How do you find the best content ideas and formats?

Top Tip: Keep testing and trying new things. Data gets you started. Then reactions, engagement and likes aka new data, point you in the next direction. Each time you pivot and try new things, data will lead the way. Never ever stop testing new content ideas and formats! In additon, stay curious. Consume content so that you can stay on top of trends.

Use data! Continuously refine your content strategy using the analytics that you're gathering. Then, adjust your approach accordingly.

It's essential to focus on ONE core idea that you can repurpose in various ways. Begin by creating a comprehensive 5,000-word guide on that singular core idea. Once done, you can transform this guide into: → 5 LinkedIn posts (including short-form, long-form, text with image, carousel, and poll formats) → 5 Twitter threads → 1 webinar or roundtable discussion → 5 brief videos for platforms like YouTube Shorts, Reels, and LinkedIn → 1 newsletter You get 18 (!) content types and formats. By tracking the performance of each content type (all rooted in the same core idea), you'll gain insights into which format resonates most with your audience. Once you've identified the most effective format, you can then scale it for your next topics.

Craft content that speaks to your audience's needs. Stay informed, experiment, and test. Content creation is a cycle of learning and improvement. Once you know your audience, you can tailor your content to their specific needs. To create engaging content is to provide value to your readers. This means solving a problem they're facing or answering a question they have. You can use tools like Google Trends, Quora, and Reddit to identify popular topics and questions in your niche. You can follow industry publications, attend conferences, or use social media listening tools to stay informed. There are many different ways to format your content. You can write blog posts, infographics, videos, podcasts, or even interactive games.

Understanding you’re perfect clients buying process is huge. What will they do to solve their problem? Go to Facebook? Search YouTube? Look to Instagram? Understand this first and then create content where they will be looking for help. For us we find that our Home Care clients typically search Google for help. We rank organically in TOP 3 in the U.S. for “Home Care Marketing” or “Home Care Recruiting”. How? Website optimized with content for our perfect clients. Typically No ads. All inbound leads come to us looking for help organically and many are already educated and qualified.

Speaking to pain points is the best way to convert clients via inbound leads. Here's two ways I do it: 1. I use Perplexity.ai to ask a targeted question about the potential client I want to reach. For example, here is a prompt I would use: "Please give me 3 struggles that (your niche or profession) have with reaching new clients:" 2. I use Reddit. Reddit is a gold mine for finding trending topics related to your niche or industry. Again I actually use perplexity.ai to get relevant subreddits. Here's a prompt I use: "Please give me 2 subreddits that explain the struggles within the (insert your niche) industry" In summary, use different AI tools to make finding pain points easier!

Is there a new problem in the market? Solve it. If it's already been solved. Market it better! There's always a new way of showing a solution to a problem.

Here's a powerful tip. Ask Google how to solve the problem, then turn the answers into your own version, adding your extra dash of expertise.

There are a lot of ways to find content ideas. One unique and perhaps under-utilized one is to keep track of what your audience is already asking for. This is called the user-guided content strategy. When your audience provides you feedback about what they want, keep track of it using a feedback tracking system. These are "content requests". Then, when you're deciding what ideas to pursue, look for the topics that have been requested most often.

Get your frontline people (those in touch with your clients) such as sales or customer service collect the questions directly from the horse's mouth and you will be able to create and curate the content you need to be effective. Extra bonus: your employees will be even more willing to share that type of a content in their network since they collaborated to us. So everyone wins

Embrace the power of interactive formats, such as quizzes, polls, and interactive infographics, to engage your audience actively and create a memorable and participatory content experience!

Transmedia storytelling is my chosen path, and it's proven to be a rewarding one. While crafting a novel is a long-term endeavor that can take more than a year to complete, I've discovered the power of sharing the core concepts I work on in various formats. This approach allows me to refine my ideas continuously and test them on the fly. It invites diverse perspectives, maintains a clear focus on my goal, engages my audience, and extends the lifespan of my concepts. Creatively, it's liberating. In essence, transmedia storytelling is a dynamic and adaptive approach to sharing my core concepts, creating an immersive narrative experience that resonates with my audience on multiple levels.

When creating content, it's important to experiment with different formats. After brainstorming ideas, you need to think about the best way to present your message. The format you choose, such as a blog post, video, infographic, podcast, or something more unconventional, can significantly affect how your audience interacts with and understands the information. By being open to using different formats, you can tailor your content to various preferences and communicate your ideas effectively to a wider audience.

Studies show that human faces naturally grab our visual attention. Since our brains are wired to process faces quickly, content featuring faces is more likely to stand out in a crowded social media feed, leading to higher click-through rates, shares, and comments. When creating content, make sure to use photos or videos that include human faces to achieve higher engagement.

Photographs, especially if they include your own face are a great way to build likeability, emotional bond and trust among your audience. Go the extra mile and use storytelling elements in the images that you add to your content.

