50 Content Ideas = The Ultimate Cheat Sheet

Whether you’re a marketer or a content creator, regularly searching for content ideas is certainly one of the greatest challenges. 🧠

However, after reading this article, you can finally say goodbye to writer’s block with these 50 tips to help you come up with your next ideas. 👋🏼

50 Tips to Find Content Ideas + Free Tools

Whatever your communication objectives, to succeed online you need to be able to differentiate yourself by consistently producing diverse, high-quality content. 📣

However, being consistent isn’t always an easy task. 🙃 In fact, if you’re self-employed, in addition to managing your online community, you also need to set aside time to manage your business and your personal life… which takes a huge amount of time!

The following content ideas are designed to speed up the content creation process, making it easier to fill your editorial schedule. 📅

1. Tell us about yourself

For starters, there’s nothing better than a subject you know very well: yourself! 😉

Here are a few ideas you can use to get started: 👇

• Tell a personal anecdote.
• Share your worst fear.
• Talk about a time when you had to step out of your comfort zone.
• Share the people who have inspired you since you were a child.
• Talk about your life mission/the passion that drives you most.

2. Show your « lifestyle »

Now you can go into more detail about your lifestyle: 😎

• Talk about a daily routine that enhances your creativity.
• Share activities outside work that inspire you.
• Pull out your latest cultural favorite and explain it (books, films, exhibitions…).
• Give a tip, a choice you make to reconcile work and personal life. ⚖️

3. Use your sense of humor

Don’t be afraid to show your personality. 😛 Be yourself!

So don’t hesitate to make your « followers » smile by creating a funny post every now and then, it’ll show you’ve got a sense of humor. 👏

If your audience isn’t large enough yet, you can even buy followers on Instagram, using a tool like Buzzoid. However, be careful and don’t overdo it. 🤫

4. Highlight your experience

Don’t forget to highlight your experience: 👇

• Tell us about a project you’re particularly proud of.
• Describe a typical day in your working life.
• Present a problem you’ve encountered and the solution you’ve proposed.
• Talk about an important skill you’ve acquired or are learning to succeed in your field.
• Summarize the SMART goals you set, the goals you didn’t reach and why. 🎯
• Highlight a choice you’ve made at work and prove it worked (results, social proof, etc.).

5. Share your expertise

Here are some tips for sharing your expertise: ✅

• X list of {marketing} pitfalls to avoid on the {internet}.
• Share X elements of your brand online.
• Provide the steps to a marketing strategy, {investigation} that works for you.
• Share step-by-step tutorials for a successful {advertising campaign} or {marketing campaign}.
• Give a tip for changing the way you work to {reduce the time you spend on this task}, {increase your productivity}.
• Provide the best tools to use for {your industry} (to {search for your SEO keywords}, to {create design mockups}). 🎨

6. Talk as a « coach »

Talk to your audience as « coach » by sharing tips that have worked for you: ⏬

• Give your « 10 tips you » from the past. ⌛
• Give productivity tips that have changed your habits.
• Share your opinion on a counterproductive habit you’ve adopted.
• Tell us about a {tip}, a {free tool} you’ve discovered that has transformed your daily life.
• Provide X tips and tools to automate or develop your LinkedIn network.
• Share how you prepare for {a conference}, a {webinar}, a {podcast}.

7. Give different perspectives

Share your views on a specific topic: 👇

• Share your vision of the future, of {your work}, of {your field}.
• Say what you think about X on {subject}.
• Share your opinion on {a habit}, {a common truth}, {a debate}.
• Share your thoughts on the {debate} you {heard on TV}, {seen online}, {heard in your local coffee shop}. 🍵

Often, when you’re talking about a controversial topic, you’ll get a lot more engagement than if you’re discussing a news story. 💡

8. Ask your subscribers questions

Ask your subscribers to chat with you by asking them questions: 👄

• For instance, you can ask them what content they specifically want to see, or what their opinion is on a particular subject.
• Ask your subscribers to ask you questions and answer them in video or Live. This type of content brings transparency and authenticity to your community. It’s ideal for creating interaction! 👂
• Finally, on Instagram, you can even use the « polls » or « questions » feature in your story to do just that. 📲

If you need another source of inspiration, here are some questions to ask a customer! ⚡

9. Answer your Customers’ Questions

What’s more, do your subscribers often have questions about your products/services or your company? 🤔 You can answer them in different ways, for example, by publishing a blog or a tutorial video.

