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.

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:

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!)

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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:

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.

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.

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:

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:

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! 🎉