{"id":5608,"date":"2023-12-09T09:05:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T14:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/blog\/story\/how-to-develop-issues-and-topics-for-your-content-marketing-calendar\/"},"modified":"2023-08-23T09:20:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T13:20:01","slug":"how-to-develop-issues-and-topics-for-your-content-marketing-calendar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hingemarketing.com\/blog\/story\/how-to-develop-issues-and-topics-for-your-content-marketing-calendar","title":{"rendered":"How to Develop Issues and Topics for Your Content Marketing Calendar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having great content is imperative to having a successful marketing plan<\/a>.\u00a0 Content drives leads and can expand a firm\u2019s reach into untapped markets. But how should you go about choosing what you write about?<\/p>\n

This process starts with developing Issues and Topics. And even before you can do that, you should start with research. What challenges are your clients facing that keep them up at night? Is there a trend in the marketplace that you’re an expert in?<\/p>\n

Identifying your issues<\/h2>\n

Think about issues as an area of expertise for which you want to become known.\u00a0 If a reporter is interested in getting a quote on a particular issue, you would want to come to the top of their mind. If a potential client is looking for a solution to a key challenge, you want to be the first name they think of.<\/p>\n

Brainstorm three to four issues that you want to \u201cown\u201d.\u00a0 Select issues in which you are an expert and know a great deal about off the top of your head.\u00a0 Write down general issues in which you already are, or could become, a trusted expert.\u00a0 Consider your existing audience and those who you aspire to reach with your content when determining issues.<\/p>\n

Once you have determined your issues, think about how each issue might break down into smaller pieces. Any of these subjects can become topics \u2014 and the themes for everything you write and speak about.<\/p>\n

Identifying your topics<\/h2>\n

Many topics are evergreen and can be set ahead of time.\u00a0 Others may be \u201chot\u201d trends with a short shelf life. No matter what, good topics will address common challenges faced by your target audience.<\/p>\n

There is no limit to the number of topics you can include, and as such, you should continue to revisit your list of topics to add and edit them.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Now what?<\/h2>\n

Once you have gone through the process of identifying the issues and topics that will drive your thought leadership content,\u00a0turn those topics into actual titles of blog posts, webinars, guides, etc. Take some time to do keyword research for each of your issues and topics and develop a list of good keyword opportunities that are relevant to your audiences. Having a bank of keywords that you can keep in your back pocket is helpful when it comes time to do any content planning.<\/p>\n

\n

See also: How to find the best keywords for optimizing your website content\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

After you’ve identified a good bunch of keyword opportunities, turn them into interesting, engaging titles for your blogs and other content. Then, take these titles and use them to build out your content marketing calendar<\/a>. Use this tool to create a timeline for what day you’re publishing which title, which format, where it will be published, and any other important information related to publishing it, like keywords, images, hashtags, or other promotional consideration. You may find that understanding other key factors\u00a0will help dictate when to publish a particular topic.\u00a0 Mapping out a content marketing calendar will give you a ready-to-go blueprint.<\/p>\n

You can even take it one step farther and build out all of your social media posts into a calendar<\/a>\u00a0or even integrate this content into a central content calendar. Writing everything down and keeping it in one place help to keep your team apprised of your content plans and also accountable for meeting any deadlines they need to know.<\/p>\n

\n

See also: Why You Need a Content Marketing Calendar<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Now, gather your team and start coming up with great issues and topics!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Find out how to develop issues and topics that are relevant to your audiences, that build engagement, and that build trust and your expertise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":22973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[393],"class_list":["post-5608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-content-marketing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Develop Issues and Topics for Your Content Marketing Calendar - Hinge Marketing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find out how to develop issues and topics that are relevant to your audiences, that build engagement, and that build trust and your expertise.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hingemarketing.com\/blog\/story\/how-to-develop-issues-and-topics-for-your-content-marketing-calendar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Develop Issues and Topics for Your Content Marketing Calendar - Hinge Marketing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Find out how to develop issues and topics that are relevant to your audiences, that build engagement, and that build trust and your expertise.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hingemarketing.com\/blog\/story\/how-to-develop-issues-and-topics-for-your-content-marketing-calendar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hinge Marketing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hingemarketing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-09T14:05:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hingemarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Content-Marketing-Calendar.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2068\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kelly MicKey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@HingeMarketing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@HingeMarketing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kelly MicKey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hingemarketing.com\\\/blog\\\/story\\\/how-to-develop-issues-and-topics-for-your-content-marketing-calendar#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hingemarketing.com\\\/blog\\\/story\\\/how-to-develop-issues-and-topics-for-your-content-marketing-calendar\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kelly MicKey\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hingemarketing.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e85fa970ed7b903c5c4129f2ed61bea0\"},\"headline\":\"How to Develop Issues and Topics for Your Content Marketing Calendar\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-09T14:05:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hingemarketing.com\\\/blog\\\/story\\\/how-to-develop-issues-and-topics-for-your-content-marketing-calendar\"},\"wordCount\":604,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hingemarketing.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hingemarketing.com\\\/blog\\\/story\\\/how-to-develop-issues-and-topics-for-your-content-marketing-calendar#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hingemarketing.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/Content-Marketing-Calendar.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Content Marketing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Any Industry\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hingemarketing.com\\\/blog\\\/story\\\/how-to-develop-issues-and-topics-for-your-content-marketing-calendar#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hingemarketing.com\\\/blog\\\/story\\\/how-to-develop-issues-and-topics-for-your-content-marketing-calendar\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hingemarketing.com\\\/blog\\\/story\\\/how-to-develop-issues-and-topics-for-your-content-marketing-calendar\",\"name\":\"How to Develop Issues and Topics for Your Content Marketing Calendar - 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