Top 7 ways to generate content marketing ideas for your business
Being the local “go to” for your business category is a wonderful thing.
Rather than “selling” and “spending” on ads all day, people simply call you up, and ask whether you can “fit them in”.
That’s the essence of content or inbound marketing - people coming to you, rather than you selling to them.
We use content marketing in our agency every single day as we help businesses optimise their Google Business Profiles.
Creating content that demonstrates expertise and knowledge.
How can you do this?
Here are some ways you can create content that will position your business as the local expert:
1) Questions from friends.
This is a very effective way to generate ideas for blog posts, social media posts, and videos. We’ve even run entire workshops based on questions we’d received from friends!
Think back to your last social event… what did people ask you about regarding work and business? Does your family ask you things because of what you do? Can you turn those questions into articles, videos etc.. I bet you can.
A variation of this method too is to ask your kids or friends kids what you do. See what they ask you. Can you turn that into something for your Facebook page?
We find that people overcomplicate what they do, talk at a level too high for people to really “get it”, and just forget that people often know very little about what it is you actually do.
2) Questions from clients.
Similar to above.
Clients, potential clients, and workers in your nearby area… what do they ask you?
Ask your team… what were the last 10 questions that came our way via phone, messenger, and email? Build that into a video series? An article?
Can you create the ultimate guide in your space on your topic? What would that do to your website’s Google ranking?
3) “How To” articles and videos.
These are a great way to get traffic to your website, Facebook page, YouTube channel and more.
Similar to the ultimate guide mentioned above, can you create the best “How To” video in your space on the whole planet? What would this do for your brand, website traffic, and ultimately inbound lead game?
Eg – local electrician can talk about how to change globes safely, or how to spot dodgy electrical fittings that need replacing. Do you think a person who saw that video would tag a friend on Facebook who had mentioned a faulty electrical fitting? You betcha!
4) See yourself as an Online Teacher.
Similar to above, can you create a series of lessons, lectures, or tasks that get your perfect client engaged with your brand and coming back for more and more?
5) Can you be edgy or controversial?
I particularly like this one…. do you have strong opinions around a certain topic related to your business?
Do you think that the local newspaper might want to add you to an article on a topic if they see you as an expert and somewhat loud spokesperson on a topic? A backlink from a local newspaper to your business is very valuable…
Produce a video that is controversial, but not brand damaging. Write articles that challenge the status quo…
6) Future Predictions.
Can you see upcoming trends in your space that you can talk about?
Write or talk about them… people like to see experts predictions, newspapers and the general media have used this tactic for a long time.
7) Common Mistakes in your industry.
What can you talk about here that will a) help people and b) show that you are an expert?
Mechanic? Shoot some videos or quick photos for your Facebook page that helps people.
Builder? Same as above… Coach of some kind? Discuss what you see, and how to rectify it.
Give people checklists that will help them work through things, you can use a good checklist for both written material and video.
Bonus 1) User Generated Content.
We LOVE this idea… it works really well to get your Social Media posts going…
The example we discussed in the video below is a motorbike related business. We often ask…. “where did you ride on the weekend?”… drop your shots in the comments below….
Works really well for the bike business, people love to show off what they’ve been up to!
For our accounting client we recently asked “what else do you guys and gals need to learn this year, we are looking for content for our page and newsletter” and we got flooded with great ideas, and their comments also helped push the Facebook page algorithm into overdrive!
Contests are in this space too… people commenting etc to enter something…
Bonus 2) Q and A.
A classic that always works.
You can either get questions before hand and prepare an article, or you can run a Facebook Live and answer questions as they arise.
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