So, your business is really excited about content marketing, you know how to create an effective plan and you’ve got a pretty good idea about how social media can give your content marketing a little ‘kick in the pants.’ But while content marketing can be a great tool, and you may already have some great ideas on how you can use it for your business, eventually the inevitable ‘writer’s block’ will occur and you’ll need to generate new content.
Continually brainstorming new content marketing ideas can be a task-and-a-half, especially if you’re running a business as well. So if you’re not equipped to hire a marketing agency to help you with your content marketing, these following tips may help you save some time when your ‘river of ideas’ runs dry. Drum roll, please…
- Keep Reading Industry Websites: Don’t just read any old site, either. Make sure it’s a high-quality, reliable website. Seeing the type of content they’re generating may give you a better idea as to what other types of content you could possibly share related to your business. Not to mention, it may help you to keep a leg up on your competition! This also goes for any industry newsletters, or competition newsletters. Subscribe for whatever relevant and quality industry-related content you can, whenever you can. The influx of information can spur new ideas!
- Understand Your Audience: You’re never going to create worthwhile content unless you know who you’re directing your content at. This is Marketing 101. Do some market research. Find out what motivates your audience to seek you out, what that audience’s demographic looks like and what turns that audience off. You’d be surprised on what types of content this can help you curate to attract your audience’s attention, and you’ll be thankful to know that much more about your customers.
- Get the Experts Involved: If you have one person continuously handling your material, shake it up a bit. Many times businesses will hire/designate a copywriter to take care of all their content needs. And oftentimes, this copywriter is not an expert in your field. Try to mix it up by having experts in your business/industry submit content. Or interview one of your experts.
- Keep a Customer Inventory: Have a great customer experience? Ask them to send you a testimonial! Get a customer question? Chances are other customers have the same question- make an infographic! Customer concern? Answer it with an interactive video! The possibilities are endless, and your customers will feel like you’re listening.
- Consider All Types of Content: Sure, the written word is easy and a great place to start- but why stop there? If you’re generating the same type of material every time eventually your audience is going to get bored. Be fearless. Play around! Some of the best and most effective content marketing ideas started out as ‘risky ventures.’ Infographics, interactive videos, timelines, personalized maps, humor-filled prose, images, illustrations. You could go anywhere with your content marketing!
- Don’t Forget Current Events: One of the easiest ways to come up with ideas is to take a look around you, especially at current events and holidays. Is a certain time of year stronger than others for your company? Make note of it. Halloween is coming up? Perhaps find a unique way to speak to your customers about your business and the holiday in conjunction. It’s all about creativity! In addition, make sure you’re pushing out your content at the most beneficial times. Have a neat infographic that you really want your audience to see? Make sure you stay far away from releasing during times of huge current events. For instance, the week of voting during a presidential election.
There you have it. Some current for your ‘river of ideas.’ It’s easy to keep it flowing, you just have to be open to new, risky, challenging and altogether creative ideas! Photo Credit
