If your main marketing strategy is shooting photo and video of your inventory to post on social media, you may not have considered a blog as an option to reach new customers yet. 

‍

But it’s not 2012 anymore, and with social media dominated by short-form video content and the existence of AI, is a blog just a waste of time these days?

‍

I’ll answer quickly: Blogs are still very much relevant, and a cornerstone of an overall marketing plan that can help drive sales to your vintage business.

‍

You already know having an online presence is important, especially as a small, independently owned vintage shop or service.

‍

But we also know that shops are increasingly having trouble making sales directly on social media or getting the engagement they were used to seeing on posts. Using social media and no other channels for marketing will only ever get you so far.

‍

If you are looking online to find new customers, “online” doesn’t only mean your selling platform or your social media account. Both are great at reaching people in their own ways— but only the people who use those particular channels. 

‍

To be discovered by larger audiences and thus more potential customers, we want to cast a wider net to include search engines. 

‍

We’ve talked about some ways to do that in our member content: by using Pinterest, which is more a search engine than it is a social platform, by setting up your Google Business Profile, by creating your own e-commerce website or landing page, and by using email marketing to nurture your community and drive back to your selling platforms. 

‍

But blogging is still queen. HubSpot estimates that brands with a blog get 55 per cent more website traffic than those without a blog.  

Why blogs?

Search engines and AI bots love long-form, information-rich content, especially when it can educate an audience.

‍

Build up some blogs and, over time, they will drive you up in search results, AI results, and have the potential to bring you more evergreen traffic.

‍

Once that traffic is there on your blog, you can direct them to your shop, whether it’s on a website or a selling platform.

‍

In our email marketing series, we covered email as a content-first approach — if you create your email marketing first, you can spin out social media content after to streamline your workflow and save a ton of time, rather than the other way around. 

‍

A blog is similar. Write the blog post, then reverse-engineer all of your shop’s shareable content out of it.

‍

Quotes, tips or facts pulled from your blog article can make great social media posts for the days you aren’t posting your products for sale, or can serve as the basis of an email newsletter you send out to your customers.

‍

Do you really need a blog for your resale shop or service?

Here’s what a blog can do for your shop:

• Get your followers and new audiences interested and engaged in your inventory
  ‍
• Establish you as a thought leader or expert on certain topics
  ‍
• Give you a place to express your own opinions/POV about topics related to your inventory
  ‍
• Drive traffic to your selling activities
  ‍
• Make your vintage shop more findable to the average person searching online

If you don’t already have a website of your own and don’t plan to start an e-com shop, you can still start a simple blog site. Two birds, one stone: It serves as a landing page for your shop, while still giving you the ability to do the five things listed above. 

‍

If you’re already operating your own website or plan to create one, building out a blog on that site will help establish better domain authority so you can rank higher in search results and be more favoured by AI algorithms.

‍

You might be able to get your products showing up on Google Shopping, but a blog will get you to surface in information results. So if a user looking for information arrives for a blog post, they may click over to your e-com shop to browse.

‍

It’s a solid way to generate leads: Brands with blogs produce an average of 67 per cent more leads per month than companies that don’t have active blogs, according to a study by marketing software company DemandMetric.

‍

How blogs improve your shop’s discoverability

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Regularly updated blogs with relevant content can improve your site’s SEO so you can rank higher in search. Strong SEO means AI models are more likely to draw on your content, too.

‍

For example, if you create a post on the history of Royal Daulton tea cups, you may make a note to add a few extra details and change the opening sentence on a specific date every year so you can keep the information fresh and the search engines happy.

‍

Keyword targeting: By using specific keywords related to your products and services, you can attract more organic traffic to your site.

‍

For example, if you upcycle vintage towels into two-piece sets and you find top-ranking keywords to be “casual two-piece matching set”, you might create one blog post on the different types of vintage towels and another on how you sew together the sets, and use that desired “casual two-piece matching set” keyword in the text on both posts.

