Business Blog Ideas for Uncertain Times
Wherever you look in the world, blogging for business has never been more important. After all, there’s a lot to cover.
With trade wars, supply disruptions, and climate change all making headlines, the global outlook is fraught with uncertainty. Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do or say. In a complex world, business blogging is a chance to project stability and build trust.
Here are four business blogging ideas which can help your company navigate these challenging times. By honing your core message, displaying thought leadership, and knowing your audience, your blog can confidently position your company for the future.
1. Push your Core Message
Your core purpose is what guides your organization during trying times. By zeroing in on what fundamentally matters in your organization, you’re able to prioritize goals and navigate tricky situations. Clarity about your organization’s purpose and values keeps you focused on the longer term.
But even if you are familiar with your organization’s core purpose, are potential customers? How well are you messaging your purpose? Having language that sits on the company website and gets trotted out at presentations every quarter is easy. The challenge is conveying that purpose on an ongoing basis. Consider using a content brief to make sure your writers express your values in a consistent voice and style.
Maintaining a business blog provides an excellent opportunity to explore what your purpose means in practice:
A company developing a new medical device might explore the societal impact of its work through its blog.
A local furniture dealer pivoting to selling online might use a blog series to emphasize its commitment to craftsmanship.
A firm offering vegan products can examine the environmental impact and health considerations associated with a dairy-free diet.
In a world of rampant digitization, the messages you convey through your blog speak volumes. As a public face of your company, it’s one of the best spots in which to drive home messages which matter most.
2. Navigate Difficult Thinking
In a complex world, a clear and original explanation goes a long way. The best businesses don’t avoid complicated topics: they instead see them as opportunities for thought leadership. These businesses are able to carefully evaluate new ideas and are willing to tear up the playbook in pursuit of a better way.
Answers to difficult questions don’t simply fall from the sky. You need to do some careful thinking. And your company blog is an excellent place to tackle this work head on.
Use your blog as a forum to work through issues facing your industry, and to consider how business might overcome new obstacles. Examples might include:
How to embrace e-commerce within your business without losing sight of your customer.
How to tread the fine line between the promise of machine learning and the pitfalls of implicit bias.
How to strike the balance between supply chain efficiency and supply chain resilience as firms increasingly explore options for near-shoring in a volatile world.
Use your blog as a platform to openly weigh in on challenging industry issues. If you’re curious about the implications of a trend or headline, chances are that others are too.
3. Showcase Expertise
Suppose you’ve got a business blogging idea which you believe will put your firm’s thought leadership on display. What to do if you want to weigh in on a trending topic, but don’t have the relevant expertise to come to a settled conclusion by yourself?
No blogger is an island. When writing about an industry issue, reaching out to an expert is a great way to identify solutions and improve your overall argument. Having an authority on the matter cited in your article also conveys professionalism and fosters trust.
In your business, who knows what? Invite experts from across your company (and from outside) to debate the pressing issues through your blog. Get in touch with that software engineer you met at a conference. Ask your graphic designers what they think about trends in A. I. art.
Even if you already have a considered view of the topic at hand, your piece will be stronger if you address a plurality of perspectives. Corral expert points of view, explore differences, and then set out your company’s path forward amid the differences in approach. Your core purpose will guide your decision making.
Your blog is an excellent place to air these different points of view and data points. Blogging is stronger when it’s social, rather than solitary.
4. Build an Audience
By surfacing these conversations through your blog, you’re engaging current and prospective customers. Capitalize on curiosity: write on issues that matter to the audience you’re trying to draw in.
Even visitors to your site who have no direct need for your services will recognize the quality of the content on your blog. This is good for your reputation in the long term, and an effective strategy for burnishing your brand. Goodwill has a way of paying back over time.
Building an audience through thoughtful exploration of a complex topic not only reflects well on your brand but helps advance the conversation in the public sphere. Staying current means taking part in such conversations, and keeping an eye out for new trends and issues to cover. As your reputation for thought leadership grows your audience, don’t be surprised if speaker invitations from unexpected corners start coming through.
Connect through Your Blog
Most companies have a blog or a resource center of some form. But, as with anything in life, having something is one thing—the question is what you do with it. The majority of business blogs limit themselves to industry speak and narrow messaging.
To stand out, embrace a looser approach. Strive to be educational, keep an open mind, and position your blog as a platform for exploration. While your core purpose will give your blog its overarching theme, don’t be afraid to branch out and cover a diverse range of specific issues. As long as you don’t sacrifice depth, covering a breadth of topics helps you cast a wider net, and brings more eyes to your company website.
Over time, your business blog will become an essential hub for new ideas and company growth.
