Content Types and Ideas Guide

Take your Content Marketing Strategy to the next level!

Content Ideas

This is Chapter 5, Part 2 from the Content Types and Ideas Guide.

 

Writing is all about coming up with the right idea. An idea that people would find interesting or valuable enough to share.

Ideas are the ones that help us grow and progress. Ideas help us prosper.

Ideas have the power to change the world. And because ideas have such a power, it’s important to handle them well, especially when it comes to your content marketing strategy. Why? Because…

“Everything Begins With An Idea.” – Earl Nightengale

So does your content marketing.

But sometimes it’s hard to come up with content ideas, let alone with good ideas that would get shared. So, let me share x ideas that would help you out when planning out your content strategy or when you simply want to experiment with new ideas.

So, take note of the following content marketing ideas you can use to create valuable content on your website, blog, and Social Media.

And to help you, even more, I have arranged them in several categories you can choose from. Here we go! 💪

      1. Offer a list of benefits
      2. Promote a seasonal sale
      3. Publicize an upcoming promotion
      4. Show a step-by-step demonstration
      5. Detail the life cycle of a product
      6. Write a product review
      7. Recommend your top products or services
      8. Ask customers what they want
      9. List essential tools and products
      10. Product photos
      11. Ask for input on your products
      12. Recommend your favorite products
      13. Post product recall notices
      14. Hold a flash sale
      15. Offer a sneak peek
      16. Post a creative or unexpected use of your product
      17. Promote your products or services
      18. A weekly links-roundup
      19. Document a buying trip (video footage)
      20. Make a post about your next conference
      21. Behind the scenes’ moments
      22. Turn your pics and videos into Instagram Stories
      23. Write a post-event summary
      24. Record a guided tour of your business
      25. Conduct a case study
      26. Write a live case study
      27. Highlight a customer or client
      28. Write about your company’s history – the ups and downs
      29. Create a list of the top social media influencers in your industry
      30. Tell people about where your business name came from
      31. Start with WHY – Make it personal and take time to write a post about why you do what you do
      32. Post a branded image
      33. A day in the life of’ post
      34. Take a trip down memory lane
      35. Random posts that show you are a real person
      36. Profile an employee
      37. Awards you’ve received (but make sure you don’t come off as bragging)
      38. Thank your fans
      39. Offer a sneak peek
      40. Find out what your competitors are sharing, and do it better
      41. Post a link to an employee bio
      42. Write about a survey and the results
      43. Write a ‘did you know’ feature
      44. Report on a Facebook Poll
      45. Track statistics to share – Keep up with trends and stats and turn them into an infographic or series of charts and graphs.
      46. Surprising facts
      47. Polls
      48. Statistics or data
      49. Hold a debate on Social Media
      50. Share industry research
      51. Share a chart
      52. Share a list of things to avoid
      53. Share a ‘must-do’ list
      54. Predict future trends
      55. Create a top 10 list
      56. Prepare a tip of the day
      57. Follow up on future trend prediction
      58. Share industry best practices
      59. List essential tools and products
      60. Put together a checklist
      61. Create a topical infographic
      62. Create an informational infographic
      63. Tell secrets about your industry
      64. Tell about the lessons you’ve learned
      65. Piggyback on Social Media trends
      66. Share a helpful resource
      67. Share random tips
      68. Ask for advice
      69. Recommend someone else to follow on Social Media
      70. Share and ask for predictions
      71. Share a trending Google search
      72. Offer expert insight into a topic
      73. Make an industry prediction
      74. Share an opinion
      75. Highlight a question of the week
      76. Combine old, outdated posts
      77. Feature a major celebrity or athlete
      78. Feature a local or regional celebrity
      79. Create a list of famous quotes
      80. Create image quotes for Social Media
      81. Quotes
      82. Fill-in-the-blanks posts
      83. Fan photos – share a customer photo on your social platforms
      84. Share a comic or meme
      85. Hold a photo contest
      86. Post a photo and ask your fans to come up with creative or funny captions
      87. Ask for questions
      88. Post a ‘truth or fiction’ question
      89. The fun of the month
      90. Post an expert quote
      91. Answer an FAQ
      92. Hold a Q&A session
      93. Share a funny commercial
      94. Get guest bloggers
      95. Respond to a blog post or article
      96. Post guides as PDFs
      97. Create an archive of old newsletters
      98. Write an A-to-Z guide
      99. Write a buyer’s guide
      100. Write a beginner’s guide
      101. Create an online course
      102. Create an email series
      103. Answer questions on Quora using your existing blog posts
      104. Repost an older blog post on LinkedIn
      105. Post a link to an old blog post
      106. Link to a guest blog post
      107. Link to a controversial blog post
      108. Link to your most popular blog posts
      109. Offer a free eBook
      110. Get your employees to guest post
      111. Link to a blog comment
      112. Post a link to old newsletters
      113. Post an excerpt from a blog post
      114. Write a post about trending topics
      115. Relate content to a news event
      116. Create a calendar of events
      117. Provide an opinion on recent legislation
      118. Write book reviews
      119. Write about your charitable activities
      120. Ask for reviews or testimonials
      121. Share breaking industry news
      122. Latest company news
      123. Share pictures from a recent industry event
      124. Create and share a compilation of industry news stories
      125. Start an interview-based podcast
      126. Start a daily or weekly based podcast
      127. Turn your blog post into a podcast
      128. Host a Q&A podcast
      129. Turn your YouTube videos into podcasts
      130. Create a weekly video tip
      131. Request videos from customers
      132. Post a video testimonial
      133. YouTube video
      134. List your favorite writers
      135. Show your products in unusual situations or places
      136. Write about inspiration
      137. Post a Slideshare presentation
      138. Create a decision tree
      139. Fascinating history
      140. Cultural differences
      141. List your best content of all times
      142. Who or what are your biggest influences
      143. Define your industry’s technical jargon
      144. Photos that have nothing to do with your products or business
      145. Let Pinterest inspire you
      146. Link to a case study
      147. Link to an industry-related IFTTT recipe
      148. Share a favorite book
      149. Provide a recommendation (for instance a business you worked successfully with in the past
      150. Share a popular Reddit topic
      151. Share a Pinterest board
      152. Recommend a colleague on LinkedIn
      153. Tag another Facebook page
      154. Share country-specific holidays
      155. Use Facebook Interest lists for content ideas
      156. Celebrate odd holidays
      157. Promote someone else’s sale
      158. Promote a free download
      159. Do a post series
      160. Weekly roundup
      161. Encourage your followers to support a cause
      162. Start a conversation with an industry leader
      163. Teaser content
      164. Tell a story
      165. Use your website analytics to find content
      166. Answer a question from Quora
      167. Respond to a tag or mention
      168. Post a screenshot of a Social Media Conversation (with permission)

