The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Supereffective New Year’s Post

Don’t write that same old, boring blog or social posts this year…! Here’s absolutely everything you need to write a killer New Year’s post on your small business blog.

Noi Sabal Headshot -Sausalito boat

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Noi Sabal
Founder

20 min read • 4016 words

Writing the obligatory New Year’s post for your business blog may seem pretty straightforward. Or Boring. Or maybe even pointless! Every company seems to dash off a similar 200-word “Happy New Year! Hope it’s a great one for you!” post, slap it on their blog, and then turn on the firehose of emails & social posts. It can seem like a flood of the same post, the same way, from every brand under the sun.

But in reality? New Year’s posts are anything BUT boring for your small business blog. 

A unique New Year’s blog post is one of the greatest undervalued tools in a Content Marketer’s toolkit.

Why? Because during the first few weeks of January you can reach more potential new customers than at any other time of year.  It’s a unique time when people searching online are more open to “new” in general: fresh starts, new beginnings, and yes, new resolutions. New people, trying new things, doing new searches. A ton of people looking for things they’ve never before sought out.

And you need to be there with a brand-spankin’ new KILLER post.

Don’t believe me? Well… you’re here reading this New Year’s post on Bloggin’ Ninja, right? 😉  And we never pay for our marketing (we put our money where our mouth is; we only use content marketing and never, ever pay for ads). Yet… you found this article. 

So our New Year’s blog post just worked. Yours can too.

Let’s explore how you can write a unique New Year’s post for YOUR business.

1. Setting the VIBE or TONE of your Blog Post

The Elephant in the Room: 2020

Defining the vibe for your brand’s New Year’s post is usually pretty straightforward. But this year is a little tricky.

2020 delivered an epic storm of change for people — on many fronts. To some, these changes brought explosive business opportunities and positive outcomes. Others were met with layoffs, closures, and even the insurmountable sorrow of unexpectedly losing a loved one.

With such incredibly diverse experiences — not only around the world as a whole, but also within individual communities and groups —  knowing how to strike the right balance when talking to ALL customers can be tough. You want to be optimistic…  but not tone deaf. You want to acknowledge  2020… without dwelling on the negative. 

So let’s dig into finding the right tone for your brand’s 2020 New Year’s blog post.

To Recap or Not to Recap… That is the Question!

Before you can do anything else, you need to decide if you want to look forward to next year or review what happened in 2020. Here are a few brainstorming exercises to help:

2020 Gut-Check Exercise

  • Think of one of your favorite customers. You’re chatting with them (socially distant, of course!) and there’s a break in the conversation. What would they want to hear about next: what happened to you/your business over the past year? Or would they prefer to look forward to the next?
  • Did your brand/business change over the course of 2020? If so, did it significantly change for the better? Worse?
  • If you answered “for the better,” would that same favorite customer appreciate hearing about it? Or might they resent your good fortune? You want to stay away from what could be considered “bragging,” but if customers will support your good fortune, Recap away!
  • If you answered “worse,” how might a NEW customer react? If someone discovers your brand through this New Year’s post, what kind of first impression would it make? You don’t want to worry customers (“Oh, maybe this company won’t be around after this…”). But if you have a genuine, heartfelt story you believe people will connect with, recapping may be the way to go.
  • “2020 Fatigue” is real for many people. Is your customer base sick of 2020 and everything it held for them? If so, skip the recap!

The answer to “To Recap or Not” will greatly vary from industry to industry.

“RECAP” CONCLUSION: If you have supportive customers and goodness to share, a nice balanced, positive post could be a welcome ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark time. Otherwise, it’s probably best to write a line or two about 2020 — and then skip the rest of the look back this year.

Finding Balance: How to Write About 2020

If you decide to go for it and write about this oh-so-challenging year, first you need to first gut-check your familiarity with your customers. Then you can decide if you want to attack it head-on or tiptoe around the complexities of 2020.

