This is the result of 15 years of content brainstorming experience, born out of the world of print and made fit for purpose in the digital world. Scroll now for the 14 pillared process, each one is a mini ideas meet focused on one specific thing...
The old adage 'go back to brief' is so true, and often missed, so start the process with a brainstorm that sticks strictly to the brief.
Pull out all of your data here. Whether personas exist already or you have to create them by diving into social data like this or delving into search or analytics data.
Once you have a number of ideas it is important you start 'classifying' them. Use excel to do this and highlight content types where you are weakest.
A critical component in the Hummingbird era. Creating those problem/solution posts and landing pages is now rewarded in a big way. Use tools such as the below to help:
Taking a view on what you could be relevant for in a semantically connected world is key and tools such as these below help:
Plugging into existing conversations relevant to your space is key. Find out what they are with these tools:
Getting your evergreen content strategy right is life and death as without it you have nothing of long term value. Working on ideas around what it should be is one of the most important parts of the ideation process. Key tools here are:
Ensuring that content exists to support your visitors throughout the entire buying process is key. Understanding what those stages are will really help you structure this.
Brainstorming around content your competitors have already successfully executed is a no-brainer. Everything's a remix after all; just make sure you do it better!
The creation and outreach of big interesting and interactive content is an essential element to setting the internet on fire. It will set you apart from your competitors and help you score links from valuable, well known and authoritative blogs and websites that will not only provide you link equity, but drive scores of traffic to your site.
Exploiting any seasonal opportunities will be an essential part of your final plan, and thinking of relevant ideas to help get the best from peak trading times could throw some interesting new thoughts into the ring.
The content that appears on your website is likely to be very different to the content that gets distributed to the wider world. Make sure you've covered both.
Think about the relationships you've already built across the digital landscape and include content ideas that they'll love. It's a simple equation; website owners and publishers need interesting and unique content, and you need respected and authoritative portals to publish the content you produce.