Ways to come up with content ideas

You need content, and you need it yesterday. And you also need new ideas, ideas that you don’t have at the moment.

So what can you do? How can you come up with content your audience craves and needs? And what type of content should it be?

Well, to make things easier for you to come up with content ideas fast and easy, I have put together a list of simple methods to help keep a continual stream of content ideas flowing. 👇

  • Visit Reddit to discover trending topics.
  • Visit Quora to find relevant questions you can answer through your social media post or article.
  • Join a Facebook group in your niche to see what your target market is talking about.
  • Visit a LinkedIn group to learn what people in your industry are interested in and talking about.
  • Send a short poll or survey to your email list or social media followers and ask them for their most challenging or important questions.
  • Ask your social media followers what they want to know and are interested in learning.
  • Visit trending websites or blogs in your niche to discover topics.
  • Visit a LinkedIn group to find out what people in your industry are talking about.
  • Find out what the #1 issue your target market struggles with and address it.
  • Look through your own blog comments or from the competition to find questions or topics you could address.
  • Visit an industry forum and read through the people’s comments and questions.
  • Do a Google search for a trending/well-known keyword in your niche and find out what others are writing about a certain topic of interest, and then simply add your thoughts to the conversation.
  • Find top hashtags in your niche by using a tool such as Hashtagify.me.
  • Have a look through your Facebook newsfeed to learn which topics are constantly popping up in your feed.
  • Type a specific keyword into Pinterest’s search box to find trending searches.
  • Discover the trending topics in your Twitter sidebar.
  • Click on your social media followers profiles and see what they’re talking about and learn what their wants and needs are – or what their fears and challenges are.
  • Google search suggestions are a great place to start picking up some content ideas.
  • Sign up for newsletters and get content ideas delivered straight to your inbox.
  • Write about a product review.
  • Write personal stories – get creative and tell a story about something that happened to you.

As you can see there are many resources at your disposal. All you need to do is discover how to take advantage of them and what works for you.

Tip: Try to come up with a long list of new content ideas at once and batch your ideas into categories. It will surely come in handy later on when you experience writer’s block, or it’s just one of those days when you are out of ideas.

“Content marketing is the only marketing left.”  – Seth Godin

So, I guess it’s time for you to come up with the best content and enjoy a successful marketing plan.

Social Media Marketing Plan

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