Here are some questions to help you find the tone that will resonate with your customers. (In the form of a lil’ game, coz, you know, games are fun!)

Let’s Play: Kid Gloves… or Sledgehammer??

“Kid Gloves” = go easy… Approach 2020 with caution!
“Sledgehammer” = go for it! Hit ’em with whatever 2020 delivered.

  • How well-acquainted are you with your customers? 
    1. Do you know and love ALL your customers? Do you have open, two-way communication? Do they tell you what they REALLY think of your brand, warts and all? — Feel free to go full Sledgehammer.
    2. If you personally know MANY (but not all) customers, you should still be able to gut check yourself on how they would react. You can go for either Kid Gloves or Sledgehammer. But it might be safest to land somewhere in the middle.
    3. If you don’t personally know/interact with most customers (or don’t have a solid gut feeling for your customers as a whole), it’s probably best to assume they’re a mixed bag of positive and negative experiences. Then you should consider skipping to the rest of this section & NOT address 2020 in any detail.  Skip 2020 or Kid Gloves
  • In general, in which group does your core customers fall:
    1. GROUP 1: Tend to belong to one specific group of people with similar beliefs or ideals. Maybe they’re all in a similar job… or organization… or have similar hobbies or goals. If you could give a single label to your customers, would most fall into a single category of thought? If ALL or MOST of your customers have similar mindsets, go with your gut and go for Sledgehammer if it feels right.
    2. GROUP 2: Spans multiple groups with wide and diverse ideals. Are they from a variety of backgrounds, with diverse jobs, affiliations, or memberships? (For example, Bloggin’ Ninja’s customers are all “Small Business Marketers.” However, they’re so diverse in their industry — small-batch artisans, office facility owners, freelance content specialists — they can NOT be considered to all have similar beliefs. Some will be hard hit, others thriving.) Because of the uncertainty of experiences, only use Kid Gloves or Skip 2020

What’s the Vibe of your New Year’s article?

Before we take a look at specific writing topics, let’s talk about Vibe. Choosing a vibe will help you choose a topic that’s more likely to resonate with customers (and that you’ll want to write more!)

The Vibe of your post is a combination of your brand’s Voice and the Tone of the writing. It’s basically the personality of the post, bubbling up through your writing. 

One topic can be written by different writers, for different brands, and have very, very different vibes, even though it’s the same exact topic.

REAL-WORLD BRAND EXAMPLES:  Say, for example, Apple, Tesla, and Nike were to each write a “New Year’s Goals” post. Just based on their taglines, perhaps their titles might read “Goals: Think Different” or “Accelerate Your Sustainable Goals” or “Your New Year’s Goal: Just Do It.” You can feel the personality of each of those posts, just from their brand identity. 

Now think of your brand. Think about your logo… product… website… tagline… mission. Think about that favorite customer, someone who might read your New Year’s post. Now see if you can pinpoint a style or personality that will speak to them (and that you might enjoy writing right now!) from this handy dandy list of New Year’s Vibes:

Which New Year’s Vibe best matches your brand?

    • Serious
      Straightforward
    • Playful, Fun, Humorous
      Enthusiastic, Excited
      Happy, Optimistic
      Goal-Oriented
    • Aspirational
      Authentic
      Wellness
      Thankful
      Trust & Love
    • Pride
      Accomplishments
      Freedoms
      Adventurous
      Peaceful & Relaxing
    • Tough Love
      Disapproval or Outrage
      Anxiety, Fear of Missing Out
      Sarcastic, Snarky, Grumpy
      Strength
    • Belonging
      Approval (Social or Self)
      Individualism

 

No matter which vibe you choose, just make sure it’s genuine. Don’t pick the one you think you should. Pick a vibe that feels authentic to your brand. Be honest. Be true. Be you. Why?

