How to Find Topics People Want to Read About

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a crystal ball that tells you the topics your target audience wants to read?

You’d ask and then once the cloud of mysterious smoke disappeared, you’d be left with an interesting topic idea.

As much as we wish that were the case, there’s more to topic creation than that.

But, if you want to get as close to a crystal ball as possible, this blog post covers four ways you can uncover newsworthy topics to write about.

The Importance of Research in the Writing Process

The popular saying, hope isn’t a strategy is perfect for topic ideation.

You can’t simply hope that the topic you chose will move the needle.

Successful writing starts with confidence.

Confidence that the topics you chose to talk about are the ones your target audience wants to hear.

To get to this point requires a commitment to research.

If you ever feel like brushing past this part of the process, here are three benefits of research that’ll make you reconsider:

Accuracy
‍Accuracy and credibility go together.
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Think about when a brand shares either out-of-date or inaccurate information. How does your perception change? Odds are you'll start to question whether the information they share moving forward is credible and trustworthy. Research gives brands time to double and sometimes triple check that the information they've found is valid and worthy of talking about.

‍Confidence
Here we are talking about confidence again, but the research phase is an empowering one.

That's because the more you know about a topic, the more details you can add to your writing. This results in publishing authoritative, thought leader content that shows and doesn't just tell readers you're a topic matter expert.

‍Angles
While everyone’s approaching a topic one way, research can help you view it from a different angle. New details and a fresh perspective can breathe new life into the topic.

By doing this, you'll attract more attention to your brand which helps build awareness.
Now we know the why behind the research.

Let’s learn more about the how. 

Four Ways to Find Topics People Want to Read About

Social Media
Though there’s an overwhelming amount of content available at our fingertips, there are ways to sift through the clutter and find the trends you’re looking for.

Here's how:

• Use the native search bar – This is a free and valuable tool you can use to see what your target audience is interested in. To begin, type a relevant keyword into the social network’s search bar and from there, look at the top-performing posts. What were the topics? Do they apply to your brand? What type of content was it? Keep digging and look for posts that sparked the most engagement and ask yourself the same questions.
• Follow industry influencers – They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and while you won’t want to copy exactly what influencers are doing, you’ll want to take a page from their book to point you in the right direction.

Google It
I’m not suggesting this to be sarcastic, I’m suggesting it because it works.

Head over to Google and type a keyword into the search bar.

I want you to pay attention to two sections on the search engine results page.

• People Also Ask
• Related Searches