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In the world of digital marketing, content is king. The belief behind this quote is that the written word is one of the most vital elements of a website’s success—if not the most. This is why blogs remain to be one of the most powerful online marketing tools. Indeed, most companies have a dedicated blog section on their websites as part of their own digital marketing efforts. Even e-commerce sites that used to focus on just selling now post articles related to their products and services. After all, high-quality and relevant content can help maintain a healthy number of visitors, as well as improve search engine results page rankings.
What’s great about blogs is that they’re also easy to monetize. There are several ways to do this, including displaying on-site ads, incorporating subscriptions, and making use of affiliate marketing. The last option is becoming increasingly common, where blogs promote other products and make commissions on sales. You can even straight-up convert your blog into an e-commerce platform, complete with a payment solution to optimize payments for profit. Indeed, the challenge nowadays lies not in monetization but rather in finding profitable industries and niches in the Philippines about which to blog.
If you’re running an influential blog and would like to explore your options, here are some ideas that will get you started. Do note that this is a list of profitable industries, so you can further hone some of them to cater to ultra-niche markets.
Finance has become one of the most popular topics on social media in recent years. From various iterations of the “ipon” challenge to stock market investment basics, more and more Filipinos have become interested in money management. Retirement planning, income protection, and educational fund building are also hot topics, usually discussed together with insurance.
In short, a blog that’s focused on saving and making more money is a gold mine of opportunity. What’s even better about the finance industry is also constantly moving and evolving. This means you won’t be running out of topics to write anytime soon. You can talk about various financial products, cryptocurrency, investment schemes, the stock market, or even the global economy. You should also definitely talk about financial technology or fintech (like Maya Business), as well as other innovations in the industry.
In terms of focus, a good starting point is personal finance and income management. From here, you can easily scale up to broaden your coverage and expand your reach. The SME and startup market can also make for a good audience.
Tourism is one of the biggest industries in the Philippines. Globally, the industry contributed $2.9 trillion to GDP in 2019. Simply put, the travel industry is a lucrative sector that can easily open income-generating opportunities for blogging. It also doesn’t hurt that travel is such a pleasant subject, which means you won’t have too much difficulty in finding things to write about.
Travel is also a topic for everyone. In fact, even if the reader doesn’t have any plans on traveling yet, they can still appreciate the content of your blog. The key is to find a unique voice and share authentic experiences. It doesn’t even matter if you’ve visited the same place multiple times; with creative storytelling, you can make everything feel fresh. Your content could also branch out to the logistical or practical facet of travel, such as finding the best deals and avoiding common travel scams.
Another good thing about travel blogging is that it’s easy to find a sub-niche. For example, you can create a region-specific blog or focus on the food experiences while you travel. Other great sub-niches for travel are camping, backpacking, and mountaineering. Finally, and more importantly for monetization, travel blogging has plenty of opportunities for affiliate marketing. You can partner up with airline companies, luggage brands, or even outdoor equipment.
If you think food blogging is all about reviewing restaurants, think again. Food is as diverse as the world’s population, and there are a plethora of topics you can discuss on your blog. You can focus on fine dining, street food, or different kinds of healthy diets. Other related topics you can talk about include foodie destinations and food culture. If you love to cook and/or bake, you can discuss your own methods and your discoveries such as new ingredients or cooking equipment. The latter is a great opportunity for affiliate marketing and partnerships.
Interviewing personalities is also a good way to inject depth into a food blog. Some candidates include chefs, restaurateurs, or even moms who create budget-friendly baon for their kids. If you can, create two kinds of content with them: one that is person-focused and one that is food-focused. This way, you can get more varied material for your blog. Another great thing with such collaborations is that you can easily expand your reach (and offer the same value to the featured personality).
The fast-paced world of technology is yet another profitable industry that you can blog about. The most popular focus of such blogs are gadgets, including smartphones, laptops and tablets, desktops, as well as accessories such as earphones. Some tech blogs also review cameras, especially those that can be used for content creation. Of course, there are also various formats for technology blogs. There’s the infamous unboxing, along with tech reviews, and comparison videos. These various types of content range from in-depth reviews to quick side-by-side looks at two or even three gadgets to help customers better decide which one to buy.
Aside from gadgets, you can also cover sub-niches like mobile applications, Windows and Mac OS updates, productivity hacks, and even technological innovations like artificial intelligence and virtual reality. You can also explore gaming if you want.
As mentioned in the previous section, gaming could be considered as a subcategory of tech. However, gaming is an industry in and of itself. It’s truly a booming sector, with experts predicting that the industry will generate $196 billion in global revenue by 2022.
