Everyone in the digital marketing world knows that content is king, but consistently producing quality content is not always easy. Content creators often find themselves with a writer’s block and can struggle to come up with fresh content.
If you find yourself in this position, don’t despair. There are plenty of pro-tips that content creators use to spark new ideas. To help you out, Marketing Dive created a list of the ten best ways to create quality content when you feel like you are out of ideas. Take a look:
1. ASK FOR HELP, GET A GROUP BRAINSTORM GOING
Sometimes all you need to get the creative juices flowing is to discuss your roadblocks with someone else. If you work in an office, tap some of your co-workers to help you brainstorm ideas. If you work independently hop on an online forum and ask fellow web surfers for some input. All you need is one good idea to jumpstart your new content.
2. INTERVIEW SOMEBODY
Writing interview questions and having someone else answer them is an easy way to create an interesting post without having to create the bulk of the content yourself.
3. CRUISE THE NEWS
A simple Google News search can bring up a plethora of fresh ideas for content. Any news related items have the added bonus of tying into already trending topics.
4. ASK YOUR AUDIENCE
There’s no better indicator of what will grab your readers’ attention than what they tell you they are interested in. Read the comments of other blogs and see if there are questions you could answer there as well.
5. TAKE A BREAK
If you have been staring at a blank screen for hours and nothing is coming to you, leave your desk. Take a walk and get some fresh air. Call a friend and go out for lunch. That friend could be a sounding board for your content problems too. Inspiration will come easier when your mind is fresh.
6. CHANGE UP THE FORMAT
Are you a blogger? Try doing a video blog entry instead. Do you create graphics or take photos? Try putting your ideas into words instead. Changing the format forces you to look at content from a different angle, which can inspire more creative ideas.
7. DON'T CREATE, JUST CURATE
Valuable content does not have to be original. Consider doing a compilation of content than you found helpful and sharing it with your followers or customers.
8. RE-SHARE OLD CONTENT
Think about some of the content you created in the past. Is any of it still relevant? Just like you can curate other’s content, you can build a list of your own. Use a new twist on the topic to keep the content fresh like a Top 10 list or a new theme.
9. READ A BOOK
If it’s relevant you can review it for some added content. Even if it is not relevant to your industry, reading other writers’ words could spark some new ideas for your content.
10. GET BACK TO BASICS
Content doesn’t have to be complicated. Think about some “beginners” posts you could do or consider creating a “how-to” list.
