Have you ever felt stuck in a rut when it’s time to generate blog ideas for your company?
Content marketers and business owners would all agree that blogging indeed plays a vital role in establishing a company and its credibility to its audience or customers.
According to Denamico, “B2B companies that blog get 67% more leads/month than those that don’t.”
However, maintaining a business website filled with fresh blog content ideas is never an effortless task.
Ever tried sitting in front of a blank computer screen for hours, with your creative juices so tanked out?
In fact, a Content Marketing Institute’s survey reveals that 57% of B2B marketers say producing content consistently is their biggest struggle.
You’re not alone.
In this article, we will give you tips to generate blog content ideas so you will have plenty of blog topics to fill out your content calendar – and never run out of it.
But first…
Let me ask you this question….
What content do you consume, lately?
I ask because believe it or not, what you consume can affect your idea generation process.
Idea generation is fueled by consumption, not creativity.
medium.com
What you consume daily, meaning the movies you watch, the quality of conversations you took part in, the articles you read and whatever book you read, all affect the way you process and come up with ideas.
With this we can get that the more you consume materials that are related to your niche or the things you want to write about in your blog, the more efficient you are in coming up with topics to discuss or share with your audience.
Steve Jobs once said that “Creativity is just connecting things.”
What else is there to connect if you are not giving yourself enough opportunity to be exposed to content and conversations that are related to your industry?
This now brings us to the first point of…
Content Ideation: 17 Ways to Generate Content Ideas
Read a lot | 1
As you know, the catchy titles of your blog post may be one of the best thing you write about, but it’s not the only thing you need to think about for your content strategy.
Your blog’s content should address a need and make the life of your audience easier. Hence it should be an informative, and therefore, an authoritative piece.
One of the best ways to get ideas for blog posts is to read a lot.
Read a lot so you can learn the art of content creation ideation whether it is lyrical, infographic, ebooks, blog posts, photos, videos or digital.
When you read regularly, your mind will be filled with lots of ideas which you can transform into a blog article rich with information that your desired audience can use to help them succeed..
Grab quotes and thoughts that you may want to expand as your potential content topics later.
In my case, reading plays a vital role in content ideation besides being part of my personal professional development.
Get out of your shell and start that conversation | 2
Get out of your shell and converse with others to gain different perspectives.
Some of the best blog topic ideas come when you share your thoughts, stories and experiences.
Just like reading, having a fruitful conversation with professionals in your industry could help you in your content ideation process.
On Twitter there are two chats that I am involved as Co-Chair for both and Founder of the other, it’s the #BldgREChat and the #USAMfgHour, we get to converse with many people, and that is where this blog for manufacturers came about.
Casual conversation over coffee or digitally can go a long way but you can also take this to the next level, which is the next point.
lnterview experts in your industry | 3
Prepare guide questions that are aligned with your business’ goals or values.
The questions should create useful insights into aspects of your business or industry that will spark creative ideas.
After the interview, organize the questions and answers, add your thoughts as a brand, write a killer introduction and conclusion and there you have it!
Brainstorming | 4
Speaking of conversations, why not regularly gather a few people from your team for brainstorming session as part of your content strategy?
You don’t always have to do things alone; you know.
Brainstorming for content can be useful because people with different experiences and skills can spark ideas, and it encourages the more out-of-the-box ideas that may form tenfold content.
“Brainstorming is the motor that drives content ideation…The goal of brainstorming is idea generation, or the free association of thoughts connected to the specifics of the task. The only rule is openness to whatever comes: thoughts, words, idioms, metaphors, symbols, images, colors, digressions, tangents, or strange associations. In this phase, there are no wrong answers!”
Steelecht.com
Brainstorming sessions are not only good for generating blog content ideas but also for developing teamwork in the workplace.
It is also great when your team does this because you may have real potential data that can back up your blog content ideation process as you gather potential topics.
Key people you need in your brainstorming season should be the people who interact directly with your customers: your sales representatives and customer support.
At the end of the day, the content you produce should address your leads’ and/or customers’ pain points and concerns.
Answer common questions | 5
Since we are already talking about your consumers’ pain points and concerns, you can also create a blog demonstrating how a product or a service can solve their problem without being sales-pitchy.
Think of it as another medium for you to share your unique value proposition (UVP) as a company.
This type of content is not only beneficial to the person asking, but also to your potential customers.
And so, the way you answer the question and converse with your audience using your blog is important.
Your goal is to become a trusted advisor by intently listening to the questions the customer asks so that you can apply your expertise to solve the customer’s business problems or complete his initiatives.
hbr.org
Social media groups | 6
What if there are no questions being asked?
In this case, know what people are thinking? No, you don’t need a crystal ball for this. There is one ubiquitous place nowadays, and that is social media’s groups.
“What comes out of your mouth is determined by what goes into your mind.”
Zig Ziglar
Facebook groups are a great place to share ideas, for example, and people love contributing valuable suggestions.
Monitor your groups to see if there are questions or content requests which you can use for future blog posts for your content calendar.
You can even monitor search terms to get topics for conversations. Not a bad idea, eh?
You should create blog posts with an idea that resonates with your audience.
As a reward from your audience, they will share more often a blog post they find relevant to their interests and needs.
Visit industry-specific websites | 7
Websites that are industry specific helps you to get exposed to fresh and productive content, trends and ultra-relevant conversations that you can write about.
What are the topics that they are discussing – on their blogs, podcasts or webinars?
If you find that there are some topics that you haven’t discussed yet on your business blog, this tells you two things to do:
- One, it is time to write about it! Share your stand on topics that matter to your audience. This could help establish your credibility and help build your customers’ trust.
