23 Questions to Inspire Your Content

By Andy Crestodina

What should I write about? It’s the first question marketers ask once they dive into blogging. It quickly becomes I don’t know what to write about, which is the first complaint.

Most marketers who claim they don’t know how to find content haven’t yet scratched the surface. There is no limit to the number of possible topics. You just need to give your imagination a little nudge.

Here are 23 questions to ask yourself to get the content flowing. Your answers to these questions will lead to lists, stories, lessons, and strong opinions.

To make sure that your writing gets read, we’ve added some ideas for driving traffic for each question. Great marketers always create content with promotion in mind.


Teach

If you haven’t written the answers to these questions yet, write these first. These often become the “cornerstone content” that you refer to (and link to) from many other posts. The more likely you are to mention these topics in conversation, email and other posts, the more important it is to write it soon.

These topics are often great for search engine optimization. People are always looking for practical information. And practical content is also some of the most shared.

1. What are the most important things that your audience should know before buying?

Write a list post with a number in the headline. Use this as a subject line in an email newsletter. Also share it with prospects during the sales process.

2. What is your best advice? What is the right way to do the job?

If there are several, make a list and use the number in the headline and subject line. Target keyphrases such as “[topic] best practices.”

3. What question do people ask you most often?

Write two versions, a short version for your FAQ page, and a longer one as a guest post. Link them to each other.

4. What question should people ask you, but don’t?

Make this post your best advice for your buyer with unexpected help during their decision-making process. Target keyphrases such as “How to find a [product/service].” This post can be shared with prospects in your pipeline.

5. Is it possible for your audience to solve their problems without your help? How?

If there is a DIY approach for your audience, they’ll find it. But if you don’t publish it, they’ll find it somewhere else. Write a practical guide in the same tone you would use if you were talking to a friend.

You’ll gain more in followers, traffic, and respect than you’ll lose to DIY competition, especially if you target the right keyphrase. Try a phrase such as “how to [solve problem].” Example: How to Relaunch a High Ranking Website.

6. What do people who are trying to enter your profession need to know? What’s challenging about your job? What’s rewarding?

Although they may not be prospects, you may find an eager audience for your expertise in the next generation of professionals. These readers may remember you years later. Target keyphrases such as “tips for [industry] job seekers.”

7. What is the last professional event you attended? What did you learn?

List the things you learned at a recent event in a recap post. Mention the speakers or people with whom you talked. Share the post with these people once it’s live. Share the post in Twitter, and mention people who actively used the hashtag during the event.

If the event will happen next year, schedule a tweet to go out around the time that registration will open. If you use the hashtag, the organizers may see this and share the post with their network. Here’s an excellent example of a post event wrap up from Donnie Bryant.

8. What are the tools you use everyday? What is the best way to use them? (Software? Services? Cement trucks?)

Write a roundup of your top tools and techniques. Mention the brands that make your job easier. Use a number in the title and as the subject line in a newsletter.

Mention the brands when you share it on social media. They may share it with their audience. Or if any of the brands have blogs and accept guest posts, submit it! Link back to a service page on your site in your author bio.

9. What is the one statistic that emphasizes the importance of your product/service best? Why is this stat important?

Make a graphic of this statistic and use it as the featured image. The post should include some analysis about this number, why it matters and where it’s going. Use the statistic in the headline and in your email newsletter subject line. Make sure the image appears when you share it in social networks.


Stories

Lists posts may get lots of clicks, but it’s the stories that readers really connect with. Great marketers are great storytellers. These are questions you need to answer early and often. The personal tone gives them an advantage in social media. Some of these questions should be answered on key web pages, such as “About Us.”

10. Why do you love what you do?

This is your passion story. Link to this post from your bio on your website. Also, share this on social networks. Make sure to use an image that means something to you.

11. What is the unmet need of your audience? How do you meet this need differently than others? Give give an example.

This relates directly to your brand’s positioning. Link to this article in your email signature. Share it with prospects during the sales process.

12. What are the greatest successes with the best results that can be achieved by using your product or service?

This story could be about any company who used the type of product or service, and not necessarily one of your customers. If the success is measurable, use a number showing the success in a how-to headline, such as “How FruitCo. Sold 81% More Bananas With Native Marketing.” Use this as the subject line in an email newsletter.

If the story is about your service and your customer, make it a case study. Use specific details, quotes from the client, and statistics. Make it a page on your site and a PDF download.

