Finding content ideas is one of the greatest challenges for a content writer or marketer.
That is why Wehi has collected the tools we are currently using to find fresh content ideas.
These tools can be used for everything:
Finding fresh voices to share with your audience
Subjects to comment on
Inspiration for your own long form articles
Feedly
Feedly is a news aggregator. It gathers commentators and news sources that interest you. Then it assembles them in one easy to scan place.
I found Feedly looking for a cheaper alternative to BuzzSumo. Here is the article that pointed me in the right direction.
Feedly has helped me to find new content ideas. It has also helped me to work out which subjects or niches to avoid as they are over-saturated.
Stay up to date with the content trends in your field.
Feedly pointed me in the direction of ProBlogger, my new favourite procrastination.
There are certain drawbacks. Feedly is free to use but many areas of its service need a subscription. Features like keyword tracking and Twitter feeds are being a paywall. Wehi is using the free version because we use other tools like Hootsuite to track Twitter feeds.
Feedly has two main uses for content ideas.
Finding information to share with your audience
Finding subjects to comment on or breakdown for your audience.
Flipboard is another another content aggregator. The app has a natural feel and is exceptionally addictive.
It is easy to set up. Pick the subjects you want to investigate and Flipboard collects these into boards. Now just flick or flip through the boards of information until you find a great idea for a new video or article.
Be careful.
A quick burst of inspiration for your content.
Flipboard can easily become a time-sink. The swipe through ,or flip, mechanic makes you forget how long you have been ‘researching’ new ideas. Make sure that you are only following boards that are relevant to your niche. Try not to get lost in posts about the latest yoga trends like this author.
Flipboard isn’t for deep research or detailed feedback on an issue. I use their 10 for today feature to catch up on the latest news in copywriting and social media management.
Quora
Quora is an authoritative internet forum from ex Facebook execs. The forum is built around a question and answer format. Users post answers and receive a thought provoking and thorough answer.
Quora aims to be insightful and objective. The forum hosts many industry captains and thought leaders. It attracts high-quality answers. If you do want to engage with an audience check your sources first.
You can follow specific figures or Spaces in your niche. Spaces are like subreddits with fewer memes.
Quora is increasingly used by marketers as part of their SEO strategy(find our favourite SEO tools here). Long-term, engaging with Quora can increase your website’s authority and traffic.
There may be humble brags and adverts masquerading as actual advice. But, most users commit to providing their community with quality answers.
Use Quora for exploring the issues members of your community might be facing. This could produce FAQs or how to guides.
Collect users’ obstacles and create your own FAQ or guide to resolve them.
SERPs
Google it has everything. I usually use Google’s SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) to investigate possible long tail keywords.
Type something into Google’s search bar. It automatically generates the predicted answers to your query.
Enter the person or subject you are contemplating. Google will give you a free list of suggested content ideas.
Google SERPs are a free source of content ideas.
You don’t have to answer these questions directly. There is an advantage of avoiding the main results. Looking to cover the best hairdresser’s clippers on the market? Google will return you with licticles such as ‘5 best clippers on the market’. So this concept may have been covered a thousand times.
Flip it.
Why not try the five worst clippers on the market? Or 5 things to look for in great clippers?
Google’s SERP, or any search engine, gives you exactly what and how people are searching for content. It is a valuable lesson in how people search for content, how they formulate a question and the exact phrases they use.
Phrases and formulas you can use in your own content.
HARO
Haro (or help a writer out) is a service that connects journalists with reliable sources for their content.
HARO rounds up every story you might be interested in, packages them and delivers them straight to your inbox every morning.
HARO isn’t just a space for content ideas. It is a free lesson in sharpening your copy.
HARO asks that you are an expert in a given field before you answer a question. So if you are going to answer a specific query make sure your answers are worthy of a major publication.
Reporters and writers are trend setters. They are not just writing about the issues affecting people today. They are researching issues on the horizon. Why not use HARO to discover what the cutting edge is investigating and beat them to the post.
