What’s trending this fall

As we try to put the pandemic behind us, we’re now confronted with spiralling food costs, creeping interest rates and high energy and gasoline prices. While it’s important to acknowledge these realities, when it comes to lifestyle content, editors are still looking for content that’s light-hearted in tone, provides valuable insights and offers a fresh approach for favourite topics.

A great trick is to weave in tips on how to make your dollars stretch while crafting the articles to appeal to people’s lives, and activities with friends and family we’ve missed for so long.

To help with your planning process, here are some article content ideas that should be ‘“fall” proof with readers and editors this autumn:

Back to school and back to the office

Kids will be heading back to class and attending extra-curricular activities like sports or music lessons. Many adults are also returning to their formal office. This means content that touches on the challenges of shifting routines and offers tips and solutions for those problems is poised to do well with the media.

Some winning ideas:

• Tips to organize your family’s busy schedules
• Fall home maintenance checklist: To do before the cold weather hits
• Commuting again and how to have a smooth trip
• Tailgate parties and barbecues at the kids’ soccer game or at the big pro game
• Rising autumn expenses and how to keep them low
• Brown bag lunch ideas; easy meal-prep ideas

Seasonal celebrations

Although we usually discourage creating content around a fixed day, in the fall editors are looking for content on Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Make one article about how to celebrate in style, safety tips for decorating or seasonal recipes for a big hit in the month of the holiday. To make sure you hit the right timing, remember that we publish a month ahead and work two months ahead. We recommend most articles remain evergreen topics that can be used during the 4-month cycle when your articles will be live on the News Canada website.

Appeal to the boomer crowd

As Canada’s senior demographic increases in numbers, editors are devoting more space to this generation’s concerns. It doesn’t mean changing your topics – it just means adding a slant in an article to recognize an issue they might face. But be sure to ditch the seniors’ stereotypes and any negative perceptions when it comes to aging.

Home décor and housing

Our top category is home improvement, so try to incorporate your key messaging into topics that fit in this space. Think basement makeovers, keeping your home energy efficient, DIY projects, maximizing ROI with your home renovation and more. Your brand doesn’t need to be strictly in the home improvement category to fit into this space. We’re practiced at successfully weaving in all sorts of topics and issues into the home category for wide success.

The housing market is also an ongoing conversation and a burning concern for many. That means articles around finances, mortgages, moving, selling/buying and insurance should also be popular. This is a great opportunity for banks, insurance companies and real estate brands among others.

Food and recipe inspiration

Feel-good recipes with local, farm-fresh ingredients are always a good idea, and there’s ever-increasing editorial interest in these themes. In some cases, partnering with a well-known chef can even boost media pickup – but don’t worry if you’re not connected with one – they’re not a make-or-break feature with the media.

Want to know if an angle you’re thinking of will work? Need tips for incorporating trending themes into your content? Reach out to us at info@fifthstory.com.

Find timelines for content submission here: https://fifthstory.com/downloadable-resources/editorial-calendar/