- Second, if you are seeing some industry related news, discoveries, trends and breakthroughs, then those are need-to-know information from a thought leader. Curate these topics as sources for blog articles and references.
If you don’t exert effort in trying to keep up with the changes and news in your field, you’ll be left behind.
Staying on top of the game as a content marketer in your niche is as important as water is to plants. Water it daily; else, it’ll die.
Seasonal topics | 8
It’s challenging to keep up with all the trending topics for content ideation.
But there are a few that recur time and time again that you can use as blog topic ideas.
Seasonal topics are hot topics that are relevant to your industry, so finding an audience for that topic would be easy pickings.
Plan your blog post topics around it.
To keep track of it, keep a content calendar of world events and life events of your target audience.
Trending topics | 9
Trending topics are topics that are in such high demand that they are trending all over the internet and are the most talked about on social media and news outlets.
A trending topic can be as varied as anything from a world event, a TV show, an industry-related event, a new movie release or something like a stranger’s death.
Trending topics are also very useful when it comes to finding blog content idea.
However, the idea of trending topics can be confusing to some as trends can change weekly.
The easiest way to find trending topics is to simply just follow some of your favorite blogs or news channels.
It’s also a good idea to use Twitter’s trending tab to see the most popular tweets.
Google Trends is also a great way to find trending topics and can be found by simply typing “Google Trends” and then the topic you’re looking for in the search bar.
For hyper-niched industries like construction, technology and manufacturing, trending topics are typically tied to an event and/or legislative changes and other laws affecting your industry.
You will see this recur and pop-up on your newsfeed.
This is easy when you are following the RIGHT topic and connecting with the RIGHT people.
Competitors Posts | 10
When you’re stuck in a rut, turn to those whose blog ideas and audience are similar to yours to find inspiration.
Use your competitors to spark your blogging inspiration and get ideas for your own blog.
Look at their top posts, this will give you a sense of what they are blogging about.
From there I look at their recent posts and see what they are up to.
They are probably doing producing content you haven’t thought of.
When done summoning your inspiration from your competitors, create content that is unique to you and stamped with your voice and your style.
Search query suggestions | 11
Search queries are simply phrases that people use on Google when searching for a product or service.
The query suggestion box shows what the searcher has typed on the search box and Google’s predictive suggestions based on what the searcher is looking for and typed in the search box.
You will find the search query suggestions inside the search box or at the bottom of Google’s search engine results.
Questions people ask | 12
If you’re looking for content ideas but don’t have the time or energy to start a blog, Quora may be the answer.
It’s a questions and answers site for topics ranging from how to get out of bed to how to make a fortune at home.
The questions asked on Quora can often become the catalyst to a blog post idea. It reveals a burning problem or issue.
If using Quora, look for the ones that have received a lot of votes from community members.
Content A.I. tools | 13
Content A.I. tools have gone a long way – and it has become even more sophisticated.
It is great for content ideation because it frees up your time to come up with new content.
It can take you straight from concept to adequate first drafts in minutes, rather than devoting time to thought or chances of writer’s block.
Remember, however, that it is just a tool for research and ideation for blog topics. You still have to review its output.
Hire Writers |14
No time to write a business blog?
Buy time by letting someone else do the writing for you!
If you belong in a hyper-niched B2B industry, your job in this situation is to give the writer the topic or information you want.
We call it a content brief. It may contain an outline of what you want included and a description of what the blog is about.
By the way, you want your content to get found by your desired audience, right?
In this case, look for someone who can not only weave words but also has as a strong understanding of content and SEO so your content gets found, or rank high in SERPs.
Fact is, there are many writers but there are only a few who can do technical SEO content to help you increase your referral traffic.
News Aggregators | 15
News aggregator is a type of software that collects headlines from multiple news sources on the internet for end users to view all at once.
The most prevalently used platforms are:
- Apple news app,
- Google Alerts
- Flipboard and
News aggregators like these create a one-stop-shop for everyone’s favorite news sources.
It allows you to jump from one article to another, giving you instant access to a vast variety of topics, news stories and trends.
This makes it an extremely useful tool for blog post idea generation.
Ideas “Bank” | 16
The ideas content bank is nothing but a blog idea file.
It is where you drop all the blog ideas that you wanted to write about.
You know very well that there are days when you feel you are a blog post ideation machine but then there are also days when you hit a slump.
THIS file which is rich with blog topic suggestions will become super handy when blog content ideation hits the fritz again and runs dry.
Give yourself a break | 17
You’ve tried everything yet still, no luck?
Maybe what you really need to do is rest.
Coming up with fresh ideas is not an effortless task, especially when you’re stressed.
Rest gives your mind the time to digest all the different things that you have learned and experienced during the day.
It is super hard to think creatively when you are overworked.
Take a nap or take a walk.
Go dark and go off the grid from anything digital to just recharge and consequently increase your creativity quotient.
You want that, right? Then if so, rest!
“When we treat rest as work’s equal partner, recognize it as a playground for the creative mind and a springboard for new ideas, and learn ways to take rest more effectively, we elevate it into something valuable that can help calm our days, organize our lives, give us more time, and help us achieve more while working less.”
greatergood.berkeley.edu
This needs to be said, ya’ll.
It’s a Wrap!
As you can see, there are a lot of ways to generate blog content ideas.
When generating blog content ideas, it’s important to remember that the goal is to not only give your audience the information they need, but to stay true to the values and goals of your business.
Your content ideation process should revolve around these principles.
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