As a business owner, finding content marketing ideas can start to feel like being a hamster on a wheel – there are only so many topic ideas you can come up with before you run out of steam. Thankfully, there are as many ways to become inspired as there are hamsters – you just need to know where to look!
In this article, weโll explore a few ways to find ideas so you can get back on track with your content marketing schedule. Read on for more information!
1. Have a โMeeting of the Mindsโ with Your Team
Sometimes we forget we have an entire team of people to learn from. Check in with your customer service team, sales team, and other creative team members who are happy to offer suggestions. Whether you call it brainstorming or spitballing, itโs a great way to throw out many ideas to see which ones stick.
Here are some questions you can ask:
- What are our customer pain points? Once you have an idea, you can create content around them.
- What does the client life cycle look like? Knowing this will enable you to develop a timeline around which pain points a client could be experiencing at any given stage.
- What are the most common objections/reasons for cancellation? The sales team can help with info on objections, while the customer service team can handle reasons for cancellations. By anticipating these roadblocks ahead of time, you can start developing content around them!
2. Let Something Inspire You
What forms of entertainment are your favorites? Whether itโs an album by the best artist ever, a book, a musical, or a TV show, allow that to inspire you. The opportunities are endless! You can:
- Rock out like Weird Al. Create an industry-related parody of one of your favorite tunes and share it with your social media followers.
- Get studious. Pick up a book written by an industry expert and share the insights you glean from your blog readers.
- Rethink client personas. Think about which client personas match up with TV show characters, and create a piece of content specifically for them.
- Ride a wave of emotion. Watch a musical and think about all the emotions you experience throughout. Now come up with ways to evoke those same emotions in your readers by telling stories that make your company or industry more real and relatable.
3. โSpyโ on Your Customers or Just Ask
While we would never condone actually spying on your customers, social media, Google, and Reddit are fair game! See what your target audience is discussing and develop ideas based on their questions and interests.
If clients have specifically left feedback on your social media channels, be sure to let your customer service team know so they can follow up, too. Build trust with your clients by showing that youโre paying attention to their needs!
Here are some places to find potential clients and current clients, depending on your specific client demographics:
- People Also Ask (Google)
- Quora
(If youโd like, you can even use a social listening tool to do this.)
Alternatively, you could create a poll to share on social media or via email. SurveyMonkey is a well-known option, but thereโs also AYTM, Jotform, Qualtrics, and more.
4. Do Some Research
It should go without saying that youโre already doing research via Google Analytics or keyword research using a tool like SEMrush – but are you tapping into Google Trends? This tool enables you to find out which keywords are popular and what else people are searching for – which can be a huge help if you want to stay relevant to your target audience.
5. Call in Backup
โWho Wants To Be A Millionaireโ was once a wildly popular game show known for its exacting hosts and the ability to โPhone a Friendโ for help. If you run out of content ideas, you can always phone a friend, too! You can interview an industry expert and then feature them on the blog, or even have someone guest-write a post for you on the topic of their choice.
6. Do It Better Than the Other Guy
Thereโs a wealth of information on the internet, and chances are that your competitors are putting out a ton of content related to your industry. Take a look at their blog posts for inspiration! You can expand on a topic theyโve only touched on, add unique and helpful insights, or incorporate helpful infographics, visuals,ย and statistics to reinforce the point. Whatever you choose to do, be sure itโs unique, different, and better than the content from the other guy!
Up Your Content Marketing Game with Matcha Design
Like anything else, coming up with content marketing ideas is hard work – and something you may not have time for if youโre already in high demand at your company – but there is another way! Working with Matcha Design will enable you to up your content marketing efforts with very little stress and frustration for you. Save your creative energies for other company tasks – weโve got your content marketing needs covered.
Contact us to learn more about how we can help with your content marketing!
