#CONTENT—3. GENERATING CONTENT IDEAS

3. GENERATING CONTENT IDEAS

I. Why do you need to generate content ideas?

Why should you have a process for generating content ideas?

A process allows you to think of ideas that may not be easily apparent. It allows you to come up with a predictable flow of original content ideas.

Content generation process is a hedge against writers block.

First, your days are busy, You have blog, webinars and podcast to produce. A content generation process will allow you to come up with a predictable flow of original content ideas.

Second, the process will help you uncover ideas that you may not have come up with on your own

Third, sooner or later you will run out of good ideas

Fourth, content marketing at scale requires proven processes so your team can grow responsibly and keep up with the increased demand.

II. How Does the Ideation Process Work?

How do you garner raw material?

What types of content should you read?

How should you digest content?

Read and consume content from a wide variety of places.

Be curious and be fascinated by a wide variety of topics. All these make up the raw material, all the facts, concepts and stories that float in your mind in a sort of suspended animation.

Curiosity and the will to act on it, is a helpful prerequisite for any content marketer.

It helps to maintain a repository for those ideas.

An idea is nothing more than a new combination of old elements.

Read whatever you can, whenever you can. Develop an apatite for content. Consume history, poetry or science magazines on top of Snapchat stories and industry blogs. Let it all seep into your mind.

Why is it important to unconsciously process content?

Sometimes, you have to let your mind rest and organize itself on its own. Even when you are not actively thinking about a problem, the mind has its own way of processing information and making connections.

When you start digesting content, the goal is to bring those disparate ideas together and see how they fit.

You are looking for relationships, connections and combinations.

The goal is to synthesize those ideas in an interesting and compelling ways.

What is the eureka moment?

Suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere , an idea will pop into your head. It will come to your head when you are least expecting it.

III. How Do You Generate Ideas for Content Creation

Why is it important to know your buyer personas' reading habits?

How would you go about finding your buyer personas' reading habits?

How can you analyze your competitors?

Put yourself in the shoes of your prospects. Empathize with them. What are their challenges and pain points?

What do they read on the web and get educated about? Is there a specific blog or website they frequently visit?

You can interview some of your best customers by phone and e-mail and find out their reading habits.

You can even include a question in your form that explores visitors go-to outlets.

If you share the same target audience, the content that performs well on their site will also appeal to your prospects. So, look at what they are producing and what really resonating.

Use Buzzsumo to quickly scan their websites and see what's performing well.

How can you use search engines to help generate content ideas?

What is content brainstorm?

How do you create a comfortable atmosphere for a content brainstorm?

Start with set of keywords, such as industry or professions. Search for relevant keywords in Quora. Quora can provide valuable insights into common challenges and questions. Search for top or middle of the funnel questions that your target audience usually ask.

Google search console provides actual keywords people are typing in.

Two ways to leverage Google: Autocomplete and Related Searches

Autocomplete is when Google suggest a query as you type in the search bar.

Related searches appear at the bottom of the search results page and offers additional suggestions.

A content brainstorm can be an incredibly productive way to generate fresh and creative content ideas. Invite team members who do not spend their day thinking about content. You will get new ideas from a different perspective.

What can you do to organize a content brainstorm?

Use sticky notes, white boards and other visual aids to keep track of ideas. Sticky notes are usually effective, as it is easy to group them together by topic and identify trends and common themes.

Set time limits because because constraints breed creativity.

Run through a basic word association game.
Leverage braindumps - Uninterrupted period of time when you jot down ideas that come to your mind. The goal is quantity, not quality.
This works equally well with experts and people who do not know anything about the topic.

What is the end result of a content brainstorm?

To generate new, unexpected ideas.

It might not be the time to refine those ideas or critique them.

Additional resources you may find useful

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