Answering your customers’ questions is also a way of presenting your company, you could do this with an « About us » page or an « FAQ » in your website. 🌐

10. Behind the scenes

Take your subscribers behind the scenes of your business. 🎭

Your subscribers will be all the more interested when you show them the process behind the manufacture of your products/services, or simply what goes on at your « afterworks ». 🍻

This content shows what goes on behind the scenes and reinforces your employer branding with the public.

You can use a fun format for this, like a video montage on TikTok! 🎶

Take a look at what we’re doing at home, I’m sure you’ll come up with many ideas. 😜

11. Organize competitions

Competitions and giveaways are extremely popular, and there’s a good reason: they encourage subscriber engagement. 🎉

When it comes to taking part in a contest, it’s often stipulated that you must follow the account, comment on the publication, identify one or more friends or sometimes even share the publication. ⚠️

It’s a great way to make yourself known, to please the algorithms while pleasing your community. 🤗

Giveaways on Facebook and Instagram, encourage people to talk about you and make a real buzz around your brand. 💥 After all, everyone loves winning free stuff!

12. Create a viral challenge

Create a challenge or « challenge » for your product or services. 💪

For example, Amazon has launched the « New Skill Challenge ». 👂 The principle is simple: companies send packages containing numerous products to influencers, who must acquire new skills in one week.

13. Make Live

In addition, many networks offer the possibility of interacting directly with your subscribers through « Live ». 🎤

For example, you can set a « live » day each week, so your subscribers know exactly when you’ll be going live. 📆

The interactivity of the « Live » format makes it one of the most popular pieces of content on social media networks. 🤩 Get closer to your subscribers and interact in real time with your community!

If you want to get started on LinkedIn Live, you can follow this tutorial. ⚡

14. Create video content

Apparently, studies show that videos have more reach than photos, in platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc. 👀

It could be a product video, an explainer video or a corporate image video.

Also, share in LinkedIn posts with videos you’ve published on YouTube. 🎥 Remember to include a short intro about the video content to make users want to click!

15. Make “Stories”

“Stories” are the talk of the town, so consider using them! 😍

This feature is currently one of the biggest and most popular among Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat users (even WhatsApp and LinkedIn, have tried it at some point). 🙊

The concept of the “story” is to publish a short video that disappears after 24 hours.

Read this article on the Instagram “Story” size, to learn more! ✍️

16. Introduce your employees

We’ve mentioned it before, but authenticity and personality are an important part of a good social network marketing strategy. ✨

• Introduce your team and show your subscribers who’s behind your product.
• Present your employees‘ daily lives through educational and entertaining videos.

As you may know, social media network users love to discover the people behind a company. 🕵️ That’s what social networking is all about, « stalking »!

Make content such as interviews, videos, photos, testimonials, etc. to show: 👇

• Who your collaborators are,
• How they joined the company,
• Why you recruited them,
• Showcase your company’s culture.

17. Share events

As an expert, you know exactly what business events are coming up in the near future. 📅 So let your subscribers know where it’s happening and if you’ll be there:

• Share a professional event that taught you to {stop doing X}, {do X}.
• Events not to be missed for networking in your sector, etc. 👐

18. Participate in trade fairs

Whether face-to-face or remotely, attending trade shows and events is a good source of inspiration. 🔮

Take advantage of the many conferences on your areas of interest to take notes: ideas will come naturally! 🌱

Conventions, on the other hand, are a combination of conferences and trade shows. 👉 It’s an event where experts gather (virtually or in person) around a specific topic.

19. Use advertising

Once you’ve got enough ideas for your publications or articles, think about creating advertising content too! 📣

In fact, you can place ads on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. 🎯 That way, you can reach your target audience.

If you would like to learn how to launch your LinkedIn Ads campaigns, this is the place. 👈

20. Share the latest news

Then you can share different types of news, like: 👇

• News from your sector. 🗣️ Keep your subscribers up to date with current changes and innovations, and position yourself as an opinion leader.
• Share your company’s latest news. 📰 You can publish information about setting up in a new town, the arrival of new employees or the creation of a new product/service.

Remember to make this information easy to digest by avoiding overly technical terms. 🌬️ Use simple language that everyone can understand.

