Blog Planning Document

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Table of Contents

1.0 The Idea 3

2.0 Situational Analysis 4

2.1 Target Audience and Buyer Persona 6

2.2 Competitor Analysis: 9

3.0 Objectives 11

4.0 Content Plan and Keyword Research 12

References 15

1.0 The Idea The topic of interest is Student Cooking and Baking. The authors have chosen this topic as cooking is an interest for them both and therefore they will enjoy writing about it and with ease. The authors think cooking and baking will be a particular interest and important for students to have access to as we hope our blog will help them with healthy eating and help them save money on their grocery shop. According to a study by Natwest, students spend

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the majority of their money on shopping (other than rent) (Student Living Index, 2018). The content plan will be laid out with different weekly topics such as meals to cut down costs and healthy recipes. Most of the content will be original, although some will be gathered from different sources, such as ‘Top 10 Cost Effective Meals’ content will be picked from and linked to other websites. Referencing other trusted websites with links could also help engage new readers by improving its SEO (External Links, (n.d.).

2.0 Situational Analysis

2.1 Target Audience and Buyer Persona

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Target Audience and statistics The target audience is predominantly students. 95% of UK students aged 16-24 (Statista, 2019) own mobile phones and have access to the internet, which insures the target audience will have access to the blog. According to Mintel (2018), 46% of internet users aged 16-24 say they do the cooking themselves while 35% say cooking/preparing meals is shared. Females rise to 77% in saying they cook meals themselves compared to males which account for 55% (Mintel, 2018).

Behaviours Relating to Cooking|16-24 year old internet users

56% say they avoid recipes with a long list of ingredients and 65% say they avoid meals with expensive ingredients (Mintel, 2018). 70% say they tend to cook the same meals most weeks (Mintel, 2018). 60% of 16-34s like experimenting with new cooking trends and ingredients, compared to 51% of UK consumers overall (Mintel, 2016). Even though “young consumers show a passion for experimental cooking, they appear to be in hot water in the kitchen as many struggle to master the basics” (Mintel, 2016). Mintels Food and Drink analysis says “Tutorials, as well as products that provide guidance, should appeal to these less confident cooks” (Mintel, 2016). This means for the blog, the authors will keep ingredients and recipes simple but add optional ingredients for those that enjoy experimenting. The authors will also refrain from using jargon cooking words that some readers may not understand. The authors will provide some cheaper ingredient alternatives to make the shopping process easier for the readers.

Attitudes Towards Cooking and Factors Most Important when Cooking a Meal | 16-24 Year Old Internet Users

49% think it is hard to think of different meals to cook (Mintel, 2018). The audience think it is more important for a meal to be easy, quick to prepare and low cost rather than healthy and containing at least one of their five a day (Mintel, 2018). This information suggests to the authors that it is of more value to their readers to prioritise the simpleness of a recipe rather than healthiness. The authors conclude from this information to not write a healthy recipe blog if it is going to be more expensive than the traditional recipe. Food Media Consumption According to a study by The Daily Telegraph, British adults on average since 2016 spend nearly an hour reading food blogs and websites weekly in comparison to reading 15 minutes of a recipe book (The Daily Telegraph, n.d.). It explained people would rather watch a meal being cooked or look at pictures online than actually cook as they do not have enough time or dishes look to complex to make themselves (“We spend more time…”, n.d.). Seven in ten enjoy watching cooking programmes but only have been inspired to cook something they have seen on screen (“We spend more time…”, n.d.). Media psychologist Emma Kenny says “It seems that, as a nation, we are fixated with any activity related to food culture” (“We spend more time…”, n.d.). Kenny also says “We’re being brainwashed into thinking that cooking is too difficult, takes too long and costs too much and it’s turning us to convenience food” (“We spend more time…”, n.d.).

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Buyer Personas

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2.2 Competitor Analysis:

The Student food project

Content: They cover a range of different food subjects ranging from price to health, covering a lot of different aspects all targeted at students. They post 5 times a month average yet don’t have any seasonal posts. They use a formal tone but keep it interesting by using catchy phrases.

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Layout: The posts are fairly formal however they use images to break up the text. Each post is put under a title section where they include several recipes for that specific cuisine. It is against a plain white background which makes the pictures more prominent. It is an easy to follow layout and very simple yet is kept interesting with the images and use of colour for the recipes. Promotion: They have links to Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook as well as giving people the option to submit recipes themselves. You also get the option to subscribe to the blog.

The healthy hangover

Content: They have taken a slightly different approach with their blogs where they let people leave reviews on the recipes which we haven’t seen on other student blogs. They combine a lot of reviews and recipes from different outlets to create one large site made up of different blogs. The language they use is simple but engaging. Layout: They layout of this blog is very formal and reflects the look of a news page. They use a lot of pictures however the pictures are of poor quality and are small. The page isn’t too long and you can navigate to the other pages so there isn’t too much information on one page. Promotion: They are present on 18 social media types so are very widely accessed. After every post they advertise their social media links and they are present across the whole site.

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3.0 Objectives

● “To have 10 views on the first blog within 24hrs” – we believe this is an achievable goal and we want to achieve this as it will serve as a basis for the amount of readers we may see.

● “For each blog to gain 30 views within the first week of being posted” - With high levels of promotion we should be able to achieve 30 views on each blog post, this should then increase as we gain followers to our blog.

● “For each blog to have an increase of 5 more views than the previous blog within the first 48hrs” - With the initial viewing targets of 10 then increasing to 30 in a week we hope to push for those extra views within the first 48hrs of the blog being posted, within this time we can then estimate if we will achieve the original target of 30 a week.

