10 Simple Strategies to Constantly Generate New Content Ideas

Generating fresh content is the lifeblood of any successful brand or business. In a world where digital presence is everything, having a constant flow of new content ideas is non-negotiable. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur, a stay-at-home mom, or someone juggling a side hustle, you need to keep your audience engaged with content that feels fresh and relevant. Stagnant content won’t cut it in the fast-paced digital landscape. You need new content ideas to stay ahead of the curve and keep your audience coming back for more.

Why is fresh content so important? Because it’s what attracts attention and keeps your audience engaged. When you consistently deliver fresh, trending content, you signal to your audience that you’re on top of the latest developments and trends. This not only builds trust but also positions you as an authority in your field. People are more likely to follow, engage, and share content that feels current and relevant. Plus, new content ideas can help you tap into new markets and reach a broader audience. Simply put, fresh content drives engagement, and engagement drives growth. So, let’s dive into the strategies that will help you keep those ideas flowing.

1. Use AI-Powered Tools

Don’t just ask an AI to spit out blog titles. Dive deeper by giving it more information about your core topic, target audience, and goals. Then ask the AI to explore different angles, common questions, pain points, and unique spins or ideas on the subject.

You can even show it your competitor’s best content and ask for a more comprehensive outline that expands on that topic. The AI will use its knowledge base to generate subtopics, stats, studies, and examples. Use these ideas and outlines as a starting point to create your content.

A few of my favorite AI tools to use for content are Meta.ai, Claude.ai, and ChatGPT.

2. Leverage “Answer the Public” and “Also Asked”

Let me introduce you to one of my favorite tools, Answer the Public. Sign up for a free AnswerThePublic account and enter one of your core topics or keywords. It will show you common questions people ask about that topic based on search data.

Find interesting questions your current content doesn’t cover. These are great new content ideas! You know your audience is searching for this content, provide them with the answers.

Research the full intent behind each question and build content that answers it specifically with actionable steps, examples, and tools. You’re positioning yourself well when it comes to search engines.

Another excellent tool for content ideas is “Also Asked.” Enter in your topic and let it show you what questions are ALSO being asked based on your input.

Scroll down and look at the “People Also Ask” boxes. Make a list of these commonly asked questions. Any that you haven’t covered? Perfect, those are your best content opportunities!

3. Analyze Competitor Content

Run a free Ahrefs Webmaster Tools report on your biggest competitor’s domain. Look at the “Top Pages” report to see their most trafficked and linked-to pages over the last year. These are their best, highest-demand content.

Study each top piece critically. Where are the gaps that you could fill? Is the information lacking in some areas? Are they missing sections you could add? Is the design or formatting lacking? Any outdated info or weak points you could improve on with a more comprehensive piece? Is there a specific angle or expertise you bring to the topic?

You can also analyze the top Google results for your main keywords. Look for opportunities to make something better, more in-depth, and more useful than what’s currently ranking. These are prime new content ideas to pursue.

4. Join Reddit Communities

Ok, just hear me out. Reddit is currently ranked#4 in the Social Media Networks category and #16 globally in May 2024 ¹Find the most active, high-growth subreddits related to your topic using redditlists.com and meta-subreddits like r/findareddit. Join a few niche communities and sort the feed by “Top” posts of the year.

Look for questions, debates, complaints, or insights that highlight common knowledge gaps, challenges, or desires of your target audience. Where there’s a lot of comments or upvotes, there’s interest.

Engage with commenters and ask follow-up questions to dig deeper into their pain points and needs. Their raw thoughts are your new content ideas! You can also propose a few loose ideas to get feedback before creating anything.

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5. Mine Long-Tail Terms

Using a premium keyword tool like Ahrefs or SEMrush, export your core keyword rankings along with search volumes and other key metrics. Filter to find terms with at least a few hundred monthly searches that include specific long-tail phrases related to your niche.

These represent specific needs and intentions of your target audience that general short-tail content may not address. For example, if you sell sales training for startups, a targetable content idea could be “best lead generation techniques for seed-stage B2B startups”. This segmented audience likely has specific pain points that a dedicated long-form content piece can address.

6. Turn Your Team Into Idea Generating Machines

Don’t go it alone. Activate your entire team as an idea force multiplier. Schedule recurring “Content Ideation Workshops” with your people. In each session, focus on a different product or service and get everyone to share frequently asked questions, prospecting objections, user issues, and insights they hear from customers.

Dig deeper by asking “What solutions could we create content around?” and “What related topics would be helpful to address?” Catalog everything in a shared doc. Incentivize participation with a content idea leaderboard and prizes.

7. Become a Data Master

Data nerds unite! Original data and research make content valuable. Use tools like SurveyMonkey Audience to run surveys for as little as $1 per response across different demographics and interests. Ask questions to uncover insights, benchmarks, and trends in your niche. You can also poll customers directly.

For example, if you sell marketing software, you could survey marketers on their top channels, goals, team structures, and biggest obstacles. These findings become data-driven content opportunities like “The State of Content Marketing 2024” or “5 Marketing Team Archetypes”. You can also scan recent industry studies for compelling data points to visualize and write about.

8. Hijack Your Existing Content

I’m a huge fan of reusing what you already have! Don’t start from scratch. Use Google Analytics to find your highest-trafficked and most engaged pieces from the past 6-12 months. These show validated demand for certain topics and angles. For each piece, assess where you can dig deeper into any lightly covered facets.

Opportunities for expansion could include:

• Creating videos or webinars to walk through each subpoint
• Building supplementary tools or templates to operationalize the advice
• Updating with new stats or examples for a fresh version
• Spinning off key sections into standalone guides

You’re repurposing that initial success into new content pillars and assets built on that foundation.

When I look to start repurposing – I start by diving into our long form content on our blog. That’s usually a great source of successful content as you know it’s already attracted your target audience and you can spin your long form content into dozens of smaller pieces. Don’t overlook what you already have. 🙂

9. Feed the News Cycle

When breaking news or announcements hit your industry, they represent brief windows to capitalize on heightened attention. Maybe it’s a new tool launch, regulatory change, corporate move, or data breach.

Set Google Alerts for your core topics with keywords like “news,” “trends,” and “insights”. As relevant events occur, draft unique angles, hot takes, breakdowns, or meta-analyses to ride the buzz. For example, if a new AI writing tool launches, you could publish thoughts on “GPT-4’s Impact on Content Careers” or “The Limitations of AI Content Creators.”

10. Tap Thought Leaders

Don’t create content in a vacuum. Collaborate and cross-promote with niche influencers. Use tools like BuzzSumo to identify the most amplified people in your space based on their social engagement and shares. Connect by interviewing them for a podcast or blog feature.

During the interview, ask for their ideas on hot topics, content concepts, and angles worth pursuing for your audience. Propose some loose concepts and get their gut reaction. An added benefit? Your collaborator will likely co-promote and share the content, providing built-in initial distribution.

Look, creating fresh content is the lifeblood of any successful content marketing engine. If you aren’t constantly pumping out a stream of consistent content – you’re getting left in the dust.

The internet is an endless bonfire of boredom that needs constant fuel to keep feeding the flames of attention.

But when you weaponize these 10 simple idea generation techniques, you’ll be locked and loaded with more high-velocity content ammo than you can possibly fire in a lifetime. The path is clear – constantly generate fresh viral lightning with these strategies, or get left behind!

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