Some of the things you can explore within a gaming blog include equipment reviews, particularly consoles, handheld devices, and gaming PCs. And of course, you should talk about the games themselves. Don’t limit yourself to just one or two genres; if you aren’t a big fan of a certain type of game, consider inviting guest writers. As with food blogs, this can be a mutually beneficial agreement.
Another hot topic that you should strongly consider are mobile games, as well as competitive games or those that can be classified as e-sports. You can also consider casting a playthrough of the game or show tips and secrets for specific games. If you can, you should cover gaming events such as the Tokyo Game Show and E3 Expo. If you can’t go to the events live, then write an article about these events and let your readers know what you’re excited about.
A fashion blog is a huge endeavor, but it’s definitely something that can last for a very long time. What’s more, it’s a perfect candidate for affiliate marketing and brand partnerships. It’s also easy to branch out. Fashion blogs can easily cover makeup, beauty tips, and fashion accessories. The most important thing is to keep things fresh by making frequent updates.
Don’t fall into the trap of talking about just your #OOTDs. There’s so much more that you can talk about in a fashion, such as upcoming trends and major fashion events. You can even write commentaries about red carpet fashion during big events like the Academy Awards. For some fun content, try an ukay-ukay challenge where you try to recreate a runway outfit within a limited budget. Be creative! Fashion is all about expressing one’s self, so don’t hesitate to be a little more adventurous with content.
Just as gaming can be considered a subcategory of technology, the beauty industry can be considered a subcategory of fashion. However, in 2019 alone, the sector was valued at over $537 billion dollars. The trend is only predicted to grow even bigger, with the Asia Pacific region leading the charge with 40% of the global market. It’s therefore not surprising that beauty is one of the most profitable industries for blogging. Indeed, many beauty-based companies that used to only sell or manufacture products now also dabble in blogging.
In terms of subcategories, the beauty industry also has massive potential. Skincare is a huge market in particular, as well as hair care. In fact, you might be surprised that these two subcategories outpaced cosmetics. Skincare and hair care accounted for 39% and 21% of the global market, respectively, as of 2018. Meanwhile, make-up covered 19% of the market. Aside from product reviews, demos, and tutorials, beauty blogging can also branch out into related industries. This includes food, which can focus on eating right to achieve one’s beauty goals.
Another big niche in blogging is fitness and health. It’s a varied industry that can cover fitness regimens, dieting, anti-aging products, and even health supplements. What makes it even more profitable is that you can easily branch out and create separate sub-niches. For example, you can focus specifically on women’s health, specific types of workouts such as yoga or crossfit, or perhaps even highlight healthy eating habits. You can even cover topics such as minimalism, sustainable living, and other philosophies that can help improve one’s overall wellness.
A fitness or health blog can also focus on sports, such as basketball, football, or even cycling. This presents another opportunity for affiliate marketing, ads, and partnerships because you can feature different equipment and athletic wear. For content, you can easily make instructional videos and product demos. Indeed, the possibilities are endless.
The internet has made everything more accessible, including learning. Indeed, you can now take various online courses that teach and help develop new skills. Industry experts predict that by 2025, the e-learning industry will have grown to more than $325 billion. Take advantage of this upward trend and start blogging about what you can teach. Focus on your own products or skills. For example, if your company makes and sells guitars, create how-to videos. Don’t just focus on playing the guitar, either. Teach customers how to maintain a guitar, change strings, and tune. Talk about capos, picks, and tuners. Discuss the benefits of different kinds of guitar polish, or show them where to buy the best guitar cases.
You can also package the content as a guide for do-it-yourselfers. For hardware shops or home improvement stores, for example, you can teach your customers how to do basic repairs. Make sure to link to the appropriate product pages on your e-commerce site and add appropriate calls to action. Those involved in digital marketing, graphic design, web development, and general education can also capitalize on the burgeoning e-learning industry.
From diapers to learning materials, moms and dads all over the world want to give the best of everything to their children. This is the primary reason why the parenting industry (sometimes dubbed as the “Mom Economy”) remains an excellent performer in terms of blogging profitability. The coverage can be hyper-targeted to a specific stage of parenting or far-reaching so that your blog grows together with your audience’s children.
What’s great about the parenting niche is that it has plenty of overlaps in other industries. You’re not confined to talking about baby products or children’s clothes. You can also talk about preparing healthy meals (food), how to travel with a toddler (travel), or tips on managing screen time (tech). With strategic content planning and affiliate marketing partnerships, you’ll be well-poised to make a profit with a parenting blog.
Blogging has been a legitimate profession in the Philippines for years now. More importantly, it’s not limited to individuals. Businesses can also take advantage of blogging to help expand their reach and improve their profitability. The key is to create truly meaningful, relevant content. Don’t just make a blog for the sake of it. Make a blog with a goal to help your customers and give them more value. This, in turn, will help cultivate your relationship with them, build loyalty, and ultimately increase your profits.
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