Authentic writing for your brand will either win readers over or weed out those who won’t appreciate your brand’s vibe. Those readers who are turned off by your genuine Vibe prolly wouldn’t convert into being customers anyway. Think about being true, not pleasing everyone.

2. Picking What to Write: Unique Ideas for New Year’s Posts

Now that you’ve chosen the tone for your post, let’s match it up to what you’re going to write. Let’s find you a killer topic for that killer content!

Below are some quick ideas and tips on Topics. But we’ve created an eight-page Quick Ideas Kit to help you kickstart your New Year’s Blog Post. It’s got TONS of ideas, helpful brainstorming prompts, writing tips, and twenty pre-made, fill-in-the-blank titles from our Idea Generator. So you can either continue exploring the Ideas here or skip to downloading the Swipe file below.

Ideas for your New Year’s Blog Post

Here are a dozen quick prompts and popular phrases to help you brainstorm and write your New Year’s blog post title. And the free Quick Ideas Kit download has more details on how to write them with a unique spin.

— Goals & Resolutions Topics —

Might potential customers want to start doing something regularly? Help ’em out!
For example, we’ve got “10 Ways to Start Blogging Like a Boss in 2021” on our Content Calendar for the second week in January. In surveys, meetings, and webinars, we heard that “Blogging Consistently” is one of our customers’ Top 3 Challenges. So helping them start the year off right with ways to achieve that goal is not only helpful to them but brings us Brand Awareness and Establishes Expertise — 2 of our 5 Blog Goals. (Blog Goals? But… that’s another post, Noi! 😀 ) 

EXERCISE: Picture those fave customers again… Might some of them have similar New Years Resolutions? What are their Top 3 Challenges? Can you give them help or advice on how to achieve their Resolutions successfully? Can you all band together to achieve a common goal? If so, try one of these:

  • New Year’s Resolution: your own personal resolution, one for your brand, or ask customers to join you/each other to accomplish ’em together
  • New Year, New Goals: help customers reach a common goal
  • New Year, New You: Health, Career, Family, Hobby, Fashion
  • New Year Vibes: (see list of themes below)

When you help customers help themselves, they’ll come back to your brand for more.

Bloggin’ Ninja has more than 69 MILLION possible titles you can customize for your New Year’s post — yes, million! — just in four of our Brainstorm Boards. Grab your free trial to see how you can click-n-pick unique, optimized titles for your business blog in seconds.

— Predictions, Trends, Forecasts —

Does your brand or biz keep abreast of POPULAR TRENDS? How about your customers? What’s a trend (either an up-n-comer or one that’s on it’s way out) that might be floating around in your space/industry right now? Can you help your readers do something with them/it in the new year? Can your products or services move them toward “Being In” — or avoiding “Being Out”?

Popular phrases and title starters for TRENDS:

  1. Trend Takeover:
  2. Whoa — You’ll Be Surprised When…
  3. Flash Forward:
  4. What’s Next? Definitely Not This
  5. Trend Alert: This Is Unexpected
  6. Making a Comeback
  7. This is Soooo Over
  8. What’s Now, What’s Next, What’s Out
  9. #NowTrending:
  10. This Will Be Everything…

Bloggin’ Ninja has more than 30,000 possible Trend & Prediction titles you can customize for your biz. Grab your free trial to see how you can click-n-pick optimized titles in seconds.

3. Crafting an Optimized, Clickable Title

Did you know that 80% of people don’t go past the headline of a post?

Yep. Of everyone who sees a title, an average of only 20% actually click through and get to the article.

This means that bad titles can lose most of your potential customers before they can even get to your site!

So coming up with a killer, clickable title should be your goal for every post. Coz, what’s the point of writing something if no one’s going to click and see it? 

To craft a clickable title, you need a great Topic or Theme. Then, you need to follow some basic SEO and psychology rules for crafting Headlines. 