HARO has another advantage. Journalists are economical and efficient at finding the information they need. This is a skill that you can learn from reading their requests.
How do they phrase their questions?
What do they specifically ask for?
Who do they request information from.
HARO is a source for content ideas and a free lesson in sharpening your copy.
Reddit labels itself as the bulletin board of the internet. It is full of dynamic and quirky content form a variety of answers.
Be warned.
Reddit is the internet in microcosm. It is full of interesting individuals sharing informative and unusual information. It is also home to some puerile and upsetting spaces. Take a wrong turn and you will be washing your eyes out with holy water for a week.
Reddit is home to dedicated and vibrant communities. Called subreddits. Topics as varied as carpentry, make-up and classic movies have thousands of users ready to share and support readers.
The bulletin board of the internet and a million and one content ideas.
Be aware that some communities ask that you meet certain requirements before you ask questions or post your own questions. For instance; the podcasting community r/podcasting requires that you have interacted with other user's content before you post your own.
Reddit is useful for finding out what customers actually think about certain trends or products. Reddit users do not bite their tongue and they air their grievances at length.
Why not explore their gripes in an article?
Or assemble an FAQ resolving their issues?
LinkedIn was once now a job listing website. Now it is a key platform for content marketing and researching the latest trends in business.
LinkedIn now offers you the opportunity to follow certain hashtags and key figures. For instance I follow the hashtags #webdesign and #copywriting.
LinkedIn is the centre point of many businesses content strategies.
Linked in is a great place to follow your competitors and other voices in your niche. Find out what content they are creating or not creating. LinkedIn is the perfect place for inspiration.
LinkedIn still positions itself as a business platform with a professional standard. Most content is well researched and structured effectively. This is changing. As LinkedIn’s user base is growing the amount of click bait is growing too.
I follow the hashtag copywriting. Most posts are well thought out, provide sound information and intended to enrich the community. However, there is a growing number of guides or articles that are blatant adverts for their services.
LinkedIn is perfect for finding out the challenges business sectors or markets are facing. Challenges that you can address or comment on with your audience.
Facebook Groups
Facebook isn’t just an idle procrastination. Groups offer detailed insight into new niches and content areas.
Facebook Groups are a goldmine for discovering the issues facing a specific niche. Every post is somebody either sharing something helpful or asking for help. Every comment is the inspiration for a new content idea. You just have to listen and write content that appeals to them.
You can search for Facebook groups by hobby i.e. golfers or location i.e. South Wales. Facebook is so large and their data is so granular that you can search for specific niches like 'South Wales Golfers'.
You can engage with these audiences to find out what content they want or you can lurk in the comments. Facebook is very useful for creating marketing personalities.
Facebook Groups provides granular data and is an aide to creating marketing personalities for your new content.
Interested in who is engaging with this South Wales golf group? You can gather information on your audience and learn their pain points.
Like Reddit some groups have specific criteria before you post on the group. Make sure you check these before posting any of your content or asking questions on these groups.
Facebook is great for understanding how people actually talk. For creating marketing personalities for your content.
Evernote.
Evernote may not give you new content ideas but it will organise your current ideas.
Well Evernote is not a content idea aggregator. But it is useful for collecting all your ideas. You can use any other tools like Google Drive or Dropbox. I have included Evernote because it is how I organise everything from my finances to research projects.
Evernote allows you to collect notes in the form of web links, work documents and PDFs.
Evernote is where I home my swipe file.
Evernote’s app means that it is easy for me to store anything and access it later.
Conclusion
You don’t have to use everyone's research tools. Using every one of these would take up several hours of your day. In a recent blog I set out the need to be sparing and specific in initial research.
Pick the right tool for your content strategy.
Each one of these tools has their merits. Facebook has an older demographic than Reddit. Reddit’s content is more unique than LinkedIn. LinkedIn’s content is better researched than Facebook's.
I will be adding to this blog so please include your tips or suggestions below.
We are very grateful to everyone who likes and shares our content.