5 Blog Ideas for New Brands

If you’re a new brand and new to blogging, generating relevant blog ideas can be tricky.

It’s easy for small companies and solopreneurs to feel overwhelmed by the idea that they’ll be devoting several hours per week to written content. When you consider that about 40% of bloggers post one blog post per week, that task becomes particularly daunting

But I’ve got some great news and some not-so-great news when it comes to blogging. If you’re a new brand, your blog probably isn’t your entire business which means:

• You may not need to post once per week.

• Your launch will be your most productive time because you should launch your blog with several pieces of content at once.

• Your blog is new, and it’s highly unlikely to rank for organic search . . . at first.

The last point I’m making here is important. If you’re a new business with a new blog, you should never expect your content to rank for organic traffic from the start. Even with a powerful SEO strategy, until Google recognizes your brand as a topical and authoritative source, it won’t show your content.

Knowing that organic traffic is more or less off the table on launch day, let’s talk about a few blog ideas that are great for new brands but that are easy to overlook.

1. Transform blog ideas into comprehensive guides.

It might not seem like a good way to start, but creating comprehensive content around brand-focused niches is a great way to get your feet wet with blogging.

A full-length guide is one of the top blog ideas for new brands because it’s a launch piece that you can use to begin establishing your authority within your niche.

To be clear comprehensive content usually does the following:

• • Covers the topic in depth.
  • Contains citations and research from credible sources.
  • Supplies the reader with an interesting viewpoint.
  • May discuss subtopics and industry trends.
  • Answers topic-adjacent questions.

Here’s an example of comprehensive content that I wrote when I first started this blog: What Your About Me Page Should Really Say.

The piece is about 2,000 words long and covers everything you’d ever want to know about writing a biographical page for your website. It covers the process, how to speak to your target audience (with examples!), and cites research that backs up what it says.

And while it doesn’t rank in Google, I’ve used it half a dozen times now to win business by showing it to prospective clients. (We’ll talk more about how to do that a little farther down.)

For now, though keep in mind that some of the best blog ideas out there revolve around in-depth coverage of a specific topic. So write a guide you’re proud of that represents your brand well and get it out there.

2. Co-opt FAQs into long-form content.

A fantastic way to gather blog ideas is to consider the questions that your customers ask you most often and convert them into blog posts. This creates content you can link from your FAQ page (if you have one) for a more in-depth answer to a question.

FAQ blog posts aren’t necessary for the most straightforward answers. Reading a long-form article about a simple question like, “How do I add items to my cart?” won’t be a fun experience for anyone.

But more complex questions about how your brand operates are great blog ideas. Consider any of these questions:

• • “How do you select dyes for your products?”
  • “What steps do you take to process our images?”
  • “Can you help me improve my email skills?”
  • “Why does it take five days to build my product?”
  • “Is there any way to get results faster?”

All of these questions fill well on an FAQ page with one- to two-line answers. But you could also take an entire blog post to talk about the service, selection, and production processes that your brand uses to differentiate itself from your competitors.

You could then link over to your blog from your FAQ to show individuals a more in-depth answer to their question. In doing so, your content would serve a dual purpose — and that’s almost always a good thing.

You can even gather blog ideas for this strategy on the fly while talking with clients.

When customers ask questions about how your business functions, take careful note. Ask questions. Get additional clarification. Most content marketers never talk to the customers they’re actually generating content for, in part because they’re never actually in contact with them!

If you’re a small business team or a business owner, relay those customer insights back to your marketing team so they can get a better feel for the individuals who purchase your products. If you’re flying solo, take note and add it to your new (or future) content strategy.

3. Consider your blog ideas as potential sales tools.

One thing you have to remember as you generate blog ideas for your brand is that about 73% of people skim blog content. That’s not an excuse to slack off, but it does tell you something about the way that people are likely to interact with what you write.

While 73% is a majority, it’s not everyone — and you don’t need everyone to build a successful brand! Some clients, especially those who are most in tune with what you do, will read every word.

And here’s the best part: Those statistics are based on people who have stumbled across your content at random. Maybe they came in through a search engine. Maybe they’re just clicking around on your website.

What it doesn’t account for are people who you’ve referred to your blog content as a direct response to their questions or needs.

Remember that “About Me” blog post that I mentioned earlier? I was able to use it to convert traffic who contacted me for something else entirely by referring them to a comprehensive post that responded directly to their needs. I treated that post like a sales tool, just like I’d advise a business client to do with a case study or a white paper.

When you see an opportunity to create content that you can use as a sales tool, add it to your list of blog ideas.

4. Create documentation you’d consider essential to your brand.

So far, we’ve talked about how to practically use blog ideas and content as a sales tool or a product differentiator.

Here’s another approach: Create documentation that you’d consider essential to your brand. Maybe this is a mission statement, a list of core values, a customer service promise, or a guide that helps people self-qualify for your service.

As you weigh out your blog ideas, consider that a 2018 Cone/Porter Novelli study indicates that 77% of customers feel a stronger emotional connection to a purpose-driven brand than to a traditional company.

Your customers want to know why you do what you do. Don’t be afraid to share that insight with them.

5. Generate blog ideas around industry-specific topics.

While some of the blog ideas we’ve touched on higher up in the piece are more practical, there’s no excuse for generating great content around industry-specific (or industry-adjacent) topics.

Talking to customers about how your content “fits in” with other services they might need is a great way to help them gather insight into your product offering.

Providing someone with a realistic and well-rounded view of your industry niche not only helps you establish authority in your space. It also gives clients additional insight into future steps in their own process and opens up the door for potential business in the future.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that these pieces are essential to presenting yourself as an expert in what you do. Demand Gen Report’s 2016 Content Preference Survey points out that 47% of respondents say they consumed three to five pieces of content before engaging with a salesperson.

At least a few of those pieces need to push your authority and expertise, otherwise, it might be easy for prospects to see your brand as all fluff, no substance.

Ready, Set, Generate!

If you’re new to the blogging game, welcome aboard!

It’s good to get your content marketing strategy up and running. As DemandMetric points out, companies with blogs produce 67+ leads per month on average.

As a new brand, you should expect your numbers to be smaller. That’s okay! What you should really be thinking about as you jot down your blog ideas is that every piece of content you create starting out is something that you can leverage to ultimately win business.

Your traffic might not come to you from search engines. If you’re running pay-per-click campaigns, prospects might wander in that way, or you may end up linking out your content with your sales emails.

Stay practical, make sure your content is strong, and it will help you get to where you need to go.

Need help creating stellar content that increases the value for your brand? Get in touch with me here and we’ll work together to get your content strategy and production on track!