Conducting research for your blog articles and other content marketing initiatives is one of the most important activities you can perform. In fact, if you aren’t doing research, then your content is going to be dry and boring, maybe even lacking in the facts department. You don’t want that. It will affect your readership.
Here are five places online for you to go where you can find the latest up-to-date information for your niche blog posts:
- Your competitors - It’s a little sneaky, but you should be reading your competition’s blog posts and social media content. Don’t rely on it completely. You’ll still need to verify the information, but your competition is a good place to start.
- Social media – Talk to industry insiders on social media, customers, and third-party news people who are familiar with the issues affecting your niche. You can find them on your favorite social media website.
- Niche communities – Find those communities that service your niche and talk about the issues in those forums, social networks, etc.
- News websites – These can be general news sites or niche news sites, but search them for information about issues within your niche.
- The search engines – Use Google and Bing to search for topics. Better yet, use Google Alerts and other notification tools to keep you in the loop.
Unless you do regular research you’ll find behind in your niche. Stay abreast of the latest information and keep your readers informed.