‍

Building authority: High-quality blog posts establish your shop as a place customers trust.

‍

For example, if you sell uranium glass and also feature a thorough blog post on your website all about that type of glassware, from how to tell if it’s real, to if it’s safe, to how to use a black light for it, and a potential customer reads that blog before buying, it can give you some points of trust — all the while linking back to your uranium glass in your e-shop or marketplace.  

‍

Note that blog posts entirely generated by AI may hurt your online authority, both from a customer trust and an SEO ranking perspective. If you do use AI, try to add your voice in, too.

‍

Why is a blog a good way to drive sales?

Consider blog posts not as independent entities (also known as overwhelming, boring to put together and another thing on your to-do list), but as a way to drive and encourage sales. 

‍

As vintage sellers, you have a massive wealth of knowledge that you have amassed in your time researching. 

‍

Corral that research and knowledge while simultaneously adding extra context to the pieces you are selling through a blog. You get to give users a chance to buy the very items they are reading about in your post.

‍

For example, if you sell Libbey glassware, a blog post could cover the types of Libbey glassware, the history of the company, what to look for when shopping for vintage Libbey glass, and a touching anecdote about the first time you remember drinking out of a Libbey glass at your grandmother’s house. 

‍

As a seller, you also have the advantage of including photos of current/past inventory to support that blog post, and linking them directly to your shop.

‍

You don’t need to host all of your inventory on your website to do this. Just link out to your Etsy, Poshmark, Instagram account or however you get people to buy. 

How should I structure my blog post?

The ideal length of a blog post depends on your goals and audience. Generally, longer posts (1,000-2,000 words) perform better in search engines because they provide more value, depth and opportunity to include relevant keywords. 

‍

The quality of content is more important than quantity. Ensure each post is well-researched, informative and engaging.

‍

Better yet if they have some additional engaging content that people really want to read — maybe a personal anecdote, opinion or call to your community to weigh in on whatever topic you are posting about.

‍

Continued below

‍

‍

‍

Continued from above

‍

If your main marketing strategy is shooting photo and video of your inventory to post on social media, you may not have considered a blog as an option to reach new customers yet. 

‍

But it’s not 2012 anymore, and with social media dominated by short-form video content and the existence of AI, is a blog just a waste of time these days?

‍

I’ll answer quickly: Blogs are still very much relevant, and a cornerstone of an overall marketing plan that can help drive sales to your vintage business.

‍

You already know having an online presence is important, especially as a small, independently owned vintage shop or service.

‍

But we also know that shops are increasingly having trouble making sales directly on social media or getting the engagement they were used to seeing on posts. Using social media and no other channels for marketing will only ever get you so far.

‍

If you are looking online to find new customers, “online” doesn’t only mean your selling platform or your social media account. Both are great at reaching people in their own ways— but only the people who use those particular channels. 

‍

To be discovered by larger audiences and thus more potential customers, we want to cast a wider net to include search engines. 

‍

We’ve talked about some ways to do that in our member content: by using Pinterest, which is more a search engine than it is a social platform, by setting up your Google Business Profile, by creating your own e-commerce website or landing page, and by using email marketing to nurture your community and drive back to your selling platforms. 

‍

But blogging is still queen. HubSpot estimates that brands with a blog get 55 per cent more website traffic than those without a blog.  

Why blogs?

Search engines and AI bots love long-form, information-rich content, especially when it can educate an audience.

‍

Build up some blogs and, over time, they will drive you up in search results, AI results, and have the potential to bring you more evergreen traffic.

‍

Once that traffic is there on your blog, you can direct them to your shop, whether it’s on a website or a selling platform.

‍

In our email marketing series, we covered email as a content-first approach — if you create your email marketing first, you can spin out social media content after to streamline your workflow and save a ton of time, rather than the other way around. 

‍

A blog is similar. Write the blog post, then reverse-engineer all of your shop’s shareable content out of it.

