Who doesn’t want to show up first in Google? No matter what keywords you have in mind, you have probably heard of more than a few methods of getting on the Google first page. All the approaches may cause confusion, but it is definitely possible. If you are willing to invest brainpower, resources and time, you can generate content ideas in fool proof ways, for any topic.
Content producers have always had to brainstorm about where else to get content. There is no one that has not gone through writer’s block, after all. When the drought in your brain just does not seem to want to go away, what are you supposed to do? You may feel as if you have thought of everything but that is probably not the case. In fact, you will be surprised at all the different avenues there are for generating the most pertinent content there is today. After all, when content is king, the name of the game is producing stuff that readers actually want to read. This is particularly true when your webpage is dependent on continuous content production. Don’t just wait for ideas to start pouring in again. Instead, put in some effort and elbow grease to start looking for content in unlikely places. You might be surprised at what you will find.
When you find yourself suddenly stumped for a topic, keep in mind that you are not alone. Even the most prolific marketers of content run out of ideas for content. Besides keeping a journal with you to jot down brilliant ideas when they arrive, there are a few other ways you can come up with new ideas for content. When you feel that your well of ideas has gone dry and might be in a content jam, there are a few things you can do to get yourself un-stuck.
Pay attention to trends
Visit websites, watch social media and subscribe to blogs that cover related news to what you do. When you find yourself in need of content, find out if something is commentary or worthy. Being quick with this will make all the difference. When it comes to news, don’t take two weeks before publishing your content or it won’t be news at all. Instead, try and get the word out as fast as you can and then add your own opinion. People can get pure news from so many different sources. What they want is the added value to the content. Tell them why the news should matter to them, how they will be affected and what they need to do about it.
What do the experts say?
Who are the people considered experts in the fields you have chosen? Go ahead and send them email with a few questions. Your posts can be composed of their answers.
Recapping events
If you’ve been able to see an interesting speaker, panel presentation, webinar or tradeshow, this makes great content. Even recapping an event will generate views. Use attendees’ Tweets or other material already posted to create newsworthy content. Ensure that you attribute the correct authors when you do this.
Talk to the sales department
What questions to potential clients ask the people in the sales department? When you speak to the sales staff about what customers are discussing with them, you can then find out which topics matter the most. Use your content to answer these questions. Get a list and create posts for blogs for every topic. Collect these into an eBook or turn each topic into a video. Use SlideShare to create a how-to.
Brainstorm
Generate fast ideas by holding a meeting to brainstorm. Your colleagues and staff can provide you with great content. You just have not tapped into them just yet. Buy some snacks and put everyone in a room for limited amounts of time. Brainstorming can give people the feeling that their opinion counts. Many times it generates a lot of content from the least-expected places.
Content from crowdsourcing
Create content from friends and colleagues in the industry. You can email them with a question that provokes their thoughts and form content from what they reply. For blog posts, this works really well. It is also a great tool for adding eBook credibility. It also makes great material for other content types. Check out how we use questions and answers that are crowdsourced from experts in the content marketing industry.
Your social media channels
If you happen to have social media channels and an engaged audience that makes comments, find out what topics they are discussing. This is a great source of ideas. If you find no comments from your audience, tap into other sources of social media and investigate topics that are trending. Keep in mind that you are not reporting these. Rather, you are talking about why they are important and why readers need to care about the specified topics.
Repurposing something tried and true
A good content marketer should have this in their list of resolutions for the New Year, every year. Use subjects from stuff you’ve already done in the past such as blogs to create infographics, videos or even an eBook! Before you know it, you will have brand new content streaming out of your brain.
You’ve said everything
Even if you feel as if you’ve said all there is to say, there is still much more that can be converted to content. Dig a little further to come up with content that is nothing short of remarkable. Alleviate the drought in your mind by sparking some ideas through using all the various techniques mentioned here. You will not only create remarkable content, you will love the fact that your editorial content calendar will be filled to the brim.
