One of the most difficult aspects of content marketing can actually be thinking up new ideas for fresh content to put out to your audiences.
Sure, you may have a lot of material, ideas and concepts you want to get across originally, but it’s natural for the creativity to wane a bit after you’ve exercised a lot of ideas. Every business gets stuck for ideas from time to time, but thankfully there are some handy planning tips you can put in place to help you out when stuck, so you’ll never be left without content on any of your outlets. This will help you maximise your content marketing strategy without getting bogged down.
Here are just a few things that could help you:
Marking down important dates
It sounds simple but there are loads of key dates, events and seasonal festivals out there that could be applicable to your business. Do a bit of research a few months in advance and you may find there are loads of opportunities to create conversations involving your business in tandem with these dates or events.
Use Mind Maps
Mind maps were probably once your go-to tool as a student to help revise and retain the important information to help you pass exams. This type of tool still has its place in the workplace and is very useful at helping you draw multiple ideas from one central topic or theme. Mind mapping in a group could help generate multiple ideas that you may not have associated with a particular theme initially. The end result is also a lot easier to visualise and process than a generic list.
Ask the 5 Ws (and H)
Although more associated with news content, the 5 Ws, and of course the H, all have their place in your content strategy too. Asking who, what, where, why, when and how can help you formulate a picture of your product and service, pointing out key areas you should focus on. You should also ask these questions in relation to your content idea, to establish if it’s worthwhile creating content on this subject.
Refer to the customers
One of the most invaluable pieces of information and data that we tend to overlook in terms of content creation is the information we receive from our customers. Without conducting great market research or surveys, you’ll find that a lot of information is right in front of you in the form of customer queries which may have been submitted via social media or help portals. Work with the problems they’ve encountered and put yourself in the customer’s shoes. From there, brainstorm the solutions and work them into a content plan. This could be anything from a blog entailing ‘5 ways to make the most of your membership at …’ to a video tutorial or infographic on how to use a specific feature of your product.
These are just a handful of methods you can use to help with any creative blocks on your way to generating a positive and effective content marketing campaign. Why not put some of these to use the next time you get stuck for words or ideas?
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