● “To have 10 email sign ups to the blog within the first month” - In the first month we would have posted 4 blogs. We believe this will be enough for 10 people to feel a connection towards the blog and feel the need to sign up to get updates on the next blog.

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4.0 Content Plan and Keyword Research

DATE KEYWORDS BUYER PERSONA

TRENDS BLOG TITLE SYNOPSIS

10th March “curry recipe” 10k - 100k “vegetable curry” 10k- 100k “easy curry recipe” 1k-10k “healthy curry recipe” 1k-10k “quick curry recipe” 100-1k

Susan - looking for convenience with cooking

Warm winter meals

Cheap, easy to make curry

This blog will look at making a quick and convenient curry recipe that you are able to add extra ingredients to add your own twist. it will highlight the health benefits and cheapness of using veggies instead of meat. (up825373)

17th March “Easy cookie recipes” 10k-100k “How to make cookies” 10k-100k “Chocolate chip cookies” 10k-100k “Cookies” 10k-100k “Easy recipes” 10k-100k “Easy cookie recipes” 10k-100k

Barbra - Finds it hard to read, buy and make a recipe in a limited time

Easy cookie recipe

Cookies are the favourite baking item according to Google Keywords. This blog will teach readers how to make a tasty gooey cookies whilst providing where to buy cheap ingredients. (UP875629)

24th March “cheesecake” 10-100k “cheesecake recipe” 10k-100k “no bake cheesecake” 1k-10k “oreo cheesecake” 10k-100k “lemon cheesecake” 10k-100k

Barbra - enjoys baking at a low cost and looking for easy alternatives

Cheesecake your way

This blog will present you with a basic recipe which you can add little twists to. We will provide you with a few ideas how how to add some flare to a tasty cheesecake. (up825373

31st March “Carrot cake” 10k-100k “Easy cake recipes”

Barbra - Finds it hard to eat healthy on a

Easter Easy Easter Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake is a popular Easter baking item according to Google

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10k-100k “Birthday cake” 100k-1m “Easter cake” 10k-100k “Healthy cake recipes” 1k-10k

budget and make healthy alternatives without them being complex and time consuming

Keywords. This blog will give a simple healthy carrot cake recipe with optional ingredients. (UP875629)

7th April “Easter cakes” 10k-100k “Easy cake recipes” 10k-100k

Barbra Easter Cornflake easter cakes

Cornflake Easter Nest Cakes are a quick and easy non-bake easter cake recipe that we know our readers will love. The blog will read a simple recipe while providing some cheaper alternatives to expensive Cadbury’s Mini Eggs.

14th April “alcoholic drinks” 10k-100k “cocktail recipes” 10k-100k

Susan - getting her to socialize more

Ready for Summer? Cocktail recipes

This blog will give loads of fun and easy cocktail recipes that pack in the flavour but minimise the ingredients.

21st April “Chicken fried rice” 10k-100k “Healthy chicken and rice recipe” 1k-10k “Chicken breast recipe” 10k-100k

Susan Tasty chicken and rice

Here we will give a rice recipe that is a staple of the student diet. We will use lots of spices and encourage people to try new flavours. We will also talk about what different flavour combinations work with chicken and include vegetarian substitutes.

28th April “Red velvet cake” 10k-100k “Easy cake recipes” 10k-100k “Birthday cake” 100k-1M

Barbra Red velvet cake recipe

Red Velvet Cake is a popular ‘cake’ search term. This blog will teach the reader how to make a quick and easy version of their favourite sponge cake.

5th May “Salad recipes” Susan - Summer Refreshing Now it’s getting to the

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10k-100k “Cesar salad” 10k-100k

looking to eat healthier

eats Summer Cesar Salad

summertime, we want to give people a slimline option that is quick and easy to make as well as staying healthy.

12th May “Indulge” 10k-100k “Fudge” 10k-100k “Fudge recipe” 10k-100k

Barbra National nutty fudge day

Nutty Fudge Day! Indulgent Fudge Recipe

For national fudge day we want to give people some options to make their own fudge, we will also talk about some other fun treats to make over the summer.

Google Trends Search Results

The term “Carrot Cake” peaked between the 25th and 31st of March 2018 (Google Trends, 2018). We have decided to post the “Simple Easter Carrot Cake Recipe” blog on the 31st of March due to predicting a high search volume at this time, linking it to an easter peak.

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References “External Links”. (n.d.). Moz. https://moz.com/learn/seo/external-link Google Trends. (2018). Retrieved from https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=GB&q=carrot%20cake Mintel. (2018). Attitudes Towards Cooking in the Home - UK - July 2018. Retrieved from http://academic.mintel.com/display/859301/# Mintel. (2016). 60% of UK 16-34 year olds who cook like experimenting with new cooking trends, but many fail to master the basics. https://www.mintel.com/press-centre/food-and-drink/60-of-uk-16-34-year-olds-who-cook-like-experimenting-with-new-cooking-trends-but-many-fail-to-master-the-basics The Daily Telegraph. (n.d.). Time spent on food media consumption per week in Great Britain as of 2016, by medium (in minutes). In Statista - The Statistics Portal. Retrieved January 9, 2019, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/814272/food-media-consumption-weekly-great-britain/ . Statista. (2019). Uk Smartphone Ownership by Age. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/271851/smartphone-owners-in-the-united-kingdom-uk-by-age/ “We spend more time watching food on TV than we do cooking it”. (n.d.). The Daily Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/news/we-spend-more-time-watching-food-on-tv-than-we-do-cooking-it/

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