21. Publish job offers

If you’re recruiting, now’s the time to let your audience know. 🔔

Not only is this type of post easily re-shared by active users and their contacts, but it’s also great advertising for your business! 🤑

Boost your e-reputation at low cost. 👉 LinkedIn is clearly the social network of choice for this kind of content.

Who knows, maybe someone in your network has the ideal profile or knows the right person for the job. 🤩

On Facebook, use the specific function « job offers » to increase your visibility.

22. Publish blog posts

If you’re already doing blog posts, this is a great idea! 💡 This is what we call doing « content marketing ».

So remember to re-share this kind of content on your social media networks. 👍

Not only will this increase visibility on your website, but it’s also an opportunity to launch a « call-to-action », asking your community to click on an external link. 🧨

23. Share inspirational quotes

Quotes are a great way to engage and boost morale in your community. Keep them motivated with a simple, inspirational quote ✨

• Take a quote/expression that speaks to you and explain what it means to you.

Remember to create them yourself in an illustration or infographic, add your logo and cite the source if there is one. 🪶

You can use Canva to make your own graphic content! Type « quotes » in the project search bar and choose the template you like best. 🌈

24. Conduct surveys

To boost interaction, offer your followers a poll or questionnaire. 🗣️ There are so many ideas out there, all it takes is a little imagination. Here are just a few: 👇

• Are they “team AM” or “team PM”? 🌃 Tea or coffee in the morning? Always on time or late?
• Do they like this or that packaging for your product? Which logo for your brand? Which services do they appreciate most? Etc.

And of course, remember to use poll stickers if you’re making Instagram Stories. It’s a feature expressly for polls!

Similarly, you can use LinkedIn surveys. Every response to your survey counts as engagement, and you can use those responses to create future content. It’s a « win-win » situation! 👌🏼

25. Connect with a « Selfie »

Even if it’s not always easy to « post » on social networks, think of it as a factor that creates a bond between you and the public. 🥰

It’s not about publishing overly intimate photos, it’s about taking self-portraits of yourself in your activities (work, meetings, events, parties, etc.).

Of course, in moderation! 😊

26. Show how to use your product

Many well-known brands use influencers to show how to use its product. 🫶

This is high-value content that provides plenty of « social proof » and puts other potential clients at ease. ✅

For example, ask satisfied customers if they can take a photo of your product or service and publish it with a brief review. 📸

You’re thinking that an influencer isn’t possible on a limited budget? 💰 However, all you need to do is contact the « mini » or « micro » influencers who are interested in your products/services.

27. Exchange posts with your partners

Share the news of our partners and offer to exchange posts!

If your partners also broadcast your messages on their social media networks, you can attract a lot of attention. 👀 However, remember to let them know what you’re going to post.

In short, it’s a « collaboration of posts ». 🙌

28. Highlight your best customers

Highlight the best customer or customer testimonial of the month (especially if you’re in B2C).

Publications of this type generally generate interest among readers and ensure visibility among clients, who will be sure to re-share this content on their networks. 🤗

It’s a win-win situation! 🫰

29. Say thank you

Has your post reached 100 likes? Your Instagram account has passed the 1K followers mark? Thank your followers who have contributed to every step of your growth. 🚀

With this in mind, consider publishing your positive reviews of your website’s products and services. 👉 This will certainly help increase your company reputation positively.

Thank your subscribers individually or collectively to increase their loyalty. 💘 Show them how much they mean to you!

30. Spread the word about positive reviews

Customer testimonials and positive reviews are a powerful form of social proof. 👍 This type of content helps potential buyers feel more confident about taking the plunge.

Your customers are your best advertisement! Earn trust by sharing the best reviews on your landing page. 🪐

31. Analyze a project

Alternatively, organize a webinar where viewers review and evaluate their personal work or a project. 🤓

Before the webinar, the audience submits their projects in good time, then you select the most interesting ones and present your views and recommendations. ✍️

You can also share analysis results from a {Google Ads campaign}, a {YouTube marketing campaign}, etc.

32. Give advice to users

The aim is to help your audience find a solution to a problem. 🧐 Tips are also about learning from others and avoiding mistakes:

• Share your best tips for helping your customers achieve their goals. 🏹 Keep it short, but effective! The LinkedIn carousel format is perfect for presenting tips in slide form.
• Also, many content creators have found success on TikTok by sharing only useful tips that improve people’s quality of life.

