Written by: Terry Tateossian, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Whether you are an online business maintaining a blog on your site or you are a blogger yourself, coming up with content that is both informative and engaging is a bit of a tough task. Every now and then, you might lack the inspiration or struggle with coming up with a relevant and interesting topic for your audience. Either way, this article will give you some useful tips on a few surprising and uncommon places to find content inspiration.
We will examine both online and offline resources that present valuable opportunities to get you started on blogging. You also don’t have to spend a fortune on topic researching – we will offer both free and paid suggestions so that there is a solution for businesses of all sizes.
Online Apps and Tools
Let’s say you are aware of the vast topic you want to write about (i.e., influencer marketing, social commerce, etc.) but can’t come up with anything specific. In that case, you could use a variety of tools and apps available online to come up with a great title for your next blog article.
Most of those tools, such as Answerthepublic, have limited yet free versions you could benefit from. All you have to do is type your broad idea, and you will be presented with the most commonly asked questions about it. Some of these questions are good enough to become titles or at least to inspire you to develop a topic on your own.
Other tools offer a possibility to find the most researched keywords, keyword phrases, topics, posts, and other types of content taken from all over the web. You could combine a few tools to craft the perfect title and get better insights into what your audience is interested in.
Podcasts
Podcasts are not only trendy right now but very useful when you are on the hunt for content inspiration. Browsing through industry podcasts is a great way to explore what is happening within your field, such as new technologies, tendencies, or problems that you should be aware of.
You could also investigate how your competitors are doing so that you know what your target audience is interested in. We don’t suggest you copy their content, but it might inspire you to come up with a better or more in-depth topic.
Also, make sure to check the feedback on those podcasts, as you might find the inspiration somewhere in the users’ comments.
Facebook Groups
Social media is all about connecting with people over common interests and hobbies. And Facebook is the perfect place to find groups in which your target audience has joined.
For instance, if you are selling fishing gear, you might want to search not only for fishing enthusiast groups but also for outdoor sports and hobbies, camping, etc.
Once you find such a group, do your research and look for recurring topics/problems so that you know what type of content your audience wants to find.
Also, don’t be surprised if you see your name or company mentioned in these groups. No matter if it’s positive or negative feedback, it’s very useful to know your readers’ preferences and needs so that you can optimize both your content and your overall approach.
Events
Our next suggestion is for an offline resource to inspire your blog content – start visiting different types of industry events such as conferences, networking events, and seminars.
Meeting with professionals from your business sphere will let you update your knowledge and gather key information on the latest trends and events. This way, you could provide your readers with more in-depth blog articles, which will make you stand out from the competition.
Due to the pandemic, some of these events might be conducted online and if so, make sure to go through all the comments and questions from other viewers. It’s their concerns that will guide you towards useful and informative content for your blog.
And finally, why not organize an event yourself? You could invite other professionals, business partners, as well as some of your clients/readers or interested buyers. Throughout the event, you will gather various impressions and questions to inspire you for blog writing.
Your Employees / Team
You might think it’s a predictable place to start your content research, yet many employers or blog writers are neglecting it. Whether you have a whole team to ask or someone helping you maintain your blog, don’t underestimate the importance of these people’s opinions and points of view.
You might be surprised to find out how they view a certain topic or their questions about it. Also, asking employees from different departments would give you a broader picture to work with generating blog topics.
One way to gather your team’s ideas is via a questionnaire, yet spending time to interview each person or brainstorm with a small group is far more useful and would be appreciated by everyone.
Wrap Up
Each of the sources we gave you to find your content inspiration could be implemented into your marketing plan right away. You could also mix and match different options to generate even more topic ideas.
For instance, why not organize an event inviting the members of the Facebook group you found? It could be conducted both in person and online, whatever works best for you and your visitors.
Another option is to use one of the online tools we’ve mentioned in combination with a questionnaire among your employees. You will gather a ton of interesting questions on the topic of your choice, which would help you plan the content plan of your blog articles.
Our last tip is not to be afraid to experiment with all the options we gave you and, furthermore to modify them according to your audience, needs, and business model.
Terry Tateossian, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Terry Tateossian, Founding Partner of Socialfix Media is a fourth-generation entrepreneur who is recognized as an Inc. 5000 America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies, Forbes’ Top Women in Business, Fastest Growing Women Presidents by WPO, and 40 Under 40 Business Leaders by NJBIZ. Terry has been featured for outstanding leadership and career accomplishments in numerous industry publications as an engineer, a thought-leader in technology, and an innovator in the field of marketing. But her favorite and toughest earned title is being “Mom” to her 2 children.
