Inspired writing tends to come in spurts. Sometimes, inspiration strikes and you tap furiously at the keyboard, resulting in better content in 15 minutes than you usually write in an hour. But what about those times that you're feeling less than inspired? Content marketing presents the challenge of always needing to come up with fresh content, sometimes about the same product or concept. Topic regurgitation lowers quality, not to mention that it's really boring to write the same thing in different words over and over again. So how do you maintain a constant flow of great ideas? Here are some tips to find fresh angles for your content, and to find ongoing inspiration for your company's content marketing strategy.
Relate your content to current events
With each trending topic or dinner table discussion subject of the day, consider if and how your company might fit into the conversation. New issues arise or come into the limelight every week, and there's a lot of material that you can incorporate into your content. What are the newest trends or disrupters in your industry? What are the unique challenges that your users are faced with, right now, and how is your product going to solve those problems? What are your predictions for the field in the next 6 months? The next year? Each new product, feature, or advancement could have a compelling story hidden within that you can flesh out by relating it to what's trending.
Approach your piece with a different tone
Business writing can absolutely carry a tone. In fact, some of the most interesting articles are opinionated thought pieces that inspire you to learn new things, question your assumptions, and think about a product or company from a different perspective. Your tone can be excited, reminiscent of a fireside chat, or even cynical. It can be helpful and authoritative, or speculatory, especially if the format of your article is meant to spur discussion instead of just present information. You can also respond to an opinion piece with your opinion, or present contrasting analysis of the same facts or data.
Brainstorm so that you have ideas for a foggy day
When you're on a roll with ideas, don't just take the first one that sparks your interest and buckle down to work on it. Plan in advance: when you're having an inspired moment, let those ideas flow, listing them all on the paper or on screen. You can then refer back to your idea list (inspiration board, topic spreadsheet, whatever you want to call it) whenever you feel compelled to. In your brainstorm sessions, you should be creative, throw spaghetti at the wall - eventually something will stick. This exercise will get the creative juices flowing and improve your ability to align your ideas with your content, so you can market anything.
And by anything, I really mean anything. Even something as mundane as spoons. How about "top 10 dinner party ideas?", "Place settings for every event" (barbecues can be stocked with plastic tableware displayed in mason jars, garden brunches can have floral-accented tableware, etc.). How about a quiz: "What your spoon choice says about you". "Fun backyard games played with spoons". "Spoons: a classic card game".
No matter how dubious your ideas are, your future you may thank you for keeping track of them. Never be stumped for content ideas again.
Main image via Shutterstock