Content is king in the marketing world. And it’s not just an activity you do for a few weeks or a few months, but continually. Yes, this means that you are supposed to come up with fresh, original content all the time in the form of blog posts, articles, white papers, videos, podcasts, or any other form.
As you start doing your content marketing you are enthusiastic and full of ideas. You write blog posts in a breath and you are convinced that you can do this for a long time without getting bored or losing inspiration. However, there comes a day when you sit down in front of your computer, take a deep breath… and realise that you have no idea what you wish to write about. The text editor page stares blankly at you, the mouse cursor keeps blinking, and your inspiration is missing in action.
At this point, it is important not to panic. Everyone gets the writer’s block every once in a while. Thankfully, even though you are out of ideas, there are a lot of sources of information and tools which can help you find interesting, trending ideas for your blog posts. To give you a helping hand, we decided to list five of the most popular tools for discovering useful content marketing ideas:
1. Quora
Quora is a public forum where people ask questions and find solutions for their problems. It is a professional, technical and businesslike forum, not a trivial place like Yahoo Answers. The questions are pertinent and the answers relevant, given by professionals. If you browse Quora you can discover a lot of questions which are specific to your niche, giving you ideas for new content which is not just relevant to your blog, but also helpful for people who may become your clients.
So, every time you have no idea what to write about, go to Quora and take a look at the questions asked there. You will certainly discover sufficient content ideas for several days to come.
2. PopUrls
If you want to browse at a glance headlines from the most popular online publications, PopUrls is the right tool for you. In this way, you can stay up to date with the latest news in your niche, and be prompt in tackling hot subjects which have the potential to become viral. It is important for your reputation to be always up to date with the latest trends and developments in your niche and PopUrls is the best solution as a news aggregator and source of content ideas.
3. Feedly
Feedly helps you know what other bloggers and competitors are writing about. As a niche blogger and internet business owner, you need to keep a close eye on the latest news and on your competition at the same time. With Feedly, this is possible in a matter of minutes: it is a powerful RSS aggregator which crawls the internet and retrieves posted articles on the topics you selected. Just a few minutes of browsing Feedly results will give you sufficient ideas to create interesting content for your blog.
4. BuzzSumo
Know what is trending on the social media, what the influencers and thought leaders in your niche are writing about, and keep up with the latest trends. All these with the help of BuzzSumo, a powerful and intuitive research tool which is the top choice of the most successful marketers. What makes BuzzSumo so popular is the fact that you can filter information by industry, type of content (article, infographic, video, etc.), number of shares per social media platform, and more.
5. Google
When in doubt, just Google it. This has become a motto in the online age and it is really good advice if you are experiencing a sudden lack of ideas. Just input a few relevant keywords from your specific niche and you will find hundreds of ideas for new content for your blog.
As you can see, there is no need to panic if you get the writer’s block. There are plenty of online tools and sources to help you find new content ideas and keep your blog going.