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12 amazing ways to find content ideas for your niche
04 / 02 / 2019
Getting frustrated by your complete lack of inspiration when it comes to content ideas? First, please don’t panic, you are seriously not alone. Do you know the number of times I have paced, doodled, and clicked in desperation, hoping for an idea to magically pop into my head?
What you may be doing is over-complicating things; when we want to show off our expertise we are always looking for an angle. However, often a simple approach gets the most engagement. To give you a helping hand I have put together 12 of my favourite methods for finding content for a niche.
1. Your services
Trust me, wrapped up in your service is a mountain of blog posts waiting to explode onto a page, you just need to break it down. Get a piece of paper and write the name of one of your services at the top, then start writing down every single aspect of what that service includes. Can you break it down any more?
When you have finished, take a look at your page: it should be full of ideas that can help you create content that is ideally suited to your niche market.
2. News
I’m sure you follow your industry’s publications and news outlets, and they are a great source of content. Sometimes there may be a topic that is particularly relevant for my audience, or maybe includes a survey or quote that sparks an idea.
I also use Google to search for news stories; not only is this good for content ideas, but it’s also great for finding pieces to share on your social platforms. To do this, just bring up a Google search – if your niche is travel, say, type in ‘travel’ and then select ‘news’.
You can also identify the most recent content by selecting ‘tools’ and ‘recent’ from the drop-down menu, for example, if you want content from the last month or last 24 hours.
3. Client Questions
Make a note of any questions your clients ask you about your service, and if you have a team, ask them to do this also. Within those questions will be great content headlines, and you can answer them within your blog.
If it’s questions your current clients have asked, then the content will be useful for those potential clients looking for someone like you. By answering their questions, you will come to be seen as the ‘go-to’ person in the industry.
4. Give advice
Tips and advice are always needed – just like I’m giving in this post. Therefore, utilise your years of knowledge within your niche market and give away some of your tips. Remember, it is OK to have some fun, so get creative and start to think up some lists.
5. Your day
Has something happened in the day that got you thinking about your business, your clients, or your service? Use it! Personal experiences are really powerful and show that you are a real person and aren’t scared and just hiding behind your brand. Share a glimpse into the ‘behind the scenes’ of your business or your niche, and perhaps even give some sneak peeks or previews to keep them wondering.
6. Answer the public
If you haven’t come across this tool, be prepared to fall in love! Head on over to answerthepublic.com, type a topic into the yellow box, make sure that your country is set to the correct location, and press ‘get the questions’.
This is when the magic happens. What you will be met with is a visualisation of a whole load of questions that could make possible headlines or topic ideas, made up of who, how, which, why, what, are, where, and when type questions.
Scroll down and you will find prepositions, scroll again and an alphabetical list will appear. If your mind prefers a data format rather than visual, just select the data tab.
Who says they have no content ideas?
7. Your competitors
Now, I hope you are keeping an eye on what your competitors are up to? You may find gaps in their content that you think should be covered, and you can also do things that are similar, but better. You will begin to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t by seeing the engagement they get on their content.
Look at top brands within your industry to see what is trending; the more insight you get into your audience the more you will know about what kind of content they are seeking.
8. Outside your industry
I remember one of my mentors telling a particular story. When he travels, he goes to choose a magazine. He asks another person next to him for a recommendation of what he should buy. He says this opens his eyes to other industries and niches, and he finds them an incredible source of content inspiration, as he sees ways that he can translate the key messages to his industry.
Don’t get stuck in your niche bubble, you’ll be missing a wealth of ideas.
9. Forums
There are many forums out there, both general and industry-specific, such as Quora and Yahoo. Here you will find people asking questions about anything and everything. If you type in your niche, or something related to your niche, you will start to find questions that have been posted that could make great content.
10. Facebook groups
I don’t know about you, but I’m a member of numerous Facebook groups that are related to my niche. They are an amazing source of content ideas, just from reading through the chatter – people will post about their struggles, hoping that someone can provide some clarity. There might be one hot topic right there, staring you in the face.
11. Hashtags
It’s amazing how one little symbol has the power to control what we see. Do a hashtag search on social media for words relevant to your industry and see what appears. Shared articles, questions and even buzzwords can all be potential content topics.
12. Influencers
Every industry has stars, fascinating people, and unbelievable stories – find them, interview them, and write about them. The advantage of using someone else as the focus is that they may also want to share your content with their audience, and therefore will help to raise your profile.
I hope this gives you a few ideas on where to find content ideas for your niche; there are many more to come, so keep checking back!