Similar to topical advertising, creating topical content is creating content which links to a current news story or something which is popular.
Creating topical content shows people that a brand is on the ball, relevant and clever. Especially if they have managed to link their business to a completely unrelated news story.
Topical content generally tends to add something extra to the story. Which means it’s relevant for much longer than an advert would be. As the ‘something extra’ will still be relevant long after people have stopped talking about it.
For example, when Cadbury’s won exclusive rights to their signature shade of purple. We wrote a blog post on why that was important to them and the importance of brand recognition.
An advert linked to that story might be relevant for a week at the most. Our blog post will be relevant to anyone looking to read about why it was so important for Cadbury’s to do that and the importance of brand recognition.
Despite the high number of news stories that will appear in search results. It’s still possible for your story to be found as people get bored with reading the same story and search for something extra or a new angle on the story.
When Apple Maps first came out we created a blog post which looked at the core competencies of Apple and Google, despite the number of news stories, our blog post was still found on simple keyphrases such as ‘apple maps vs google maps’.
Linking to a news story can work in favour for a business. As customers may decide to buy from the business because they have a similar opinion, the same values or like the same things the customer does.
What kind of content can you create?
The most popular content to create which is linked to a news story is a blog post. Which identifies what people can take or learn from the story because it ensures the reader will learn something.
For example, following Red Bull Stratos last week. Marketing websites were full of articles telling people what they could learn from the way Red Bull promoted and marketed the jump.
If you want to create something which is brief and just outlines the main points, an infographic would be the best thing to create as they’re visual and easy for people to read.
However, if you want to go into a lot of detail about the story. It’s probably better to write a blog post or create a video.
No matter what your business is, you can link to a story
Your area of business doesn’t have to be directly linked to the story for you to link to it.
The Olympics sparked a mass of blog posts informing people of all sectors, what they could learn from the 2012 Olympics.
- 3 Lessons You Can Learn from the Olympics and Apply to Your Job
- What Radiology Can Learn from 2012 Olympics
The above blog posts show that to take advantage of a news story your sector doesn’t have to have anything to do with. The most unusual blog post in there is the link between radiology and the Olympics. While the points touched upon could be applied to literally any sector. It’s interesting and unique because no one else had thought to do it.
How to create content which links to a story
The key to creating a really good piece of content which links to a news story is this. To ensure that it has a unique angle or link to the story which no one else has covered yet.
As with all content, it should give the reader some value or information which is of use to them.
While a blog post will be relevant for much longer than an advert. It’s still important to create it and post it while the story is still relevant. This will mean you attract anyone who is interested in the story. Which will gain you more coverage straight away.
As with any content you produce, there’s no point working hard on a blog post if you don’t promote it. As no one will see it. You can promote your content on social media, on your website or in emails. Which you might send out to customers or prospects.
For tips on how to create great SEO friendly content, take a look at our 10 Tips to Help You Create High Quality, SEO Friendly Content blog post.
As we mentioned in our blog post about topical advertising. If you’re using social media or blogging, the chances are you’re already creating topical content to some degree.
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