But first, let’s pick a Theme for your New Year’s post:

35 Popular New Year’s Themes

Motivation Positivity Purpose
Relaxation Resilience Simplicity
Breaking Through Decluttering Failure
Fitness Habit Procrastination
Bliss Gratitude Intention
Joy Self-Care Thankfulness
Balance Chill Dreams
Growth Health Mindfulness
Achievements Empowerment Focus
Organization Productivity Results
People Collaboration Family
Friendship Relationships

Now that you have your theme, it’s time to create your headline/title. 

There are many, many rules for writing titles that get people to click. But that’s another (much longer!) post. 

So, for now, let’s just take a peek at some easy to implement Clickable Title Tips.

— Clickable Title Tips —

Quick Tips for Writing Headlines That Get Clicked

• Whenever possible, include the post’s primary keywords in the Title. Search engine algorithms prioritize words included in the title. (For example, this post’s primary keywords are “New Year’s blog post.” So having them in the title, as well as throughout the body, will help it rank higher.)

Adding specific numbers to your title greatly increases your likelihood of getting clicked. Which is better: “Make Your Blog Post Great” or “25 Ways to Make Your Blog Post Great”? And never spell out any number in your headline (it’s never “Twenty-five” —  it’s always “25”). Except for “One” and “Two” – they perform best spelled out.

Adding emotional or value words to your title also helps. Which is better: “25 Ways to Make Your Blog Post Great” or “25 Easy Ways to Make Your Blog Post Great.”

Include your biz or brand namebut only if it comes naturally! (Example: “Writing a Killer New Year’s Blog Post with Bloggin’ Ninja“) This is good for SEO; as the more bots see your name in an H1 or H2 title, the better you’ll rank over time. (Note: But don’t do this for every post! That can actually work against you.)

Including your branding in the title is also great for overall Brand Recognition. Even if someone doesn’t click and read your article, they’ve been imprinted with your brand if they read your name in the title. And since Brand Awareness takes 5 to 7 imprints for customers to recognize your brand, every exposure counts!

Our’ Ninjas scraped the internet and analyzed billions of data points to create our unique Brainstorm Boards. So instead of worrying about headline rules, trends and snafus, you can use Bloggin’ Ninja to click-n-pick your way to unique, optimized titles in seconds.  Start your account and play for free for 30 days.

Marrying together your chosen Theme with the Clickable Title Tips is where the magic happens. Where the readers get hooked and click, where the SEO bots fall in love with your post and up its ranking.

Some people will spend 6-10 hours writing an amazing piece of long-form content — and then slap a 2-minute title on it and wonder why it doesn’t perform.

On the other hand, many marketers spend 30 – 45 minutes lovingly crafting their headlines. They’ll create 30, 40, and even 50 drafts of a title to find the perfect one. 

Somewhere in between is where you hope to be. Don’t just use the first title that pops into your head. Instead, try this exercise:

TITLE EXERCISE:

  1.  Try to include as many Clickable Title Tips as you can in a headline.
  2.  Draft a few different versions and pick your favorite 3 titles.
  3.  Show ’em to a couple of people, and then use their feedback to incorporate the most popular parts to create your final headline

 

Or…! You can download our free 8-page Quick Ideas Kit to help you develop your title.  In it, you’ll discover how to grab a reader’s attention with your title — AND tips on what to write to keep that attention on you and your brand.

Download your Swipe File to grab 20 pre-made, fill-in-the-blank New Years Titles now:

Kickstart your New Year’s Post

with a FREE downloadable Quick Ideas Kit!

In our 8-page New Year’s Quick Ideas Kit, you’ll get 20 pre-written fill-in-the-blank TitleTopics, writing inspiration to make writing fast and easy, and much more! Get this free swipe file full of actionable ideas, and never miss another great article from Bloggin’ Ninja.

Grab your PDF full of optimized, clickable titles now.

Enter your email to grab your free Quick Ideas Kit

 

Add to Swiper Email List

Need more title inspiration?

