Use Innovative Marketing to Create Hundreds of Blog Titles

Have you ever opened a new blog post template only to discover you have no idea what you are going to write about? The dreaded cursor blinks at you, but still no ideas come. Hopefully, this hasn’t happened to you often, but If it has, then you know how frustrating it can be

If only you had a list of preapproved, keyword tested topics to choose from. This doesn’t have to be a pipe dream. With a pinch of planning, a dash of innovating marketing, and about an hour of time you can create hundreds of blog titles that will keep that dreaded cursor from every taunting you again.

Two heads (or more) are better than one.

There is nothing that helps move the creative process along faster than bouncing ideas off another person. A simple phrase uttered by one person can light the proverbial lightbulb off in someone else, sparking the creative process. So, gather your team together and begin the brainstorming process.

Well begun is half done.

The idea of coming up with hundreds of blog titles may seem a bit overwhelming. You may wonder where to start.If you’re struggling to come up with your first topic, there are a few go-to places you can turn.

• Take a look at your buyer personas and you will find a host of blog topics. What kinds of questions do they have, and how could you answer them in a blog post?
• Offer industry advice.
• Look at recent white papers and SlideShare’s these are great places to find relevant topics
• Check out the competition.There’s nothing wrong with taking a peek at what your competition is doing and using it to spark your imagination.
• Take a look at your keywords, they are a great way to come up with relevant topic ideas.

Spin City

Okay, so you have your first few blog topics; the next thing to do is to spin them. What does that mean? For example:Let’s say your first idea is, “18 Best Blogging Practices.” You can spin this title by drilling down to reach different personas. For example –” 18 Best Practices for the Blogging Beginner,” or “18 Little-known Best Practices for the Blogging Expert.” This one topic can be stretched and shaped several different ways to reach a varied audience. You can also focus on different areas where people are trying to find expertise. “9 Twitter Tips and Tricks for the Twitter Novice,” or “9 Linkedin Tips and Tricks for the Linkedin Beginner.”

Once you start spinning the possibilities are endless

All in good time.

Since your blog topics are evergreen, you can use specific timeframes to iterate on a blog topic.Let’s take a very broad topic like “The History of Inbound Marketing.” A thorough blog post on this topic would be comprehensive and lengthy. To get more bang for your buck you can restrict it to a certain time frame. The title might be “Biggest Changes in Inbound Marketing in 2015,” or “Inbound Marketing Then and Now.” This can be done for a variety of topics such as Social Media and SEO.

Captivate a new audience

Often, you’ll be writing for different buyer personas. Although there can be overlap in your persona’s challenges and opportunities, there will be specific personas who won’t be interested in reading the same exact post, even if they’re interested in similar topics. For example, a post for a CEO and a post for an entry-level person might both be about Linkedin, but one will be more strategic and one will be more educational.

Changing up a blog title to write for a new persona isn’t as difficult as you may think. “What Every Entry-Level Marketer Should Know About Linkedin” could also be “What Every CEO Should Know About Linkedin.”

The actual posts will be very different  but at its core the concept  are one and the same: Linkedin tips.

Think positive (or negative).

When thinking of blog titles it’s only natural to think of them with a positive mindset. But if you embrace the negative you can actually double your topics.  “10 Top Tips for Scoring on Social Media.” can easily be changed to “10 Ways to Strike out of Social Media.” You may actually find that negative titles garner you more attention since they aren’t as common as positive ones.

Teach an old dog new tricks.

Certain titles can easily become new formats. For example; “The Ultimate Guide to SEO,” can easily become “The Ultimate Guide to SEO Checklist,” or “The Ultimate Guide to SEO [Slideshare] or [Infographic].

The angle of your post will likely have to change to correspond with the format  and not everything will work in a different format. But, thinking in terms of a new format  alongside your regular topics will help you identify new ways of thinking about something you’ve blogged about over and over.

Get rid of the bad apples.

By the end of your brainstorming session, you are going to have a ton of blog title ideas. That doesn’t mean you should keep all of them.  If a title doesn’t fit with your brand’s positioning or feels old or stale there is nothing wrong with deleting them.  You’ll still be left with a ton of great ideas.

In just about an hour, you can easily have enough blog topics that you will never find yourself staring at a blank blog post scrambling for a topic again. Once you have compiled your list plug them into an editorial calendar and see how much time you save.  Happy blogging!