Content Marketing Strategy: How to Generate Topics

Have you ever wondered how Neil Patel of Ubersuggest or Sam Oh of Ahrefs generates topics for their content marketing?

Even though one of the challenges content marketers face is generating ideas for topics, these guys keep bursting the internet with content that answers their audience’s questions.

Well, it’s not magic.

But how are they doing it?

I will reveal their secrets to you on this page even though I’ve been threatened not to.

But I’ll risk my life for your sake.

I’ll show you the easiest and simplest ways to generate your topics for your content marketing.

But before you skip to that section, isn’t it essential we understand what a content marketing strategy is?

Table of Contents

What is Content Marketing Strategy?

Let’s split them into content marketing and strategy for a clearer understanding.

While the former is the way of creating relevant and valuable content to draw more customers or to increase brand awareness, the latter, is a plan that is intended to achieve a particular purpose.

So, content marketing strategy is the plan, tactic, or method behind your content marketing. Confused? Calm down. I’ll make it simpler.

You see, you can’t create content without having a strategy. You want to know why you are creating the content, how you’ll create the content, who’ll create the content, and who your audience is (and many other factors) before creating the content.

This content can be in the form of an e-book, blog posts, case studies, emails, and social media content.

7 Techniques For Generating Topics for Your Content Marketing

There are many techniques or methods for generating ideas for topics. But I have limited it to seven to narrow your focus and get the best results.

Here are the seven techniques for generating topics for your content marketing:

Your Competitors’ Comment Section

The comment section is a powerhouse for ideas

Whenever you are burned out of ideas, check your competitors’ comment sections to determine your audience’s pain points. Sometimes, there are some questions your competitors’ content does not answer. Creating in-depth and SEO-optimized content that addresses these questions attracts more traffic to your site and also boosts your ranking. After all, that is the only sacrifice search engine gods accept.

YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine after Google. And it’s a great place for your content marketing. And note this: whether your company runs a YouTube channel or not, this will work for you.

So, how do you generate topics with YouTube?

As a content marketer, you can type “content marketing” into the search engine. You’ll see myriads of videos concerning this. Check the comment sections of these videos for the questions your target audience wants to be addressed. You can use these to create video content if you run a YouTube channel or create a blog post around it.

Facebook groups

Join Facebook writing groups

Mark Zuckerberg might appear and chase me in my dream if I don’t include his site as one of the best places to generate your topics. Yeah! Facebook groups are a refinery for digging out ideas for topics. Anytime I struggle to create content on writing tips or SEO, I search for writing groups using the Facebook search engine, and join these groups. Then, I’ll see several questions asked by beginner writers or check the comment sections to check what they’re arguing. If you haven’t been doing this, it’s high time you started.

We have series of webinars and workshops coming up. Subscribe to our Instagram page to get updates!

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest

According to Neil Patel, the site owner, “Ubersuggest” is a content marketing and SEO tool now trusted by 500,000 companies and counting.” You can use the site to check the keywords your site wants to rank. But it does not only have this feature. It also suggests content ideas.

Search for a keyword like “Real estate,” change your location to Nigeria, and click on the left side menu. Not only will you see myriads of keywords related to your search, but also vital information such as search query, cost per click, paid difficulty, and SEO difficulty. You can see the picture for proper understanding.

AnswerThePublic

Answerthepublic’s Interface

AnswerThePublic is another content marketing and SEO tool you want to consider to generate your topics. It’s one of the easiest and simplest keyword-research tools to use. Plus, it helps users identify the best topics for content. When you type a keyword into the search engine, it offers a wide range of keywords related to your search. Apart from this, it places these keywords into several categories, such as:

Questions – Wh-questions like “what” and “when” that comes before the keyword.

Related Prepositions – These are the likes of “for,” “is,” “near,” and “with.” They come after the keyword.

Comparisons – “and” “vs.” “or.” They also come after the keyword.

One of the best places to generate your topics for your content marketing is Reddit. The forum has over 430 million active users. On this platform, you’ll find many communities holding many discussions about what you are searching for. For example, if you’re in the health niche, type “health” into the search engine, and you’ll see myriad of communities discussing health-related topics. Check these discussions and use the argument or the questions found to create content.

Quora

Quora

This amazing question and answer platform has over 300 million monthly active users. Apart from being a goldmine for generating ideas for topics, it’s also a place to learn from industry experts. Just like Reddit, it has a lot of communities in different niches. To find a topic, use the search engine which reads, “Start your question with “What,” “How,” “Why,” etc.” Input the keyword, and you’ll discover several questions to create content around.

Conclusion

Yeah! I’ve risked my life to reveal the techniques for generating topics for your content marketing. But, for my efforts not to be wasted, you need to implement every piece of information I have provided. That way, you’ll prevent smoke from oozing out of your head before you can generate your topics.

So if this content has been helpful, kindly share it with your friends across your social media handles.

Did you say you will?

That’s great! I know you’re obedient!

Bye, I’ve to go into hiding now.

Leading a successful business or brand involves good content. This is why you need a strategy to generate content that drives traffic to your website or blog. Let’s chat on Whatsapp to create a strategy for you.

About Author

Olasubomi Samuel Kolawole

Olasubomi Samuel is an SEO content writer and a direct-response copywriter.

As the former, he has created several in-depth, engaging blog posts ranking on the first page of Google, in niches such as self-development, digital marketing, e-commerce, and freelancing.

As the latter, he helps online coaches, course creators, and self-development brands generate maximum ROI by using his proven A.O.C strategy.

When he is not writing, he is seen listening to Christian messages or cracking jokes to make his friends laugh.