With 5 Brainstorm Boards just for New Year’s, Bloggin’ Ninja can make over 68 MILLION different combinations of clickable titles — just for New Year’s posts!

So if you don’t find a Topic here or in the Quick Ideas Kit download, start your free trial and whip up your own custom title. Then you can also check out our Writing Roadmap, which helps you plan, write, and optimize your blog posts. Our software helps you every step of the way, from Click-n-Pick titles & keywording through outlining & writing.

And, oh yeah… there are 89 Billion TitleTopic combinations (so far!) And we’re always adding more. So you’ll never be stuck for an idea again.

Okay. Enough about Bloggin’ Ninja. Where were we…? Oh right! Let’s start writing that New Year’s post now.

4. Words that Speak to Your Target Audience

The psychology of words and how to weave them into a great post that converts is waaaay too much to tackle in this New Year’s Guide…! 

But to help you shortcut your blog post writing, here are some of the most popular words, phrases, and hashtags used in New Year’s posts.

Popular Goal Hashtags

  • #Goals
  • #GoalSetting
  • #NewYearsGoals
  • #GoalGetter
  • #GoalDigger
  • #GoalSetting
  • #GoalCrusher
  • #GoalSetter

Popular New Year’s Goal TOPICS

  • Wellness

  • Taking Charge

  • Balanced Life

  • Be Content

  • Vacation

  • Self-Discipline

  • Alone Time

Focusing on looking back on 2020? Here are some words to use:

  • Retrospective
  • Review
  • Looking Back

— Fresh, New, Beginnings —

  • Start
  • Kick-Off
  • Kickstart
  • Jumpstart
  • Start-Off
  • Dive In to
  • Begin
  • Wake Up to
  • Launch
  • Renew
  • Discover

We’ve got hundreds more Fresh words too! Our Research Ninjas found the popular words that get people to act and put ’em in our fun, easy, click-n-pick Brainstorm Boards. Grab your free trial to start playing with our unique software, so you can create your own finished, optimized titles in seconds.

And here are some basic tips to jumpstart your post:

  • Open with one of the following Hooks:
    • a story that ties into your theme/topic
    • a remedy or solution to their problem
      1. Link out to authority sites (experts, statistics) to back you up
      2. Don’t just sell your product – really help the reader
    • a shock — It can be a:
      1. a story
      2. an idea (yours or others)
      3. a statistic
    • an emotion
  • Include your keyword — NATURALLY!! Don’t force this. Better to be human-readable than search-optimized
    • within the first paragraph (the first sentence, if possible!)
    • sprinkled 2-5 times throughout the body
    • in the last paragraph – the last line if possible

Remember that you’re writing for that Fave Customer — and for potential new ones who are looking for a fresh start. Combine that with your chosen Theme and company branding when writing, and you’ll be golden!

5. Finding Images for New Year’s Blog Posts 

They’re worth a thousand words, after all!

Did you know that visuals have been found to improve learning by up to 400 percent?  And that we can process visuals 60,000 times faster than text? (source: 3M Visual Systems Division)

So always, ALWAYS make sure your posts have some art!  Not only to grab the attention of readers on your socials, but also to help them remember your info.

And on a personal note (from me, Noi): Please, please, PLEASE do not lift, screenshot or otherwise steal other people’s art. As someone who’s made an entire career creating things, nothing pains me more than people stealing others’ hard work. (And yes, screenshoting is stealing, even if you crop it).

There are plenty of places you can grab great free (or cheap) art. Here are some great ones – already searched for New Year’s:

Sites with Free New Years Images

Canva • Free/$

Canva has tons of great pre-made templates that you can customize for your posts, socials, prints and newsletter. 

freepik • Free/$

freepik has bunches that you can download for free. The little gold crown in the corner of the pic means it’s premium only.

Unsplash • Free

*Ninja fave* Unsplash always has amazing, high-end photos. Here are this year’s offerings for New Year’s photos:

Pixabay • Free/$

Like freepik, Pixabay has lots of great free images, with additional paid options sprinkled throughout search results.

