Whether your blog is weeks old or has been around for a decade-plus, coming up with new blog posts and content topic ideas isn’t always easy. Sometimes it feels like you just can’t think of any blog topics. Trust us, we’ve been there. If you find yourself hitting a brick content wall, then look no further than our Top 7 9 places to source new marketing content ideas.

Quick note, we updated this blog post in May 2021 to include new sources and additional content development tips. All new content is in bold below.  

7 (Now 9) Sources to Inspire Your Marketing Content

1) Talk To Your Sales Staff

Believe it or not, your sales staff is a veritable fountain of content ideas. Every day they’re on the frontline talking to potential new customers and pushing your business forward. 

Ask your sales team to keep track of the more frequently asked questions. Chances are that if a couple potential customers are asking the same question, others prospects are wondering the same thing. So, create content that proactively addresses and answers those questions. 

Sales related content could include content that discusses:

• Pricing (tiers, payment plans, etc.)
• Features and Benefits
• Risks or Potential Sales Roadblocks

2) Follow Up With Your Customer Service Reps

Your sales team aren’t the only individuals regularly talking to your customer base. Your customer support team is also frequently answering consumer questions and walking their customers through your product or service. 

Take those common questions and turn them into content ideas. Just like with your sales team, chances are that if a couple of your customers are asking the same questions, there’s no doubt that there are other customers who will find that content valuable. 

3) Mix Up Your Media Format

Coming up with new content ideas doesn’t always mean you have to come up with net new content topics. Sometimes it could mean reformatting or recreating content that you already have. 

Take a look at your highest performing content and its media format. Depending on the type and topic, you may be able to recreate or reformat that content into a brand new piece that your audience can’t wait to engage with.

As a start, consider turning your best blog posts into: 

• Videos
• Infographics
• Audio posts
• Slideshows

4) Create Follow Up Topics Based On High Performing Posts

Changing up the media type isn’t the only way you can repurpose your existing content. Your best performing content can also serve as the direct inspiration for your next big content hits. 

How? 

Create follow-up pieces that continue the story your brand was sharing in the original post.

For example, if you’re post is about 5 great summertime recipes, a direct follow up could be 5 MORE great summertime recipes. 

You could also take the opposite approach. Let’s say your content piece shares the 4 best places to take a first date in your city. As a follow up, you could write the opposite of the original article and share 4 of the worst places to take a first date. 

5) Bunch and Batch Your Content Ideas

There are a million ways to slice and dice a content topic. If you find yourself stuck in the midst of a brainstorm, try taking a single content topic and go deep with it. Explore that content topic from every angle. For each angle, there’s a content piece ready to be created.

What does this look like in person? 

Let’s say that you’re a higher education institution looking to attract new undergrad students, and you’ve chosen what to expect as a freshman as your content topic. You could write a single post and try to cram in as much content gold as possible, or you could turn this single idea into a breviary of content ideas like:

• Tips on how to get along with your new dorm mates
• Best practices for managing your schedule
• What to expect on your first day of school
• How to navigate the school’s food program
• Common mistakes freshmen make in their first week

All  individual ideas, yet they all ladder up to that overarching topic of what to expect as a freshman enrolling in your school. 

6) Check Out What Your Competitors Are Doing 

Not to copy per se, just for a bit of friendly inspiration. Take a look at not only the specific content titles that they’re writing but also on the format and broader topic buckets. Are they writing about any topics that you aren’t? Focusing on specific customer needs that you might be overlooking? 

Again, don’t copy your competitors directly, but do explore whether or not it makes sense for you to include adding these content topics to your brand’s content strategy. 

Always remember, you’re not the only one struggling to come up with great content. All businesses face the same need to generate new content continually. Which means, your competitors also struggle from time-to-time with coming up with fresh content. 

7) Ask Your Followers

Sometimes the easiest way to figure out what content your audience wants is to ask them. Make them apart of your content topic generation process. Not only does this help to ensure you’re creating content that you already know they care about, but it can also help to strengthen your audience’s connection to your brand. 

There are several different ways to ask your audience for content ideas, but some of our favorites include:

• Posting an open-ended question to your social media accounts
• Asking your audience to leave topic ideas as comments on your blog posts
• Creating a poll on your website and share it with your audience through email

Pro Tip: One of SocialToaster’s most popular features is our built-in survey functionality. SocialToaster’s survey feature allows your team to easily create surveys within the SocialToaster platform, then share that survey directly with your advocates. Once shared, you’ll be able to easily view the results as well as reward participants with prizes or additional incentives.

8) Join in On The Conversations 

Have you ever perused the comment section of a YouTube or TikTok video? Not only are they hilariously polarizing, but they’re also pretty insightful places to gather content for your next post. The conversations happening here are your direct access to the finger on the pulse of what content people respond to and engage with. Comment sections on any social media platform can help you zone in on what you should be discussing on your platforms.

9) Host a Content Creation Contest 

A picture is worth a thousand words, and your followers and fans are eager to show off their creativity featuring your brand. With a content creation contest, you’re giving your followers and fans free rein to create the content they want to see. The content creators will give you a huge batch of user-generated content that can easily be used and repurposed into your future marketing campaigns and strategies. 

Don’t forget to reward your faithful content creators with prizes. You can choose to reward every person who creates content on your behalf and shares it or have your fans and followers vote on their favorites. Make sure you create a special hashtag so you can keep all the content organized and easy to find.

Stave Off The Writer’s Block

From time-to-time, all content creators have to deal with writer’s block. It’s just part of the job. The next time you find yourself struggling to come up with new topic ideas, remind yourself that there is a litany of potential content sources just waiting to be mined for content gold. 

Ready to take your content efforts to the next level?  We’re here to help.  Schedule a call with one of our advocacy content marketing specialists today by sending us an email or by giving us a call at 855.62.TOAST!