{"id":4829,"date":"2018-07-23T08:10:20","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T15:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/blog\/?p=4829"},"modified":"2019-01-11T08:19:55","modified_gmt":"2019-01-11T16:19:55","slug":"source-content-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/content-writing-service\/2018\/07\/source-content-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"20+ Ways to Source Content Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><p>Consistently coming up with clever and relevant topics for your audience is a huge challenge. You can monitor industry news and competitors, but there is a gold mine of source material that often gets overlooked: your own customers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Depending on your business, there are a number of opportunities to gain some key insights into what your customers think of you. Setting up processes to regularly listen to what they are saying is a critical way to keep your content marketing on point and, most importantly, generating business.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In this post we&#8217;ll cover 2 approaches to coming up with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/\">fresh website content<\/a> ideas as well as 17 sources you can use to find content ideas.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f8c854; padding: 10px;\"><strong>Free Actionable Bonus:<\/strong> Want our complete guide to content creation? <span id=\"creation\" style=\"color: #3366ff; text-decoration: underline; cursor: pointer;\">Get the guide plus a content calendar template and a list of our favorite content creation tools.<\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"2-approaches-to-coming-up-with-content-ideas\">2 Approaches to Coming Up With Content Ideas<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"1-keeping-an-ear-to-the-ground\">1. Keeping an Ear to the Ground<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Of course, the key to success in content marketing is to know your audience and understand what they are looking for. To do this though, you need to pay attention to where they\u2019re talking to you (and what they\u2019re talking about). Depending on the specifics of your business, these can include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Direct customer service feedback<\/li>\n<li>Blog comments<\/li>\n<li>Social media posts<\/li>\n<li>Surveys and questionnaire responses<\/li>\n<li>Online forum posts<\/li>\n<li>Reviews<\/li>\n<li>Comments on your competitors\u2019 blogs and social posts (for your future customers)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve identified your audience\u2019s interests and concerns, demonstrate your expertise and explicitly give them the information they\u2019re looking in a format which will appeal most to them. Some possibilities include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Blog posts.<\/strong> Great for existing or potential new customers. They can be highly specific and people can find them via search engines. It\u2019s also easy to share on social to expand your reach. Ideal for informational and the more \u2018how-to\u2019 types of content.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Webinars and White Papers.<\/strong> Perfect for tech and\/or science-focused companies to connect with audiences that are looking for a higher degree of detail.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Micro-Content.<\/strong> To reach and attract a wider audience, relevant and visually compelling micro-content can be very effective at generating social engagement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"2-customer-focused-content-marketing-done-right\">2. Customer-Focused Content Marketing: Done Right<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>In 2009, Marcus Sheridan\u2019s in-ground swimming pool company, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.riverpoolsandspas.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">River Pools and Spas<\/a>, was on the brink of financial failure.\u00a0Sheridan decided to retool the company&#8217;s marketing approach and focus on blog posts designed to answer customers&#8217; most common questions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He did what the competition <em>didn\u2019t<\/em> do: divulged sensitive \u2013 but essential \u2013 content that customers needed to know before making a purchase, such as the <em>cost<\/em> of various types of pools.\u00a0River Pools&#8217; honest, customer-centric campaign paid off:\u00a0that single article about pool costs resulted in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/02\/28\/business\/smallbusiness\/increasing-sales-by-answering-customers-questions.html?_r=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">over $1.7 million in sales<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #d3d3d3; padding: 25px;\">Download our free guide on finding, vetting, and hiring freelance writers. <span id=\"hiring\" style=\"color: #3366ff; text-decoration: underline; cursor: pointer;\">Download the PDF now<\/span>.<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"source-1-end-user-based-ideas\">Source 1: End-User Based Ideas<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"1-just-ask-its-that-simple\">1. Just Ask. It\u2019s That Simple.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Asking about your consumer or end-user experience not only shows you care about what they think, but can also generate great feedback. What are their pain points? What do they love? What do they wish you offered? What other complementary or supplementary services are they interested in? If they consent to you quoting them verbatim, that\u2019s fantastic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/content-writing-service\/2018\/09\/user-generated-content\/\">user generated content<\/a> for social proofing. Take advantage of every opportunity to gather real feedback and answer it in writing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"2-be-a-blog-review-and-facebook-snoop\">2. Be a Blog, Review and Facebook Snoop.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Read through the comments on blogs of related offerings, competitors, industry-wide (and possibly your own) and then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/\">create website content<\/a> that addresses unanswered questions. Do the same with consumer reviews and Facebook comments and you\u2019ll have material for months.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"3-check-out-quora-questions\">3. Check Out Quora Questions.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Quora is a great questions-and-answer website where members can vote on the answers provided (similar to Yahoo Answers and others). Simply type a relevant topic into the search box and you&#8217;ll be presented with a list of popular questions. There is also an \u2018open questions\u2019 link which features unanswered questions. Both the questions and the popular answers are sound sources of inspiration.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"4-relevant-forums\">4. Relevant Forums.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Use search engines to search for forums on just about anything and you&#8217;ll usually get a few pretty decent results. Explore them to see what people are talking about and what questions they have to filter out some more great ideas for your content creation endeavors.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"5-faqs\">5. FAQs.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Look at your own website&#8217;s FAQ section, and those of your competitors. Are there any topics you can expand upon, explain and even enhance with a video, e-book or guide. The frequent questions your customer service team receive are also great fodder.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"6-social-media-trending\">6. Social Media Trending.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Check your social media content regularly to understand what your audience is interested in and what content they&#8217;re sharing. These channels are a great source for up to the minute trending topics and ideas for quick turn-around pieces.