33. Talk about lessons learned

You can also showcase your expertise by sharing lessons learned in your professional or personal journey: ⏬

• Share X {lessons} you’ve learned from {this mistake}, {this choice}.
• Talk about common mistakes when {launching your business}, {creating your first newsletter}, {creating your visual design}. 👁️

34. Share your failures

Content that focuses on failures, successes, and lessons learned is also content that piques readers’ curiosity. 🐝

So don’t be afraid to show your more vulnerable side by explaining your failures transparently! What’s important is the analysis you’ll make behind it. 🥸

35. Do a before/after

Show the positive impact of your product or service with videos or photos 👇

• For example, the before-and-after of one of your customers’ organic traffic after using an SEO tool.
• Or the before-and-after of one of your clients’ skin 💄 after testing your cosmetics, etc.

36. Reuse your content

Above all, to never run out of ideas, take advantage of your existing content. 🧠 If you’re short of inspiration, you can :

• Republish.
• Reformat.
• Reformulate.
• Rebranch.
• Recollect.

It’s the 5R framework that lets you reuse your content again and again! 💫 We explain it all in < 2 minutes here. 🎥

37. Search for ideas on social networks

Keep an eye on your sector and search for ideas on your social networks. 🌐

These « social networking news items » should be of interest to your target group, as they follow your page for information about your industry.

Exploring social platforms is one of the most effective ways to find content ideas! ⚡

Type in specific keywords, browse relevant profiles, read comments, and you’ll get plenty of ideas as you explore. 🧭

38. Search for ideas on Google

However, there’s no substitute for a good old-fashioned Google search for tons of content ideas. 🙌

• Go to Google and type in your search query. 👉 For example: « Marketing plan ».
• In the area « People also ask », Google will suggest questions related to your query. ✔️

This section is a treasure trove of content ideas. 🪙

39. See related searches

What’s more, when you search for a keyword, Google displays a section entitled « Related searches » at the bottom of the search results: 🔍

• When you click on each of these suggestions, something interesting happens.
• Come back to the bottom of the page and Google will give you even more suggestions! ♾️

Know that these are sought-after topics that your audience is likely to like 💝 (provided the topic helps solve one of their problems).

40. Conduct market research

Back to basics! ⬅️

Carry out in-depth market research, in particular into your customers’ needs and expectations, their buying motivations, and your company’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to your competitors.

You can also do your own SWOT analysis. 🧩

41. Use an IA content idea generator

Although less relevant than a « manual search », a content idea generator can help you come up with ideas quickly. 🤖

• For example, HubSpot’s blog post idea generator is easy to use. 💫 Or use a free tool like ContentIdeas.io and write about any topic you like.
• Just add a few keywords and, like magic, you’ll have a heap of new ideas. 🎩

So let’s not forget the star of the moment: ChatGPT! 🌟

It’s your ultimate ally when it comes to finding content ideas. 🤔 Ask him via « a prompt » to give you a list of content ideas for X topic and be surprised.

42. Listen to your community’s feedback

The best way to get to know your target is to listen! 👂 The aim of a customer satisfaction survey is to ask your audience about their satisfaction and expectations.

It’s a win-win situation. 🏆 Listen to feedback, gather information and adapt offers and communications.

43. Ask your teams for ideas

The safest method is to contact your sales team directly for information about your customers’ needs: 🫶

• Sales people are in constant contact with customers and prospects. 👉 They know the needs that motivate your clients to buy your product or service.
• Indeed, “Smarketing” (or the collaboration of sales and marketing teams) is the best way to make quality content that generates relevant traffic.

For example, ask your sales team, “What questions do visitors/prospects most frequently ask about your product or service? 😯 What are prospects’ most common objections during the conversion phase?”

Keep in mind that once you’ve collected this information, you’ll be able to create new content to answer each question or objection. 💡

44. Consult your customers or prospects

Ask your audience directly what interests them. It seems obvious! 😅

They have their say too. 👉 Ultimately, it’s for them that you publish content.

