Content Strategy: Tapping into Adjacent Topics

One of the questions I hear all the time in sessions and workshops is “I don’t know what to write about.” I always push back, because that excuse died the minute AI went mainstream. If you can feed it two ideas, it can help you build a bridge between them. It is like that line from Tommy Boy where David Spade’s character talks about how Tommy’s dad could sell ketchup popsicles to someone wearing white gloves. I love that visual. The point isn’t the popsicle or the gloves. The point is that a good story can connect almost anything. And the more you practice seeing those connections, the easier it becomes to broaden your reach without losing the thread of what your brand actually does.

That is what tapping into adjacent topics is about. You start with your core offering. You know that space. You live in it. But your audience does not live in a single topic. Your audience has wider needs, wider habits, and wider interests. If you can step into the edges of those spaces, you can attract new readers who are not your exact customer today but might be tomorrow. For your core customer, you become more useful. For the curious observer, you become familiar. And once someone sees you as familiar, you are halfway to conversion.

For this latest installment in my ongoing Content Strategy series, I’m sharing some tactical steps to building content assets across adjacent topics to help you reach a broader audience.

Why Adjacent Topics Matter

Let’s say you are a fitness brand. If all you publish are workouts and product plugs, you end up fishing in the same pond as everyone else. But the second you open the door to mental health, burnout recovery, sleep improvement, or simple meal prep hacks, you bring in people who care about feeling better, even if they do not see themselves as fitness people. Now you are meeting them where they are. Maybe they clicked for a Sunday night meal prep idea. A month later, they are reading your guide on building a beginner stretch routine. You didn’t sell hard. You just showed up in a space that made sense for them.

That is the game. You stay close enough to your expertise that you do not dilute your brand, but you widen the angle so there is more room for entry.

The “Ketchup Popsicle” Way of Thinking

If you want to get better at spotting adjacent topics, start by pairing things that don’t obviously go together. Imagine you had to convince that person in white gloves to think about ketchup popsicles without immediately walking away. How do you do it?

You would probably start far from the popsicle itself. You might talk about the food industry. You might talk about how packaging evolves. You might talk about quirky flavor trends or nostalgic foods. As you move through these topics, you slowly lead them toward something that did not seem possible at first.

This is exactly how adjacent content works. You find the connecting fibers. You start with a topic that matters to a wider group, then you show how it overlaps with what you do.

Practical Ways to Identify Adjacent Topics

Here are some clear paths that almost any brand can use.

1. Follow the problems your customer has before and after they need you.
If you sell cybersecurity services, your customer’s day does not begin with a data breach and end with a firewall update. They deal with staffing limits, budget planning, employee training, compliance headaches, and board communication. Each one of those topics can lead people back to your core service.

2. Look at the industries you serve and explore their challenges.
A software company that sells to hospitals can talk about clinician burnout, patient expectations, healthcare staffing shortages, or how hospitals manage seasonal fluctuations. All of these topics tie back to the environment where your product operates.

3. Explore the shared skill sets around your niche.
A project management consultant can talk about leadership habits, how to write better emails, how to run a healthy meeting, how to give clear feedback, or how to protect focus time. None of these replace project management. They support it. They also pull in people who might not think they need a project manager until they see how messy their operations really are.

4. Consider lifestyle or mindset topics that logically support your core offering.
A financial advisor can talk about simplifying personal systems, managing stress during tax season, improving decision making, or planning for life events. These aren’t sales pitches. They are bridges.

5. Review your most common client questions and expand them into broader themes.
Every “quick question” a customer asks you touches something bigger. If someone asks how long something takes, write about timelines in your industry. If someone asks about pricing, write about how companies budget for your work. If someone asks whether a tool is worth it, write about choosing the right tools for their situation.

How to Keep Adjacent Content From Becoming Random

The risk with adjacent topics is going too far and losing coherence. The fix is simple. Before you commit to a piece of content, ask two questions:

Does this topic help my core customer learn something useful?
If yes, you are safe.

Can someone who is not yet a customer see a clear reason you should be the one talking about it?
If yes, you are on solid ground.

That’s it. Those two rules create a fence that keeps the content from drifting into unrelated space.

A Few More Examples

A landscaping company could create content on outdoor entertaining, allergy-friendly planting, water conservation tips, pest control habits, or backyard lighting ideas. Each one speaks to someone who cares about their outdoor space, which is exactly your audience.

A SaaS analytics tool could write about storytelling for executives, how to interpret messy data, how teams make decisions, and how to create a culture that measures the right things. These topics attract managers who may not be ready for a tool but will be later.

A local bookstore might publish reading habits, journaling methods, gift ideas, author interviews, creativity exercises, or even community event spotlights. All of these invite readers who might never search for a specific book but will walk through the door once they feel connected.

The Takeaway

Adjacent content is not filler. It is the connective tissue that helps readers see you as more than a product. The more surface area you create around your core expertise, the more entry points people have to find you. That is how you cast a wider net without losing your shape.