Hey everyone, I'm Simone Cunningham.
Welcome back to my channel where I
share marketing insights to help
entrepreneurs business owners and
content creators grow their businesses.
In this video
I'm going to reveal seven techniques
that should help unlock your creativity
so you can brainstorm content ideas for
your content marketing strategy.
Content creation is never done, but
you know that just as you seem to get
on top of it you need to come up
with more ideas for your blogs videos,
social media., emails lead magnets and
more.
It has literally never stops.
So this is what I'm going to help you
with today.
Let's talk about getting those ideas
out of your head and into your content
calendar.
I have a copy of my Essential Content
Calendar to give away later in the
video.
It's a powerful tool to help you plan
your content workflow and keep track
of your content.
So if you're ready to stop staring at a
blank whiteboard keep watching.
Before we get started remember if you
like what I share today
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I'd really love to hear from you.
So here we go. 7 techniques on how to
brainstorm content ideas for effective
content marketing. Number 1 use topic
mind maps.
Whether you're working as a team or
alone a mind map is still one of the
more effective ways to brainstorm
content ideas.
A mind map is a diagram that lays out
information visually.
The idea is that you start with your
main topic in the middle of a white
board or a big piece of paper
and then branch into more and more
related issues.
For example to brainstorm ideas around
health.
You would start with the key topic
health in the middle.
And then start coming up with more
specific topics like genes, food,
medicine and keep going until you run
out of ideas.
Your goal isn't to look for a right or
a wrong answer but to spark
inspiration and come up with subtopics
that would lead you to specific ideas
for your content marketing.
A few mind mapping tools our Mindly,
SmartDraw and Stormboard.
I'll have the full list in my worksheet
for this video. Technique number 2
build a swap file of your great content
ideas. For those who don't know a swipe
file is simply a digital or physical
folder where you keep all your
fantastic marketing ideas.
You might be doing this already by
bookmarking websites or articles, but
now I want you to be more organized
about it. When you're searching for
inspiration and find something you
like always bookmark it and save it to
a folder on your computer or an app
like Pocket or Evernote.
Or even a Pinterest board will do.
It doesn't matter whether the content
was produced ages ago
or by a business in a different niche
to yours or by a competitor.
The goal is to capitalize on other
people's ideas as inspiration.
Technique number 3 find a strategy
that nearly worked and understand why
I didn't. Learning from your
unsuccessful content is a big part of
content marketing.
The idea here is you research a piece
of content that didn't perform well
and seek to understand why it didn't
and then fix it by making it better.
There are two ways you can do this.
1. You need to look at your old posts.
or 2. Check out our competitor's
content marketing results.
If you come across some that aren't
ranking well or haven't earned a
reasonable number of links
then that's content
you can explore and make it better.
You can use tools like Google Search
Console, SEMRush and Moz Pro. Again
I'll give you the full list in my
video's worksheet. Technique number 4
keep a spreadsheet of all your old
ideas.
Like I said earlier the first step in
creating amazing content is to ensure
that you have a bottomless
well of great ideas.
My tip is to store those ideas in a
spreadsheet.
I use Google Sheets.
Remember there's no such thing as a bad
idea. Any idea that may not look good
today could be a great idea in six
months. So don't delete concepts that
you don't use. Going over
your old ideas is also the perfect way
to brainstorm content ideas.
You never know an old idea might spark
someone to come up with a viral piece
of content. Technique number5 explore
topics your audience cares about.
Don't just base your content on
keyword research. Do further in-depth
research with questions
like what's being shared on social
media platforms?
What are the trending topics within
your Niche or industry at that
particular moment?
What's being covered by journalists?
Your content should not just be about
ranking top on search engines.
Think about how that piece of content
resonates with your target audience.
Does that article or video make your
audience feel more connected?
Does it evoke some sort of discussion
emotion or feeling. If the answer is
yes, then it qualifies as a successful
piece of content. To get to know your
audience better
look at tools such as Sprout social,
Buzz Sumo, Similar Web and Crazy Egg.
I'll have all these links in the
video's worksheet.
We're more than halfway through now, so
leave a comment below about the tips so
far.
What's your favorite brainstorming
technique?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Technique number 6 examine.
what's working
in other industries?
I see you out there stalking your
competitor.
We all do it and really it's an
essential
tactic in marketing.
You need to know what your competitors
are up to and the content they're
producing. But too much time spent
looking outwards isn't a positive way
to get inspiration.
So I want you to ditch that competitive
spark for a moment and take some time
to check out content created by brands
in a completely different industry or
niche from yours.
If your niche is financed then have a
look at the travel industry. If it's
B2C check out what's breaking
records in B2B land. Look for content
pieces that have caught the attention
of the community, social media and
publishers and then dive into key
metrics social shares and links.
Where did they earn their links from?
How are they ranking on Google?
Then I want you to reverse engineer
that content by that
I mean establish why the piece was
successful
Was it its unique research, timeliness,
hook or data-driven angle.
Once you compare the content along with
yours
You'll know where to improve during
your content brainstorming.
Finally technique number 7 consult
those outside your marketing team.
Do I hear groans?
Yes, you need to go down and talk to
Johnny in sales or Melissa in
manufacturing and hear their stories
or better yet invite them to be part
of your next brainstorming session.
You'll be amazed at the insights
you'll get from different departments
based
on their interactions with customers,
your products and services.
This is how you keep it real and get
research to develop targeted campaigns
that answer your customer's questions
and concerns. Sometimes the negative
client feedback you here is more
useful than the glowing reviews.
I love this approach because your
content marketing will be so much
better for three reasons. One, your
content will answer questions that
your customers are actually asking.
Two, you'll gain an actual insight
into some real problems that your
content marketing campaigns could
solve and three you'll figure out the
best ideas to build on those key topics.
So that's it. 7 techniques to help you
brainstorm content ideas for effective
content marketing. No more blank white
boards for you. As promised here is my
free Essential Content Calendar.
It's a powerful tool to help you
simplify your content creation workflow.
And minimize the time spent looking for
published content.
I use my multiple times a day.
Also don't forget to download your free
worksheet for this video.
The link is in the video description.
I'd also like to hear what techniques
you're using to brainstorm content
ideas.
What do you want to try?
Are there any you think I've missed out
on? I'd really love to hear from you.
So be sure to comment below. While you
wait for the next week's video take a
look at these two videos I have here
as well.
In How to Increase Traffic to Your
Website With Content Marketing I
discuss tips to attract more clients,
get repeat visitors to your blog, grow
your email list and more. And in
Content Marketing Strategy Explained I
show you how to create a content
marketing strategy for your business.
Remember to download my Comprehensive
Content Marketing Plan template.
It will be a big help to you.
If you like what I'm sharing with you.
Please remember to subscribe and hit
the like like button.
Thank you for watching. As always
I'm grateful for your support.
I hope you have a great day and a great
week.
I'll see you in the next one.
Bye for now.