As a content creator, it can be so easy to get lost in the SEO and metrics of it all. But now, more than ever, creating content that serves your audience is essential. In this blog post we share three tips for creating content that your readers want, need, and love!
It’s so important to keep a pulse on what content your readers are looking for to make sure that you’re creating valuable content that will keep your audience coming back.
1. Ask your readers what they need
It sounds so obvious, but proactively asking your readers directly what they need can be a game changer for your content strategy. Try to determine the pain points of your audience — what problems can you help solve? What can you take off their plate (literally and figuratively!)?
Some questions to consider asking your audience:
- What is your biggest struggle with preparing meals right now?
- What kinds of recipes do you cook the most?
- How long do you usually have to cook dinner?
- What ingredients do you avoid using at home?
When Pinch of Yum runs a Meal Plan series, they always send an email survey after the fact asking questions like:
- What was the number one reason you signed up for these meal plans?
- What part of the series did you find most helpful?
- What additional features or items would you like to see if we provided similar content in the future?
Create a quick survey using tools like Google Forms or Typeform — or even use a poll on Instagram Stories — and include a handful of questions to guide your content strategy. You can promote the survey on your social media accounts, and consider creating a small giveaway (a gift card or a favorite kitchen product) to encourage responses.
You don’t need a lot of responses for this to be useful. Even 20–30 replies can reveal patterns that meaningfully shape your content calendar. The goal isn’t statistical significance — it’s directional insight.
This feedback can help you create content that is more relevant and engaging — and position you as an invaluable resource for your community.
Curious to learn more about understanding your audience’s pain points?2. Pay attention to what resonates with your audience
There are so many data points available to online creators — traffic, views, followers, and more. Some of those metrics are heavily influenced by what search engines or social media algorithms favor. But others are more useful for understanding what’s actually resonating with your audience.
Social media metrics to pay attention to:
- Shares — If someone is sharing a post or recipe with someone else, that is the strongest indicator that they appreciate what you’ve created.
- Bookmarks or Saves — If a reader wants to return to a post or recipe, that’s a great hint that it was valuable to them and worth their time.
- Likes — A lower-effort signal, but still worth tracking for patterns over time.
On Instagram specifically, saves and shares are generally considered more meaningful engagement signals than likes or comments, since they require more intentional action from the viewer.
Blog metrics to pay attention to:
- Comments — Readers who take the time to comment are highly engaged. Pay attention not just to how many comments a post gets, but to what they’re saying. Are they asking follow-up questions? Sharing how they adapted the recipe? That’s content gold.
- Recipe ratings — A pattern of high ratings on a certain type of recipe tells you something worth paying attention to. If a recipe has high ratings, consider riffing on it to provide new versions of the recipe to your audience! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
- Traffic — Yes, traffic is influenced by search engines, but if a post consistently drives return visitors or gets shared directly (rather than discovered via Google), that’s a meaningful signal about audience interest.
Email metrics to pay attention to:
- Open rate — Keep an eye on open rates across different email subject lines. You might notice that certain topics, ingredients, or meal types consistently underperform. For example, a Food Blogger Pro member recently shared: “This past week, I sent out an email with this subject heading, ‘6 Quick and Easy Shrimp Recipes’, and my email open rate was the lowest it’s been to date. This lead me to believe that my readers aren’t really into shrimp recipes. Then again, maybe I could have been more creative with my subject heading. I’m not sure.” Rather than being discouraged by a low-performing email, treat it as a learning opportunity. Don’t overhaul your strategy based on a single send — but if you start noticing a trend, it may be time to adjust. Focus your energy on the ingredients and recipe types your readers actually want to see.
- Click rate — Which recipes are people most excited to make? Your click rate is a direct window into that. If your open rate is solid but your click rate is low, that’s a sign your subject line is working but your email content or recipe photos may not align with what your audience wants.
3. Listen to reader feedback
When readers provide feedback through emails, social DMs, and recipe comments — listen! You might consider compiling the feedback into a Google Sheet or Claude Project to help you organize your thoughts and to spot trends over time.
It can be exhausting coming up with new ideas for recipes every week — let your readers help! Some of the best content ideas come directly from the questions and requests you’re already getting — you just need a system to capture and review them regularly.
Reader feedback is also great for informing email opt-ins or paid content like ebooks and meal plans. If multiple people are asking the same question or requesting the same type of content, that’s a signal worth acting on.
We’d love to hear… do you currently have a system in place for surveying your audience? What is it?