13. Is there a risky (illegal or unethical) way to solve the problems that your company solves without the risk? What could go wrong? What’s the worst that could happen?

Use quotes and statistics to add emotion and credibility. Share it on social networks using dramatic excerpts from the article. Link back to your site so visitors can read the full story. These posts can also get traction in search engines. Target keyphrases such as “[topic] mistakes.”

If you don’t want to go negative on your own site, submit this one as a guest post to a popular industry blog.

14. How does one of your personal interests relate to your job?

Find people in your industry who share this personal interest by searching Twitter profiles in FollowerWonk. Search bios using “[industry] [interest]” then mention these people in tweets to the post.

15. What relevant lessons could your audience learn from a famous person, movie, TV show, book, or song?

Write a post that makes the connection. The post will likely be both entertaining and insightful (example: “Web Design Techniques from Jean Claude Van Damme”). Find people in your industry who also enjoy that character, story, or genre. FollowerWonk will help. (Search Twitter bios for “martial arts” “web design.”)

16. When people use your product or service, what are some of the unexpected benefits or side-effects? How are these things felt by the customer?

Ask a thought leader in your industry for a quote or example. Add this to the post. Once the post is live, politely ask the thought leader to share it with their network.

17. Explain how you have changed your approach (or stopped doing something) since you started out in your industry.

Create a chart showing changing industry trends. Make sure this image appears when you share the post in social networks. Or write a headline that uses the current year, such as “Underwater Archeology in 2013: What’s Changed.” Use this as an email subject line.

18. What industry blogs or magazines do you read? Which posts there get the most shares and comments? Can you add something to this topic?

Submit your new article as a guest post to a similar blog that hasn’t covered this topic. Link from the post to other pages on your site.


Interviews & Surveys

These are great formats for writers who are stuck, since it’s as much curation as creation. The content produced has advantages when promoted in social media.

19. What are the blogs from which you’ve learned the most? What have they taught you?

Contact the bloggers and ask if they would be open to a short email interview. Use the Q&A as the post and add some analysis, opinion, and gratitude. Once posted, invite them to share it with their network.

20. What are the most fundamental questions in your industry?

Create a short survey and send it to the largest group of relevant potential respondents. LinkedIn is a good place to find people. Partner with an industry association if possible. Package the results into a post and Infographic. Make sure it’s well designed. Share it with the respondents, leaders, and industry publications.

Here’s an example of a yearly blogger survey we send to over 1,000 bloggers. We created an infographic and shared it with the top blogs, like Copyblogger. It’s been one of our best pieces of content to date.


Thought Leadership

Here’s where you take a stand. To answer these questions, you’ll need courage and strong opinions. Remove the softening words like “maybe,” “probably,” and “sometimes.” Make bold statements. This voice carries on social media and helps online networking.

You may wake up the next day to long blog comments, new followers, and a few detractors. Connect with the respectful, like-minded people on several social networks. They may become long-lasting contacts

21. What question is no one in your industry willing to answer?

If possible, submit this as a guest post to the most popular blog or news site in your industry. They might love the topic. If you post it on your site, check to see if the question is a popular search in Google.

Example: “why do banks charge fees” gets 590 searches/month. If so, align it with this phrase. Long phrases, such as questions, are often less competitive and easier to rank for.

22. What does nearly everyone disagree with you about?

Share the post with several social media influencers who don’t share your view. Engage them in a conversation online, then share the post and politely ask for feedback. They may comment, share, or refer to your view in a post of their own.

23. What do you believe will happen in the future that other people consider impossible or unlikely?

Could it happen? You think so. But ask the question on Quora and in LinkedIn groups. Share the post on the other social networks. Politely email it directly to potential useful contacts. Within all of these conversations, build relationships with the people who respected your view. Keep in touch with them!

Read: The latest research on thought leadership marketing


There. Topics a-plenty.

By now, you should be overflowing with ideas. Print this list or bookmark it so you can refer back to it. It’s a fast way to overcome writer’s block or just to add some variety to your publishing calendar. Remember, the main reason blogs fail because the blogger doesn’t consistently publish.

If this doesn’t help …well, I’m not sure what to tell you. In the words of Robert Louis Stevenson after he wrote Treasure Island, “If this don’t fetch the kids, they have gone rotten since my day!”

There is more where this came from…

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