How to find popular blog topics that your audience is interested in

There are hundreds of topics out there that your audience wants to hear about – a treasure trove for the data minded blogger.

There has never been an easier time to experiment with being a writer than now.

Generations of writers in the past had to be content with very limited feedback prior to writing their book from their target audience.

With the advent of free publishing tools like Twitter and the wealth of data on this platform, you can gain unprecedented insight into your audience – allowing you to write for a very general, OR a very specific niche of audience successfully.

Using the Twitter data set and the right analytics tools, you can eliminate most of the guesswork about who your audience is and what they want to read about.

Ready to start? Here’s how to find a popular blog topic people want to hear about

A blank piece of paper is the mortal enemy of writers everywhere. But before you start writing, you must try get inside the minds of your audience: those buzzin’ human brains behind the screens: what makes them who they are and what will resonate with them?

So, let’s break down the formula into a few key questions. We’ll also show you some actionable tips on how to find the answers to these questions.

1) Where is my audience? The 20-80 Rule in action.

Cultural and national identities are arguably top of the list when it comes to understanding your readers. This is an area where spending 20% of your time will yield 80% of your audience insight. Knowing the answer to this question will give you the best chance possible to create a piece of content that will intrigue, delight and resonate with your readers.

For example, although our blog has a wonderful global audience, we do have a BIG readership in US, Canada and the UK. As a result, you can expect a good chunk of our blog posts to reflect the interest and cultures of the Anglo-internet-sphere and the news & issues that they are interested in.

Fedica: that’s us – big in the Anglosphere!

2) Meet your readers: a little research goes a long way

What are your readers really like in life?

Researching on their occupations, personal interests and worldviews will give you a wealth of ideas on the best type of content to serve them with.

To see your audience in a certain region, use Fedica’s geographical segmentation tool  to see who your followers in a certain location.

Example: meet your readersship in New York by clicking on the “Who Are They” button

3) How old are they – the generational angle

Readers are the product of their time. Your millennial readers, generation Y readers and baby boomer readers lived through very different eras. As a result, these readers have different views on just about every single topic imaginable!

Understanding the life stage and experience of your readers will tell you a trove of valuable things to keep in mind when you write to them. Here’s a few ones to consider:

• Their comfort level with technology and the internet culture.
  • Your average 50 year old baby boomer may need to be told what Meerkat is (It’s not actually a small carnivoran belonging to the mongoose family) while your 22 year old millennial reader won’t need to be told and will roll their eyes at you if you tried.
• How to approach a certain topic:
  • Your Millennials readers who are looking to grow their blog/web start-up don’t need to be provided with information about this “new marketing paradigm called social media“. Most of them live and breath it and already have that down. You could, however, give them information about how to adjust their approach to social media from a more casual, fun one to a more personal-branding centric / networking-focused approach. That kind of adjustment on your part, is what separates you from the other blogs!

4) What are the popular topics everyone’s talking about?

Running a successful Twitter account is similar to running a TV channel – you have to serve up programs that your readers are interested in.

The optimal programming should include a balanced blend of curated content and your own content, on the topics your followers are interested in.

Using Fedica’s real-time audience topic map you can find topics for both types of content

Example: here’s a selection of popular topics generated by Fedica in real time:

Putting it altogether 

Let’s do it together with an illustrative example. What should we write about for Fedica today?

1. Audience: North America, Australia, UK, Spain, Middle East. Tech-savvy net citizens. wide range of age. CHECK

2. Topics du jour: Start-ups / Marketing. CHECK

1+2: Here it is: “How do I choose the perfect topic to blog about?”