Spice Up Your Blog This Season With These Content Ideas

It seems like you can’t throw a stone without hitting a “share your story” blog tip online these days.

Yet, there’s a reason for this recurring theme: it actually works.

In fact, recounting your nonprofit’s roots, as well as how far you’ve come, is a powerful way to elicit emotion from your audience while also gaining trust. Your blog should make people feel connected to you and your work.

To help you in your blogging adventures, I would like to share the following ideas to prevent even the most experienced of bloggers from generating stagnant content.

1. Break Up the Monotony

There’s no denying it: even the most talented blogger hits his or her limit eventually. The overall idea of blogging doesn’t always have to refer to officially researching a topic, sitting down and cramming it into a detailed post. This can get dull – and fast. If all your posts look the same, nothing will catch your reader’s eye. 

To help break up the monotony, I like to tell our clients to mix things up and introduce new blogging mediums – think infographics, graphics, case studies and videos. Or, consider other kinds of content that can be used to shake things up, like how-to’s, numbered/bulleted lists or round-ups.

Let’s elaborate:

• How-To Blogs: To compose a ‘how-to’ blog post, pick a topic pertaining to your cause and write a step-by-step guide to successfully complete the action. For example, topics might include “How to Recycle More Efficiently” or “What to Do if You Find A Stray Pet.”
• Round-Up Posts: These are a compilation of valuable blogs or articles with a relevant or common, trending topic. You can use your organization’s older blog posts, but I like to recommend using another blogger’s content, with proper attribution of course. With this approach, the end result could be a link back and increase your chances of expanding online relationships.
• Numbered/Bulleted Lists: I am a huge fan of this blog variety. Not only do bulleted lists fall into the extremely popular and eye-catching category, but also they are very easy to digest as they are broken down into bite-size pieces.

2. Post Your Success Stories

Sure, it’s simple to tell the world how amazing your nonprofit is, but allowing others to do it for you can leave even more of an impression.

Take time to request success stories from your supporters, sponsors, partners and volunteers. Ask them to write about what makes your nonprofit so meaningful to them and why they plan to continue supporting your cause.

3. Utilize Social Media

Do you have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google+? If not, it’s time to start signing up.

Social media sites are an efficient and expedient way to further promote your blog content. Also, be sure to add social media buttons to your blog and website. This gives readers the ability to promote your organization on their personal social media pages.

The Bottom Line

Mixing up the kind of blog posts you publish not only gives you a much-needed break from the norm, but it continually gives your readers and supporters something to look forward to on a regular basis.