Approximately two million blog posts go live on the Internet every day.

Sound like a lot?  Some people on Quora say that number might be conservative! That’s pretty crazy!

How does everyone on the web come up with so much content day in and day out? 

Especially in niche markets, it can feel sometimes like you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel for web content ideas. But that doesn’t have to be the case. There are so many content opportunities to take advantage of, especially if you happen to work in the auto industry. You just have to be strategic. 

Most of what it takes to be a top performer in the content strategy game is simply thinking ahead. That way, you can rely on a plan instead of panicking at the last minute and choosing a one-off content idea.

Here are three ideas to take your content from fragmented ideas to a complete strategy in as little as one afternoon.

1. Look at the Calendar

What kinds of holidays are coming up?

In the world of auto content, April is National Car Care Month, and “Truck Month” is often promoted in February (and, let’s be honest, practically every other month). These industry- and location-specific holidays are great for generating content ideas.

Don’t be afraid to take your ideas past what’s obvious, and search for something unique! For example, if there is an outdoors-related holiday coming up, write a post about a specific vehicle that would be perfect for a camping trip in your area.

Another way to use your calendar to generate or manage content is to promote weekly events at your store or dealership.

Instead of just thinking, “We have reduced prices on oil changes every Tuesday; I should promote digital coupons on Monday,” think, “We have an oil change promo every Tuesday. What other content can I post that helps an oil change make more sense and that helps people see the advantage of using the digital coupons that we plan to promote on Monday?” 

If you think like that, you could do easily justify writing case studies on cars that went too long without oil changes or publishing articles about the different kinds of oil you could use.

Content related to a specific day helps you appear relevant and gives you an opportunity to reflect not only your company values, but also the importance of your company in the community.

So take a look at your calendar, and see what upcoming events you can write about!

2. Break It Down

You care about your customers, right? So you want them to make sure that they have all the information they need to make a well-informed decision when they decide to buy, right?

Make a list of some of the top features of your product. Each of those could most likely be fleshed out, helping your customers and beefing up your content calendar.

This tactic is great for helping your customers become more informed while also offering you some writing focus.

For example, we tend to break down new models into Comfort and Convenience, Design and Styling, and Performance and Handling. Along with giving our creatives a good writing angle and giving our customers helpful content, this tactic is also a great way to support our tried-and-true topic cluster SEO strategy.

3. Pay Attention to Timing

The auto industry is, for the most part, pretty predictable when it comes to releasing new models. If a new model comes out during an odd time, there are plenty of press releases and general announcements to notify you that the new one is coming soon!

The best part about this is that each of those new models typically has at least one update that’s worth talking about. Especially if they are tech- or safety-related, new features are worth adding to your content plan.

If the product or service you sell comes out with new updates — or even just new related products — borrow a page from the auto content playbook, and plan some content around those releases. 

Elongate the life of your content by sussing out what’s new and exciting and by focusing on those features, one detail at a time.

It Just Takes a Little Planning…

If you’ve read this far, you’re on your way to a dynamic content calendar!

Remember: the buyer’s journey is complex and jagged. It’s highly unlikely that someone will go out and buy your product after reading just one post about it. That’s why you need to write about the same product from different angles and perspectives. Writing about the same thing in a compelling way just takes some thinking and careful planning.

Take the time to plan out how you talk about your products. Your content schedule — and your customers — will benefit from it! 

Hungry for more content strategy ideas? We’ve got you covered.