One of the hardest things I find in social media is knowing want to say. Having to post on Facebook every day and coming up with a blog post several times a week can be a real challenge. Here are a few tips for finding some inspiration so you are never lost for words.

Know who your audience are:

Who is going to be reading your content? Like all marketing strategy your content needs to be tailored with your audience in mind. One way of doing this is putting together some profile outlines of them. For example if you have a cafe one of your audience could be Claire. She's a mum with two kids who are both at school. She likes to catch up with her girlfriends for a coffee and piece of cake before picking the kids up. She reads high end fashion magazines like Marie Claire and enjoys playing tennis when she has the time. Claire wouldn't be your only customer but represent a proportion of them. Do up to 5 profiles for different segments of your customer base. When you are coming up with content have these 5 profiles in mind.

Find out where they hang out and start listening to what they are talking about:

Using the example of Claire you might find her spending her online time on parenting blogs and if you start seeing discussions about child friendly businesses that's an idea for a blog post. You could do post about how you can tell if a cafe is a good place to bring your kids. By listening to your target audiences' questions and concerns you can use your blog or Facebook page to answer them. This shows that you are in tune with your customers and are a helpful business looking after their needs.

Other potential sources of inspiration are blogs that are similar to yours. Again listen to what is being asked and the issues being raised.

Question Sites. On Yahoo Answers and Quora people ask questions about anything and everything. Put in a search term related to your business and see what questions come up. LinkedIn Groups and Answers are great for finding inspiration for consultancies.

Where else can you find out what's going on?

• Keyword tools like Google Keyword will show you the most searched for terms related to your business. These tools are a great way of finding out the language your customers use when talking about your product or service. There is no point blogging about property purchases if your readers are searching for buying a new home.
• Google Alerts are easy to set up and can be used to find other news and articles that can help you find other ways of writing about your topics.
• Bookmarking sites like Stumbleupon, Reddit, Digg and Delicious are filled with articles that you may find useful.
• Content aggregator sites like Alltop and Regator bring together articles and blogs based on topics.
• Search on Twitter. Use the advance search option on Twitter to find what people are talking about right now. Twitter is great for keeping your finger on the pulse.

Do you have a favorite go-to site for inspiration? Do you regularly subscribe to blogs in your industry?

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