3 Questions to Inspire High-Quality Content Topics
Staring at a blank editorial calendar for next quarter? We’ve all been there. Consistently coming up with high-quality content marketing ideas is tough, especially when you’re being pulled between other marketing initiatives like an old-school Stretch Armstrong.
The good news is that this easy exercise will get the ideas flowing like Niagara Falls and you’ll be on your way to assigning blog posts, videos and social to your team (or yourself…).
The key? Unearthing the knowledge that you and your client-facing team already have about your audience, your customers, and your product or service.
Once you tap into this knowledge, you’ll be set on ideas for the next quarter — and beyond.
Let’s get started.
Question #1: What are the most common questions that prospects ask?
You can probably think of a few FAQs right off the bat. Start with those and create a blog post or video to answer each question.
Now dig a little deeper: look through notes you took during Discovery Calls, examine your inbox for Q&As with prospects, ask your client-facing coworkers what they’re hearing directly from prospects and customers alike.
The Real Gold: Pay attention to the way the prospects and customers ask questions.
What words are they using?
Are there common phrases?
Is the focus primarily on a specific service?
Question #2: What questions do you wish customers would ask? What do you wish they knew?
This is where you can dive into the benefits of working with you and share more about add-on services, new products, or offers that your customers just simply aren’t aware of.
Another way to think about this is to ask:
What makes your service/product unique?
What’s your process like?
What are the real benefits of working with you?
What does success look like?
Question #3: How can customers prepare to work with you? What do they need to know about working with you?
The goal with question #3 is to zero in on prospects who are a best fit but not totally sold. You want to find out:
What kind of prep is required before getting started with your company?
Who will they be working with?
How do you deliver your service/product?
What’s stopping prospects from pulling out a credit card?
What’s Next?
Once you’ve compiled this beautiful list of ragtag topics, it’s time to sift through and ditch the bad apples, highlight the golden nuggets, and bask in a substantial list of ideas that will attract the kind of audience you want and the prospects you need. Then when you’re done basking, it’s time to organize your list onto an editorial calendar and start filling our writing briefs to assign to your team or hire a freelancer to help. High-five!
Creating a high quality list of content marketing topics can feel overwhelming when looking at a blank calendar but doing this exercise quarterly will ensure you’ll always have a list of relevant ideas based on your audience's needs and wants.
Need help with content marketing strategy, content marketing writing, or managing your content marketing program? Check out our resources below.