‍

Quotes, tips or facts pulled from your blog article can make great social media posts for the days you aren’t posting your products for sale, or can serve as the basis of an email newsletter you send out to your customers.

‍

Do you really need a blog for your resale shop or service?

Here’s what a blog can do for your shop:

• Get your followers and new audiences interested and engaged in your inventory
  ‍
• Establish you as a thought leader or expert on certain topics
  ‍
• Give you a place to express your own opinions/POV about topics related to your inventory
  ‍
• Drive traffic to your selling activities
  ‍
• Make your vintage shop more findable to the average person searching online

If you don’t already have a website of your own and don’t plan to start an e-com shop, you can still start a simple blog site. Two birds, one stone: It serves as a landing page for your shop, while still giving you the ability to do the five things listed above. 

‍

If you’re already operating your own website or plan to create one, building out a blog on that site will help establish better domain authority so you can rank higher in search results and be more favoured by AI algorithms.

‍

You might be able to get your products showing up on Google Shopping, but a blog will get you to surface in information results. So if a user looking for information arrives for a blog post, they may click over to your e-com shop to browse.

‍

It’s a solid way to generate leads: Brands with blogs produce an average of 67 per cent more leads per month than companies that don’t have active blogs, according to a study by marketing software company DemandMetric.

‍

How blogs improve your shop’s discoverability

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Regularly updated blogs with relevant content can improve your site’s SEO so you can rank higher in search. Strong SEO means AI models are more likely to draw on your content, too.

‍

For example, if you create a post on the history of Royal Daulton tea cups, you may make a note to add a few extra details and change the opening sentence on a specific date every year so you can keep the information fresh and the search engines happy.

‍

Keyword targeting: By using specific keywords related to your products and services, you can attract more organic traffic to your site.

‍

For example, if you upcycle vintage towels into two-piece sets and you find top-ranking keywords to be “casual two-piece matching set”, you might create one blog post on the different types of vintage towels and another on how you sew together the sets, and use that desired “casual two-piece matching set” keyword in the text on both posts.

‍

Building authority: High-quality blog posts establish your shop as a place customers trust.

‍

For example, if you sell uranium glass and also feature a thorough blog post on your website all about that type of glassware, from how to tell if it’s real, to if it’s safe, to how to use a black light for it, and a potential customer reads that blog before buying, it can give you some points of trust — all the while linking back to your uranium glass in your e-shop or marketplace.  

‍

Note that blog posts entirely generated by AI may hurt your online authority, both from a customer trust and an SEO ranking perspective. If you do use AI, try to add your voice in, too.

‍

Why is a blog a good way to drive sales?

Consider blog posts not as independent entities (also known as overwhelming, boring to put together and another thing on your to-do list), but as a way to drive and encourage sales. 

‍

As vintage sellers, you have a massive wealth of knowledge that you have amassed in your time researching. 

‍

Corral that research and knowledge while simultaneously adding extra context to the pieces you are selling through a blog. You get to give users a chance to buy the very items they are reading about in your post.

‍

For example, if you sell Libbey glassware, a blog post could cover the types of Libbey glassware, the history of the company, what to look for when shopping for vintage Libbey glass, and a touching anecdote about the first time you remember drinking out of a Libbey glass at your grandmother’s house. 

‍

As a seller, you also have the advantage of including photos of current/past inventory to support that blog post, and linking them directly to your shop.

‍

You don’t need to host all of your inventory on your website to do this. Just link out to your Etsy, Poshmark, Instagram account or however you get people to buy. 

How should I structure my blog post?

The ideal length of a blog post depends on your goals and audience. Generally, longer posts (1,000-2,000 words) perform better in search engines because they provide more value, depth and opportunity to include relevant keywords. 

‍

The quality of content is more important than quantity. Ensure each post is well-researched, informative and engaging.

‍

Better yet if they have some additional engaging content that people really want to read — maybe a personal anecdote, opinion or call to your community to weigh in on whatever topic you are posting about.

