As you begin to look towards the New Year, with a renewed focus on providing relevant content to your audience, you suddenly discover the content well of ideas has dried up. No new ideas or even a headline to fill up your editorial calendar. Nothing. Zero. Zilch
What do you do when you run out of topic ideas for content?
Here are a few places to check out for new ideas to help you get started creating new and interesting content:
Look inside your company
1. New product launches – Does your company have a new product launch in the works? Trends that are driving new features sets, or direction can provide a wealth of content ideas prior to announcing new products or services.
2. Case Studies – Take a look at the decision-making process current customers used that led them to buy, and how happy they are about your product now that it is in place.
3. Customer Support – Review the list of issues that current customers are having, resulting in a call or message seeking support. Is there an opportunity to educate them prior to purchase about particular functionality or uses that give you a competitive advantage ahead of the purchase?
4. FAQs – See what topics are noted in your company FAQ. For more general type of questions, consider expanding on the topics provided.
5. Sales – Talk to your sales team. Find out what key factors are important to them when communicating and interacting with potential new customers.
6. Blog Comments – Read the comments from past blog posts. Is there a topic that is repeated that can be expanded upon or clarified?
Industry trends
1. Social Media – Take a look at what topics are being promoted or shared on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc., the social media portal of your prospective audience’s preference. Look for industry relevant hashtags, or keywords that can lead to new topics of interest.
2. Newsletters – Read industry newsletters. See what subjects others are writing about. While you can’t copy them, you can put your own spin on any given topic.
3. Competition – Follow your competition. Peruse their newsletter or blog and look for gaps or areas of weakness. This could be an area to address that gives you and your company an extra boost of credibility.
4. Industry Influencers – Find out what is important to industry influencers through their blogs, newsletters and posts. See if you can expand or provide greater detail on a piece as it relates to your specific area in the marketplace.
5. Flipboard/Medium – Each provide an easy way to skim through blog titles to get ideas for new topics that are of interest for a particular field.
"It's not where you take things from -- it's where you take them to." - Jean-Luc Godard
Fun tools (all are free!)
1. Buzzsumo – Allows you to search topics to see what content is getting the most attention for your business space.
2. HubSpot’s Topic Generator – Enter 3 nouns and HubSpot will automatically generate 5 blog titles. From there you not only get a great title, but also ideas for new blogs.
3. Keyword Tool – Fill in a topic and then long-tail keywords associated with the topic will be auto-generated.
4. Ubersuggest – Enter keywords in the search box. This results in Ubersuggest suggestions based on the keywords.
Writers block can wreak havoc with your time and productivity. By taking a few minutes to scout other places for topic ideas you can focus on getting to the task at hand, writing educational and helpful content for your prospective customers.
“Above all, you want to create something you’re proud of.” Richard Branson