Here’s how it works: ⏬

• Create a survey in Google Forms, ask a few questions, and send it to your newsletter members and social network subscribers.
• For best results, consider offering something in exchange for your survey response (a promo code, a white paper, etc.). 🕊️
• Also indicate that the survey will take less than 2 minutes (avoid asking too many questions).
• Finally, add that the survey is completely anonymous. 🤫

45. Take inspiration from your competitors

Stay alert! 🛎️ Regularly monitor the content of your main competitors.

Assuming you’re targeting the same audience, identify the formats and topics that work best for them and use them to make (much more) high-quality content. 👏

Look for the following in an SEO tool like Ubersuggest:

• Keywords used by your competitors and their positions, the best content on their blogs, etc.
• When comparing other companies, don’t limit yourself to your sector. There are good ideas everywhere! 👀

As a marketer, you probably admire certain companies for producing quality content. 😍

So ask yourself why you like this content and how you can adapt it to your content marketing strategy. ⭐

46. Follow trends in your market

There are trends in every sector. 💥 Take advantage of these and news articles to create engaging content!

• Keep abreast of what’s new in your industry with blogs.
• Share X’s key {marketing} trends for the year ahead.
• Set up a process that allows you to stay on top of trends in your business area on Google Trends, for example. 📊

47. Subscribe to our newsletters

Content curation involves choosing the most popular content in your industry to share with your audience. 😘 Make new content easily and save time.

And for even more ideas, don’t forget to subscribe to our Supernova newsletter (in French only)! ☄️

You’ll receive expert advice every week, as well as our tips and tricks at Waalaxy. 👽

48. Make your content seasonal

If you don’t already know, check out this year’s calendar of events to create seasonal content.

From a journalistic standpoint, it’s a list of news articles that recur throughout the year: back-to-school, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, April Fools, etc. 💖

Create an infographic for each event and use it to communicate the news!

In fact, Swello’s annual social media calendar offers a good overview of the most important moments in your communication that you shouldn’t miss. ✍️

49. Prepare an editorial calendar

Now you’ve got everything you need 👋 to fill your content plan with new ideas and create great formats to achieve your goals.

Here are a few final recommendations:

• Once you have a list of topic ideas, think about the appropriate format based on your audience’s preferred communication channels. 📣
• Before you start producing content, remember to assign objectives to each one and define KPIs by which you can measure your performance. 📏

50. Write down all your ideas

After all the tips provided in this article, there’s one last thing left to do! 🤔

The idea is to develop your own file of content ideas, i.e., to create a folder in which to record your ideas and sources of inspiration.

You can put them on a single platform like Notion. 📚 You can also create your own folders on social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube by saving your favorite publications.

If a message inspires you or at least grabs your attention, save it for later. Sometimes the best ideas come when you’re in the shower 🚿 or on public transport.

So remember to write them down however you can – even your notes on the phone will do. Then simply arrange them by category, or sort the best ones for each type of content. 😎

Conclusion: Content ideas

Finally, I suggest you treasure this infographic with a summary of the content ideas discussed in this article: ⏬

It’s a gift! 🎁

I hope you enjoyed this list and find a source of inspiration for your content. 😽

Article FAQ

How do I find content ideas?

To find content ideas, here are a few tips in a nutshell: 👇

• Start by identifying your target audience and understanding what interests or concerns them.
• Use keyword research tools like Google Trends or AnswerThePublic to discover popular topics or frequently asked questions in your field.
• Explore social networks to see what type of content is most shared and discussed.
• Consider recycling or updating your old successful content with a fresh perspective or updated information. ♻️
• Engage with your community by asking them directly what they’d like to see or learn.

Finally, keep an open mind to collaborations with other designers who can bring new ideas and connect you to a wider audience. 🌍

Inspiration can also come from regularly reading books, articles, and podcasts to stay informed and inspired. 🥰

How do I get good content?

The key to creating quality content is to bring value to your audience. 💎 First, make sure your content is informative, engaging, and relevant.

Start with thorough research to ensure that the information you share is accurate and relevant. 🔍 Tailor your LinkedIn message to resonate with your target audience, with a tone and style that resonates with them.

Use attractive visuals like images, videos, and infographics to make your content more interesting and easier to consume. 🍝 Consider optimizing your content with an SEO strategy to increase your visibility in search engines.

Finally, encourage interaction by asking questions and replying to comments to create a close-knit community. 🤝 Also, publish regularly and analyze performance for continuous improvement.

That’s all there is to it! Now you know how to come up with content ideas tailored to your audience. 👌