All product and company names, logos, links, and brands are trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of their respective owners. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them. We do not endorse, warrant, or guarantee any products or services offered here or those we link to.

6. Avoiding New Year’s Technical Snafus

And last but not least, it’s time for the nitty-gritty: Grammar. Soooo many New Year’s blog articles and social media posts suffer from basic, avoidable, grammatical mistakes specific to this holiday.

“New Year” vs. “New Years” vs. “New Year’s” — which do I use… and when?

These little mistakes, while seemingly small, can ever-so-slightly tarnish your brand’s reputation. When a reader notices little unprofessional mistakes like these, they may be willing to overlook at first. But those little bits may come across as sloppy or not caring… and that can build up over time and eventually turn them off your brand. And no one wants that! 

So here are a few easy tips to help you put your best foot forward:

 Grammar Tips: How to Use “New Year”

TIP 1: Use New Year’s  (with an apostrophe-S) whenever what follows “belongs to” the December 31/January 1. 

  • New Year’s resolution
  • New Year’s Eve
  • New Year’s Party
  • New Year’s Day
  • New Year’s brunch

TIP 2: Use New Year (without an “s”) when describing the whole year. You capitalize it only when it’s the name of the proper holiday (Dec 31/Jan1) or in a title/headline:

  • Happy New Year!
  • In the new year…
  • “How to Write a Post for the New Year”
  • New year. New me. Same dreams. Fresh starts.

TIP 3: Use New Years (withOUT the apostrophe) only when talking about multiple years and NOT the official holiday name. (This is rare! So when in doubt, don’t use it in conjunction with this New Year’s post.)

  • New years bring new starts
  • In all future new years,

EXAMPLE: I will remember how to use New Year’s grammar tips when writing posts to say “Happy New Year!” 😉

This Year or Next: Is it Happy New Year 2020… or 2021?

Well…  we’re in 2020. And we’ll be celebrating on December 31, 2020.

But we’re welcoming 2021. So, which do we use in our posts: 2020 or 2021?

This year makes this rule easy to remember. Because EVERYONE wants to say Buh-bye 2020!

Use the incoming year in our well-wishes:

  • Happy 2021!
  • Happy New Year 2021
  • New Year’s Eve 2021

And, when in doubt, you can always find a creative way to look like a pro.

For example, if you don’t know if something should be capitalized or not, make a design/style choice and make it ALL CAPS. And if you can’t remember if it’s 2020 or 2021, use ’em both!

Phew! You made it! Betcha thought it would never end, huh?! 😛 

Hopefully, this big, fat, ULTIMATE guide got your creative juices flowing so you can get your content written and your New Year’s blog post… well… posted! 😀

Coz it’s super important to have fresh content in the first weeks of January so you can attract all those open, searching new potential customers!

Remember to grab your free Swipe File for more helpful info, ideas, and titles.

Hope that gives you some ideas to help whip up a great New Year’s post for your business blog. 🎉 Happy New Year! 🎉

EXAMPLE: Here’s a little video we made to say “BUH-BUY 2020!” 😉

Want to write a post like this one? You can!

This is TitleTopic #6: “Tips to Make Life Better” It was developed, outlined, and written entirely in Bloggin’ Ninja. Grab your free trial to see how easy it is to create killer content in minutes with our one-of-a-kind software.

Kickstart your New Year’s Post

with a FREE downloadable Quick Ideas Kit!

In our 8-page New Year’s Quick Ideas Kit, you’ll get 20 pre-written fill-in-the-blank TitleTopics, writing inspiration to make writing fast and easy, and much more! Get this free swipe file full of actionable ideas and never miss another great article from Bloggin’ Ninja.

Grab your PDF full of optimized, clickable titles now.

Enter your email to grab your free Quick Ideas Kit

 

Add to Swiper Email List

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