently asked questions (FAQ) are the questions you’re being asked right now by your target audience.

If you’re a concierge doctor, you may hear questions about your philosophy of care, your practice, how a new patient can get started, common COVID symptoms, etc. Each of these questions can be the topic of a piece of content.

Start by creating content about the questions you’re most frequently asked, then tackle the less common ones. Even a question only one person asks is worth writing about, because one bold person may represent 50 reserved people who aren’t sure how to word their conundrum.

This is why you need to document everything.

We recommend using an FAQ tracker, which is a simple spreadsheet. Our go-to platform is Google Sheets (sorry, Excel fans), as you can easily share it with your whole team. Have your team fill out the FAQ tracker with the following information every time they’re asked a question:

1. The question that was asked.
2. The person/role who asked it. (Following our medical example, was it a qualified doctor? A team member? A patient?)
3. The person who was asked. (Front desk staff? A medical assistant? An RN? This gives you a better idea of the point of awareness at which the question is being asked.)

Click here to download the FAQ Template.

2. SAQ

Ever heard the adage, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question”? It’s incorrect. There are stupid questions, but people ask them all the time.

Instead of answering those stupid questions, tell your audience what better questions they should ask instead. Should ask questions (SAQ) are the concepts you end up explaining after someone asks a stupid question.

Let’s stick with the medical example. A patient asks, “What are the best ways to treat high blood pressure?” A doctor might prefer they ask, “Why do I have high blood pressure?”

Or, let’s say you’re an entrepreneur and a prospective buyer asks, “What’s the price of your product?” What you’d like them to ask is, “What’s the cost to me if I don’t buy your product?”

You’re an expert, and helping people reframe their questions demonstrates that. You can create a separate SAQ tracker similar to your FAQ tracker, or you can merge your SAQ and FAQ trackers into one AQ tracker.

3. Competitor Content

If your clients aren’t getting the answer to their questions from you, they’re getting it from somebody else.

If you’re a doctor and your patients have a severe issue with your service, they’ll ask you about it directly. However, there’s a ton of information your patients are interested in that they’re not bringing up during appointments (tactics for weight loss, news about the latest medications, the validity of something they read on USA Today, etc.).

That’s why you need to join the digital discord.

Look to your competitors to see what they’re addressing in their content. If they’re writing about it, your clients and prospects are reading it. Look at their sites, join their email lists, monitor their social media, and watch their videos.

Important note: We aren’t telling you to rip off your competitors’ content. We also aren’t saying you should “one up” your competitors’ content by copying their blog posts and adding 50 more words.

Providing superior value is about more than just word count. You have something fresh to say regarding the topics your competitors are writing about. Infuse each piece of content with your unique experience and expertise.

4. Tangential Content

Consider the other companies that serve your clients alongside you. They may offer a completely different product or service, but they still provide value to your audience. Tangential content is content you can create about those companies.

For example, if your company manufactures hunting knives, a tangential company may manufacture tents for backcountry adventures. They don’t make knives, and you don’t make tents, but because you share an audience, you can write a blog post positioning that company as one of the best manufacturers of outdoor gear. That’s you providing value to your audience and positioning yourself as a trusted advocate for their needs.

This can be tricky because you shouldn’t BS your readers by discussing topics you don’t know anything about. Instead, as you’re learning how to choose blog topics, do your research and explore where your existing audience is shopping.

5. Influencer Content

There are people your audience goes to for thought leadership, entertainment, and education. These people are discussing the same topics as you, but they aren’t selling the same thing.

Are you an entrepreneur? Influencers like Tim Ferris speak to your audience, even though he isn’t selling the product or service you are. That audience overlap is still worth exploring.

Look to his content to see what resonates with your shared audience, and mine those ideas.

Final Thoughts

Even with a self-perpetuating content well, not every topic can make the highest impact. But your audience knows the difference between mindless fluff and high-value, actionable information.

If you’d like expert guidance for ensuring the topics you choose make an impact on your audience, give us a call. We’d love to chat.