How to come up with new content ideas
Content marketing constantly proves itself as one of the biggest, best performing and most cost-effective digital marketing strategies. But when you have writer’s block, how you come up with great and new ideas that get you results? When it comes to ideation, the stakes are high and the struggle is real. Research has shown that 57% of B2B marketers say that producing content consistently is the biggest struggle they come across.
However, our content writing team at Blue Whale Media has all been in the same boat with writer’s block and content idea creation; here are their tips and ways to develop new content ideas.
Start with your reader in mind.
The number one mistake within the content marketing sphere is egocentric content. This is content that plays into the interests of the creator. Unless you target your clone, it’s just not going to help you hit those goals you’ve included within your content marketing strategy. Try to put yourself in the shoes of your prospect and show a little empathy. Any content idea meeting or brainstorming session should start with these questions in mind:
- What are they struggling with?
- What problems can you help solve?
- What do they read on the internet?
- Are there specific blogs on websites they frequently visit?
- What do they need to know and how can you educate them?
Go surfin’ for content ideas.
Talking to prospective and current clients can be a lengthy task, especially if they aren’t on your speed dial or available to talk, but do not worry because there are shortcuts. You can find inspiration in many places; for example, amazon book listings, podcasts on apple music and Spotify find research from other companies and browse relevant topics on forums. The idea is straightforward: if people are creating books, podcasts, and forums about certain topics, there must be an audience paying attention to them.
Competitor websites
If you are not sure what to write about, then why not check out one of your competitor’s blogs, its a great way to come up with a long list of topics. We’re not telling you to steal their content, but there’s nothing wrong with using one of their blogs to idealise concepts for your blogs and content. Look through their blogs and start writing down topics you haven’t already written about or covered. You have a huge advantage here because you can try to make your posts about the same topics even better than theirs. Could you expand on what had already been written and dramatically improve it?
Embrace seasonal content
Seasonal content has an expiration date, but it can drive more traffic than any piece of existing content when it’s relevant. If you want to make the most of your seasonal content, you need to plan. Do yourself a favour and find or create a holiday marketing calendar with all the essential dates of the year and then incorporate them into your editorial calendar.
While you may suffer from writer’s block from time to time, but you should never be struggling to come up with new content ideas with our helpful tips. If you need a hand with content marketing, why not get in touch with Blue Whale Media today?