An Initial Guide to Content Marketing – From Where Do We Get Content Ideation?
Content Ideation matters the most in every aspect of a business. A great idea is the basis of every campaign. Look around yourself. Every successful campaign was first started with a small idea. It is the excitement of your idea that makes your audience attracted and engaged and so, they keep sharing the word of mouth. Therefore, the idea is the most important thing. But from where does a great idea come? To help you learn about them, I’ve added this content ideation part into the initial guide to content marketing.
Dive in to burst your curiosity!
Where Do Inspirations Come From?
Swipe Files.
If you don’t have one yet, start keeping it now. A swipe file is a collection of all the ideas you liked over time and the things that have attracted your eyes. It is a great source of content ideation. Either you keep it in an email folder, an application, or in physical form, whichever may suit you, it’s always good to keep it around every time. you can also maintain a collection of ideas on Pinterest, Trello, and Evernote.
Brainstorming.
Another great source of content ideation is brainstorming. It is a great practice to make great ideas work. You can put in everything you have in mind over the paper, create links in between, and reach out to the final thing. That’s a great means of not letting go of your slightest ideas and pinpoints. You can also brainstorm with all the participants. Include all those members who are likely to be a stakeholder and ask for their ideas and inspirations.
Competitive Research.
That’s an amazing and most used source of content ideation. However, the brands that fully rely on their competitors’ research to bring things up misses a great opportunity of coming out with something new and different. Always remember that there is a difference between copying your competitors’ footsteps and sneaking into what they are up to and bringing something better than them. Yay. That’s what you shall do. Copying them would make you a second choice while surpassing what they do will surely make you the first.
When you conduct research, there are few things
you need to look upon very precisely;
- What is trending? (Google Trends)
- What is getting more links and engagement? (Open Site Engagement)
- What keywords have the top ranks in your niche?
- What your competitors are sharing and who is following them? (Followers Analysis)
- What kind of content are the top brands in your niche sharing? (Fresh Web Explorer)
- When doing competitors research, always remember to keep a check on their social media platforms as well. Check through their social media pages, subscribe to their email campaigns, and follow them as any crazy fan would do. Yay. You should become one so that their real crazy fans can be turned towards your brand. That’s how content marketing works.
Horizontal Thinking.
At times when you are completely out of ideas, horizontal thinking comes up with new ideas and inspirations. Horizontal thinking is basically going back to the point where you started and then thinking in all four directions so that you find a new angle. For instance, if you are running a blog on beauty tips and have written everything about the skincare products, you may now change the direction and start writing about the food supplements that serve as catalysts in attaining and retaining good skin.
Once you go back to the original point, there would be so many possible angles and directions and you won’t be left with no content ideation ever.
To put it all condensed, content ideation isn’t limited to the above-mentioned sources only. A creative mind possesses the capability to take ideation and inspiration from everything they see, everywhere they go, and every person they meet. It is an ongoing process and continues to happen until the final piece of content is ready. However, using the above sources can help you maintain an organized backup of content ideation.
