Ideation is an important part of any content creation plan, but deciding what topics to create content for can be tricky. You can’t just churn out content; it needs to be purposeful and strategic. Taking time to develop your ideas for creating content will ensure that your content is targeted and will achieve your goals, for your business and your audience.Whether you’re creating internal content, brochures, newsletters, web copy, or content for social channels, here are 5 ways you can generate ideas for creating meaningful and effective content:
Rather than trying to guess what your audience wants, go straight to the source and ask them. Remember, audiences are bombarded with content every day, and consume an average of 11.4 pieces of content before making a purchasing decision, according to Forrester. So, your content needs to address customer pain points, desires, and needs. It's important to move from knowing your audience to understanding your audience. Here are a few ways you can understand your audience’s needs:
The feedback you yield from these sources will help you to know what direction you should be aiming your content in. Another bonus of asking your audience is that it gives you the opportunity to build customer relationships and show that you are listening to their needs. Every relationship should be two ways, so don’t just broadcast to your audience.
Content audits are an important part of the content creation process, and shouldn’t be overlooked. For online content, use a tool that will allow you to dig into the analytics and engagement side of your content and use it to identify gaps and spot areas of opportunity. Look at what content has a return on investment for your business and what content is serving a useful purpose for the organisation. Think about:
You want to be a thought-leader in your area, so it’s important to create content with current perspectives. Keep up with industry publications to see if there is anything worth digging into. Look out for studies and stats that might give you clues to what your audience is struggling with. Or try a tool like Buzzsumo to find new, top-performing content to get some ideas for creating your own content.
For solid SEO, you need to start off with keyword research. Start off by brainstorming some basic topics, and try these tools to help:
Here's an example of a visualisation from AnswerThePublic.com which suggests content ideas based on questions asked around the term, 'content strategy'.
Create a long list of keywords you can use and rank for easily. Keyword research is about getting a balance between difficulty and search volume. Also, try to go for ‘long tail’ keywords (longer phrases) as you’ll have more chance of ranking and they are more specific to your business needs and customer search queries. It’s also important to avoid keyword stuffing; focus on creating well-written, natural, high-quality content.
It’s always a good idea to keep tabs on what your competitors are doing, and you can definitely use their content to inform yours. Check out your competitor's websites; again, you can use something like Buzzsumo for this. Try:
Pablo Picasso is widely quoted as saying “good artists borrow, great artists, steal.” Whether or not he actually said this is a different matter, but this is applicable to content writers too.
The ultimate failure of content usually happens at the start of the process. If you’re unsure of objectives, confused about what it is your audience wants or rush the ideation process, these things can affect the quality of the final output, meaning your content doesn’t achieve what it needs to. It can also be frustrating for content creators if there’s no brief or it’s unclear what you’re writing, why, and who it’s for.Whatever topics you end up committing to, make sure they’re relevant and useful for your audience and business. Remember, content is an asset. It should never be a case of churning out ill-considered content. It has to be useful, informative and educational. With the amount of content we consume every day, your customers are likely to go elsewhere for information if they don’t get what they need from you. So, be genuinely interested in what they want, and always put yourself in their shoes when coming up with ideas for creating content.
Ideation is an important part of any content creation plan, but deciding what topics to create content for can be tricky. You can’t just churn out content; it needs to be purposeful and strategic. Taking time to develop your ideas for creating content will ensure that your content is targeted and will achieve your goals, for your business and your audience.Whether you’re creating internal content, brochures, newsletters, web copy, or content for social channels, here are 5 ways you can generate ideas for creating meaningful and effective content:
Rather than trying to guess what your audience wants, go straight to the source and ask them. Remember, audiences are bombarded with content every day, and consume an average of 11.4 pieces of content before making a purchasing decision, according to Forrester. So, your content needs to address customer pain points, desires, and needs. It's important to move from knowing your audience to understanding your audience. Here are a few ways you can understand your audience’s needs:
The feedback you yield from these sources will help you to know what direction you should be aiming your content in. Another bonus of asking your audience is that it gives you the opportunity to build customer relationships and show that you are listening to their needs. Every relationship should be two ways, so don’t just broadcast to your audience.
Content audits are an important part of the content creation process, and shouldn’t be overlooked. For online content, use a tool that will allow you to dig into the analytics and engagement side of your content and use it to identify gaps and spot areas of opportunity. Look at what content has a return on investment for your business and what content is serving a useful purpose for the organisation. Think about:
You want to be a thought-leader in your area, so it’s important to create content with current perspectives. Keep up with industry publications to see if there is anything worth digging into. Look out for studies and stats that might give you clues to what your audience is struggling with. Or try a tool like Buzzsumo to find new, top-performing content to get some ideas for creating your own content.
For solid SEO, you need to start off with keyword research. Start off by brainstorming some basic topics, and try these tools to help:
Here's an example of a visualisation from AnswerThePublic.com which suggests content ideas based on questions asked around the term, 'content strategy'.
Create a long list of keywords you can use and rank for easily. Keyword research is about getting a balance between difficulty and search volume. Also, try to go for ‘long tail’ keywords (longer phrases) as you’ll have more chance of ranking and they are more specific to your business needs and customer search queries. It’s also important to avoid keyword stuffing; focus on creating well-written, natural, high-quality content.
It’s always a good idea to keep tabs on what your competitors are doing, and you can definitely use their content to inform yours. Check out your competitor's websites; again, you can use something like Buzzsumo for this. Try:
Pablo Picasso is widely quoted as saying “good artists borrow, great artists, steal.” Whether or not he actually said this is a different matter, but this is applicable to content writers too.
The ultimate failure of content usually happens at the start of the process. If you’re unsure of objectives, confused about what it is your audience wants or rush the ideation process, these things can affect the quality of the final output, meaning your content doesn’t achieve what it needs to. It can also be frustrating for content creators if there’s no brief or it’s unclear what you’re writing, why, and who it’s for.Whatever topics you end up committing to, make sure they’re relevant and useful for your audience and business. Remember, content is an asset. It should never be a case of churning out ill-considered content. It has to be useful, informative and educational. With the amount of content we consume every day, your customers are likely to go elsewhere for information if they don’t get what they need from you. So, be genuinely interested in what they want, and always put yourself in their shoes when coming up with ideas for creating content.
Paige is an English Literature and Media graduate from Newcastle University, and over the last three years has built up a career in SEO-driven copywriting for tech companies. She has written for Microsoft, Symantec and LinkedIn, as well as other SaaS companies and IT consulting firms. With an audience-focused approach to content, Paige handles the lifecycle from creation through to measurement, supporting businesses with their content operations.