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"7-ask-a-sales-person\">7. Ask a Sales Person<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Ask a sales person about the common questions or pain points they hear prospects talking about. These are topics that you <em>know<\/em> prospects care about so it&#8217;s worth investing some time into create an article that speaks to the pain point.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"source-2-industry-insights\">Source 2: Industry Insights<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"1-google-alerts\">1. Google Alerts.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Start with a base of core topics you already know resonate well with your audience and see how you can use and improve on what you find.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"2-google-news\">2. Google News.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Not surprisingly this is an excellent source for hot industry topics and trends, use it!<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to a few popular industry newsletters and look out for popular topics. Also look at what your competitors are offering in return for signing up. Can you improve on their incentives?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"3-interview-experts\">3. Interview Experts.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Experts in your field are very often happy to collaborate and co-create in person, via email, by phone or on Skype. You can decide whether you want to get their permission to use the interview as content or to simply use the discussion for inspiration.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"4-conferences-and-trade-shows\">4. Conferences and Trade Shows.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Listen to talks, follow the live blogging sessions if you can\u2019t attend and take notes at any Q&amp;A sessions you can access. Come up with content that answers the questions, take note of key nuggets and take-aways from speakers, quote them, and create content pieces around those nuggets. Go back in time and listen to old TED talks as well. There are some great high-level topics that can provide an enormous amount of food for thought and the written word. At tradeshows, speak to other attendees and exhibitors to get their thoughts on what\u2019s new, what\u2019s up-and-coming, what\u2019s popular and what\u2019s declining.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"5-industry-studies-and-statistics\">5. Industry Studies and Statistics.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Popular industry reports on sites like Nielson and Emarketer are an excellent source for data-driven content pieces, like infographics. Additionally, you can simply pull a few key figures, tie them into the macro-and-micro environments of your subject matter objective and you have a nearly never-ending source of informational type articles.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"source-3-personal-experience\">Source 3: Personal Experience<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"1-your-business-day\">1. Your Business Day.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Give your audience a behind-the-scenes look at your business. Regardless of your role or title, sharing the ins-and-outs of your working day is a great way to build credibility and engage like-minded readers. This also happens to be one of the easy content buckets to turbo-boost by adding photos and videos to your content arsenal.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"2-your-co-workers\">2. Your Co-Workers.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Ask team members for interviews or do a series of biographies to show the real people behind your business. The experts at your company will know more about their topic than you do. Ask your technical team about little-known product features. Ask your sales team about what they hear from customers. Ask your marketing team about current trends. Don\u2019t expect them all to \u2018get-it.\u2019 In fact, this may be one of your tougher targets to tap for inspiration, so start with marketing and management and move out into the wider realm with proof of your efforts for the unconvinced.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"3-company-news\">3. Company News.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Share pictures, commentary and comedic moments from a corporate event. Always write about awards won, milestones achieved (that can be publically shared), community involvement and upcoming events. If there\u2019s a new product release on the horizon or your business is expanding, toot your own horn. If you\u2019re sun-setting a product, comprehensively explain why to help alleviate negative sentiment and boost awareness of the approaching discontinuation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"4-play-devils-advocate-speculate\">4. Play Devil&#8217;s Advocate. Speculate.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Approaching a topic in your industry from a different angle is an effective way to start a conversation and boost your brand\u2019s profile. If you want to drive some potentially controversial discussion, speculate about the future direction of your industry, product type or technology. People are always looking for ways to prepare for the future and for ways to enhance their knowledge. This is an area is which you can be particularly obtuse as long as it falls within brand guidlelines.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"5-look-to-your-tools\">5. Look To Your Tools.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>What tools do you use to make your life, work or work-life balance easier? It\u2019s likely your audience will find your recommendations, reviews and insights engaging and interesting. Explain in your own words the benefits of downloading or purchasing an ebook, software, or an app, or just share what works for you and what doesn\u2019t in each different area.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span id=\"6-amuse-your-readers\">6. Amuse Your Readers.<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>Sometimes poking fun at yourself when something either went amazingly right or drastically wrong at work or at home can offer a bit of diversion for both your readers and for you. When done well, these pieces can be highly engaging and can help to further grow your base of evangelists. If you don\u2019t mind sounding like a bit of a klutz every now and then, these can be very effective<em> provided<\/em> they\u2019re about you, not someone else or the business.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"in-summary\">In Summary<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Approach content creation from the perspective of your target audience. Answer questions before they&#8217;re asked. Keep a notebook on you at all times and make use of these ideas if only to make your life easier.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully, these suggestions will help you in your content marketing journey and ensure you can deliver meaningful content to your audience consistently and for a long time to come. If you have any suggestions that we haven&#8217;t covered, please co-create with us and add your comments \u2013 we love great ideas too!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Consistently coming up with clever and relevant topics for your audience is a huge challenge. You can monitor industry news and competitors, but there is a gold mine of source material that often gets overlooked: your own customers. &nbsp; Depending on your business, there are a number of opportunities to&#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/content-writing-service\/2018\/07\/source-content-ideas\/\">Continue Reading <span class=\"icon icon-circle-chevron-right\"><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":20843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1323],"tags":[312],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>20+ Ways to Source Content Ideas - Constant Content<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/content-writing-service\/2018\/07\/source-content-ideas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"20+ Ways to Source Content Ideas - Constant Content\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Consistently coming up with clever and relevant topics for your audience is a huge challenge. 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