‍

To create an effective blog post, consider the inverted pyramid model:

1. Start with the most important info.

Begin your post with the main point or key takeaway. This could be a solution to a common problem, an announcement, or a summary of what the reader will learn. 

‍

For example, for a blog post titled “How to polish vintage brass,” you might paint a picture of a coming across a dirty brass piece and explain how you cleaned it before telling the audience that you will get into more detail on how to polish properly using your tried-and-true method.

‍

2. Add supporting details.

Follow up with details that support your main point. This section can include data, examples, quotes, anecdotes or case studies that provide more depth and context. 

Using our vintage brass example, this might include why it’s important to clean brass, products used for cleaning brass, your worst brass-cleaning experience and how you overcame it, your step-by-step tried-and-true method, and a customer’s reaction to receiving a totally clean piece.

‍

3. Provide background information.

Finally, include any additional background information or less-critical details. This section is for readers who want to delve deeper into the topic. 

For example, why vintage brass turns black, what patina is, why vintage brass is so collectible, or what it is about the chemical makeup of Bar Keeper’s Friend that makes it so useful for making brass shiny.

‍

4. Add in SEO keywords.

You might find it easier to find keywords first, create a short list and keep them in mind while you write, but you can also add them in after. 

‍

Keywords are the phrases that potential customers use to search for products and services online. Using the right keywords can significantly improve your blog’s visibility.

‍

Focus on long-tail keywords (phrases that are longer and more specific) as they often have less competition and attract more targeted traffic. 

‍

Use free tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Keywords Everywhere, Ahrefs or your AI model of choice to find relevant keywords for your business. 

‍

Make it make sense though: Incorporate keywords naturally into your content rather than stuffing them where they don’t make sense, including the title, headings, and throughout the body of the post.

‍

For example, I used Google Keyword Planner and the words “clean vintage brass”. It generated a bunch of results. I then sorted the results by both average monthly searching and three month change, choosing keyword options that had more average searches and a higher percentage of searches over the past three months. 

I came up with the following long-tail keywords that I could incorporate into a blog post: “how to clean vintage brass,” “how to clean brass antiques,” “how to clean an old brass chandelier,” “how to clean antique brass door knobs” and “how to clean vintage brass candlesticks.”

‍

Your blog topic formula & vintage blog topic ideas

Here are some formulas for writing quick and easy blog posts, along with a few ideas for each. Just plug in your products/services, and you will have a few types of blog posts to start with!

[Number] Ways to [Do Task Related to Product/Service You Sell]

10 Ways to Style Your Vintage Fur Stole
5 Ways to Use a Vintage China Teacup
7 Ways to Make a Vintage Umbrella Stand into a Plant Stand
8 Ways to Downsize Your Garage

The Ultimate Guide to [Topic/Product Category/Service You Sell]

The Ultimate Guide to Vintage Levi’s
The Ultimate Guide to Incorporating Vintage into Your Home
The Ultimate Guide to Creating the Perfect Style Bundle
The Ultimate Guide to Vintage Moorcroft Pottery

How to [Achieve Desired Outcome] with [Product/Service You Sell]

How to Create a Cozy ’90s Living Room with Vintage Decor
How to Dress Like a Coastal Cowgirl with Vintage Denim
How to Be the Best Gift Giver with Vintage Blankets
How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Vintage Staples 

The History of [Product/Brand/Category You Sell]

The History of Leather Boots
The History of Mennonite Quilts
The History of Y2K Fashion
The History of Mid-Century Advertising

Top [Number] [Products You Sell] for [Specific Need/Occasion]

Top 5 Vintage Decor Items That Make Great Holiday Gifts
Top 5 Libbey Glassware Patterns for Your Next Dinner Party
Top 10 Vintage Souvenir Postcards to Decorate Your Walls
Top 5 Vintage Jackets to Wear at a Fall Wedding

[Number] Tips for [Achieving Desired Outcome] Using [Product/Service You Sell]

