Now here comes the fun part! You’ve painstakingly thought about who you’re making it for, why you’re making it and where you’re going to put your content, but now it’s on to the what you’re going to make (yay). Ideation isn’t simple for everyone, we get that but we’ve got some easy tips to help you on your way to have a bunch of content ideas:
1. Get the whole team together
Take a day or two, make a pot of coffee and get your team in a room. Don’t underestimate their influence and potential, they ultimately should be the biggest champions of your company! **If you’re a lone wolf have no fear! Ask for a select group of likeminded friends and family who will “get” what you’re trying to achieve or fit your target audience.
2. Spitball
After reminding everyone about the research you’ve done and the key stats and facts that have formed your mission statement, spent 20 minutes (and no more) literally asking your team to shout out any ideas that they think you could talk about. Make it fun and relaxed and try your best not to rubbish too many ideas….no idea is a bad idea!
3. Power write
For no longer than 15 minutes, get a piece of paper and just start writing what you would like to talk about. Whatever you do, don’t stop writing, even if it’s gobbledygook! Get your team to do the same. Trust us on this, when we did this we came up with a couple ideas for content we can’t wait to use in the upcoming months!
4. Analyse your Google adwords research
Sick of us suggesting this yet? Honestly it's our go to tool for ANYTHING we create (even video)! More than anything it will become the tool that helps you gain ranking on Google, see what people are actually searching for and it also takes the leg work out of your ideation process by providing title ideas for your blog posts. A win win situation I’d say.
5. Analyse your competition research
Do a good amount of research at the type of content your competition is creating. Are they focused on video? Listorials or even infographics? If they are why? That’s the question. If time isn’t of the essence for your content then I’d say definitely try experimenting with different types of content you create, see what gets the best engagement. BUT ultimately if they are pretty large rival then take inspiration from the type of content they are creating and looking to create the same type for your own platforms. We did it and funnily enough we found what content NOT to create, so competition research definitely has it’s a lot of positive results.
6. What content works well on your chosen social media platform
Take a look back at our social media guide, see what type of content works well for your chosen ones and adapt your ideation from there. The worse mistake a lot of companies do is create blog posts for Facebook, boring adverts for Instagram and flag wave on Twitter. See what content gets the most amount of interaction on your chosen platform and take it from there.
7. Feel the force
If it doesn’t feel “you”, don’t do it. You’ve not got a list of epic content ideas from your team and research to back up what should work for your audience...now look down what you’re talking about and go with your gut- is this something you want to talk about? If it isn’t, why? Just make sure whatever you’re producing it’s stuff that feels like it comes from the heart. Otherwise, you’ll drown in a sea of content that is subpar to the people you’re aspiring to replicate.
Got more ways to come up with ideas? Then drop us an email! We may be a London production agency but we are all ears for your opinions and suggestions and want to collaborate you! Make sure you sign up to our mailing list in the footer too!