Aligning content ideas and objectives with the client is the key starting an investigation to verify that what we think may be interesting truly responds to what users are asking for. Using the tools that are mentioned are great for verifying trends, demand and interest. Once you've verified your topics you can then organize your content using primary/secondary keywords, topic clusters and pillar pages to name a few possibilities.

One of the mistakes I made early on when creating content was giving up on content ideas before thoroughly testing it. Sometimes the idea is great, but the execution needs work. Or, the timing isn't right or the format doesn't work for the message or audience. Or you achieve a different objective with that idea than the one you were going for... All of these are possibilities to test for, which can be hard to do in the crunch of time. So instead I create multiple versions of the same idea and try it across channels, timings and formats. That way, I have enough data to prove something works or doesn't. And I also have potential ideas for other channels. Win-win!

Validating your content ideas before investing time and resources is crucial. It involves making sure that your concepts align with your goals, resonate with your target audience, and have the potential to provide value. By doing so, you can avoid wasted efforts and create content that is more likely to achieve its intended impact, whether it's informing, entertaining, or engaging your audience effectively.

As a content director in media, I worked a lot with analytics. But, when I started to work with a new medium - podcast, somehow we skipped this important stage because of a lack of data. We were focused on expertise much more than audience first. But here is a mistake, of course, doesn't matter how new is medium you work with. You can keep some space for experimental ideas, but you shouldn't underestimate your audience. While you work with content, you compete for customer attention with TikTok, YouTube, and even phone calls with friends. Time is our main value, so you should be highly responsible for every minute of your audience. You should know exactly what they need, what they struggling are with, and what makes them feel better.

Monitoring your competitors is key to understand where they stand but never do a copy/paste. The lesson is LEARN and IMPROVE on it based on your personas and their content needs/preferences

Monitoring and analyzing the strategies, tactics, and performance of your competitors is referred to as spying in the context of business and marketing. This practice of competitive intelligence can give you valuable insights into what works and what doesn't in your industry. It is crucial to keep a close eye on your competitors to identify opportunities for improvement in your own business, stay updated on market trends, and make informed decisions to stay ahead of the competition. This practice is essential for staying competitive and adapting to the ever-changing business landscape.

Also see what the competitors customers are saying in reviews and comments, are they missing something that you can deliver? And, don’t get stuck in competitor lane :) it’s a slippery slope.

Competitive analysis is crucial, but it's worrisome how many creators simply imitate each other. This leads to a digital echo chamber where the same ideas circulate endlessly. It stifles creativity and inundates platforms with repetitive content, frustrating those seeking fresh perspectives. That's why there's a rising demand for genuine, authentic creators. They stand out by infusing their unique experiences and voices into their presence. In essence, while competitive analysis is valuable, creators must inject their true selves into their work. Authenticity counters the repetition cycle and defines creators who truly leave a mark.

I like to use Google Analytics and A/B testing in my emails to find out these three things: 1. If what I'm offering/writing will resonate with my current audience. 2. If my offer/writing attracts new readers and increases traffic and/or website visitors. 3. If the content I'm producing optimizes across all three of my platforms - my online blog, social media presence, and email newsletter. If readers like what they're reading, find the article or post useful, and can CONNECT on a deeper level i.e. feel an emotion from what I'm writing, that's when I know I've created a great piece of content that's engaging and effective.

forums are kind of old school in the world of the Internet, but they’re still popular and a great way to source content ideas. They are one of the simplest ways for people to converse with others online just as they do in real life. People share news, ask questions, answer questions, and more. There are general forums like Quora, but there also are forums for just about every industry and niche. Go to Google and search for [your industry] forum, and you’ll likely find at least one (but probably more).

Creating a unique expression/identity can help with repeatability. Let me explain. I have created a ‘twin’ for myself, like an alter ego and we often have conversations. My audience has experienced this technique in a number of posts from me and can relate to it. There are insider jokes that get created and that leads to more content moments based on the storyline. So my advice is to create something unique such as this and repeat it often. This will make your content stretch more, be more elastic.

Discovering optimal content ideas and formats involves a dual focus: understanding your audience AND recognizing your own strengths and interests. While crafting content that resonates with your audience's objectives or addresses their challenges is crucial, it's equally vital to leverage your expertise, passions, and unique stories. By identifying the intersection between your audience's pain points and your areas of proficiency, you can establish a foundational content pillar. From there, you have the opportunity to diversify your messaging and offer valuable insights tailored to your audience's needs, thus fostering deeper engagement and building lasting connections.

A lot of my content marketing ideas come from podcasts, especially my own. Guests and I dive deep into customer experience challenges and solutions that are relevant across industries. I take that content and repurpose it into articles, videos and other sources to help inspire and educate people about Doing CX Right®‬. You can do the same.

Real testimonials are my top choice. They bring trust and authenticity to your content. They're like a vote of confidence from satisfied customers, offering social proof and relatability. Diverse and emotionally engaging, they can even provide insights for improvement. In short, real testimonials are a powerful tool for building credibility and connection with your audience.