7 Tips for Carolyn Bessette Style with These ’90s Vintage Pieces
5 Tips for Cleaning Your Basement Using Downsizing Services
5 Tips for Hosting Brunch Using Vintage Kitchenware
10 Tips for Decorating Your Bedroom Using Vintage Artwork

What's Hot in [Season/Year] for [Product Category You Sell]

What’s Hot in Summer 2024 for Vintage Jewellery
What’s Hot in Fall 2024 for Vintage Blazers
What’s Hot in Spring 2025 for Vintage Furniture
What’s Hot in Summer 2024 for Denim

Behind the Scenes: The Making of [Product/Collection You Sell]

Behind the Scenes: The Making of Our Upcycled Vintage Throws
Behind the Scenes: The Making of Our Auction Service
Behind the Scenes: The Making of Our Vintage Shell Collection
Behind the Scenes: The Making of Our Dopamine Decor Collection

A Beginner's Guide to [Product/Service You Sell]

A Beginner’s Guide to Consignment
A Beginner’s Guide to Vintage Automobila
A Beginner’s Guide to Vintage Sewing Notions
A Beginner’s Guide to Vintage Stitching

How to Keep Your [Product You Sell] in Top Condition

How to Keep Your Vintage Soapstone in Great Condition
How to Keep Your Antique Lace in Top Condition
How to Keep Your Vintage Teak Furniture in Top Condition
How to Keep Your Vintage Silk in Good Condition

DIY Files: How to [Do Task] with [Product/Service You Sell]

DIY Files: How to Hang a Gallery Wall with Vintage Frames
DIY Files: How to Style a Mob Wife Look with Vintage Jewellery
DIY Files: How to Change a Shade on a Vintage Lamp
DIY Files: How to Wash Vintage Satin Lingerie

‍

Tips for repurposing blog content

• ‍Create teasers: Share snippets or quotes from your blog post on social media with a link back to the full article.
  ‍
• ‍Visual content: Turn key points from your blog into graphics, infographics, or short videos, or use images that you shared in your blog, for social media or newsletters.
  ‍
• ‍Discussion starters: Use your blog content to initiate discussions and engage with your followers. Ask questions related to your post and encourage comments.
  ‍
• ‍Email newsletters: Include excerpts from your blog in your email newsletters to drive traffic back to your website.

‍

Blogging tips

Writing blog posts can be time consuming! You don’t need to be great at writing to do it, though. If you’re not a natural writer, here are some suggestions for making it easier:

• Keep a list of ideas with you at all times. Add as ideas come to you. A note in your phone, a notebook, whatever works. The best ideas come from you and your experiences, not an AI.
  ‍
• If you feel stuck, use AI to help you structure the blog and get some words down on a page. Don’t leave it as an AI-generated article, though! Blog posts need to have your voice and your insight to resonate with your customers. 
  ‍
• Add your research/facts, insight, opinions. Read it aloud to yourself to see if it makes sense.
  ‍
• Write like you talk rather than trying to be fancy. 
  ‍
• Don’t like writing? Voice note blog posts to yourself and then run them through a transcription software like Otter.ai, then clean it up.
  ‍
• Schedule time to work on your blog posts. Writing is something that is easy to put off because it can be overwhelming. It is work to pull words out of thin air!
  ‍
• Give yourself max two hours to put together a post and an hour at most to upload it. If you can set aside an hour a week or every other week to work on a blog post, you could be publishing between 1-4 posts a month, depending on how fast you work.
  ‍
• You don’t have to publish daily or weekly or even monthly. Just aim for regularly updated — maybe that’s a new post every 6-8 weeks.
  ‍
• Centre your blog around your types of inventory, then expand from there. For example, if you don’t sell mid-century modern furniture, don’t write a blog post on R. Huber chairs. Stick to what you’ve got to start.

Questions or comments about using blogs as a marketing tool or about writing for discoverability? Let us know below! 

‍