Stuck on Content Ideas? Here’s What to Do

Have you ever spent hours staring blankly at an empty document that’s waiting to be written with your nonexistent great ideas? Maybe you opened a document, typed a word, searched “What to do when you’re stuck without ideas?”, and opened the same document again only to press the ‘delete’ button?.

Sounds familiar? We hear you!

Here, we explore the 6 things you can do to attract content ideas.

Don’t Overthink It 

We tried digging hard for ideas from within our minds more often than not, but this can overwhelm us and create a mental block. Although it may seem counterintuitive, taking a deep breath and giving your mind a short break might be helpful. Focus the attention on your breath and think of a happy or relaxing place. You may inhale for four seconds, and exhale for four seconds. The key is to be present and release any stress or pressure from your mind. 

Get Offline

Whether the content you are wanting to create is online or offline, finding inspiration in our environment is inevitable. Take some time to explore your surroundings and go to new places. It may be worth going to the library to read some books you never thought you would, or go to a museum and try to understand the story behind a painting. The possibilities are endless for you to try something new and get insights out of it! 

Consume Content 

Remember to also be a content consumer, not just a creator. Looking at your competitors’ content is the first thing you can do to be aware of the content they are rolling out and how you can create something similar, but better. Another significant part of content ideation comes from grasping the current trends and hot topics. Subscribing to several newsletters from industry experts and keeping up-to-date with the latest market information can work wonders in getting you your next content idea! 

Take A Walk 

After consuming lots of content, our minds may need some time to digest and select which ones are relevant and can be used as inspirations for your next creation. Due to its repetitive and relaxing nature, taking a walk is a good way to process your thoughts and ideas. Alternative activities could be swimming, cooking, gardening, and many others. 

Decide the Level of Content

Is your target audience in the awareness, consideration, conversion, or loyalty stage of the customer journey? Striving to produce a single content for different audiences in various customer journey stages can result in unfocused and too-generalized content, to say the least. By choosing to focus on a customer journey stage, you are more able to personalize your content to fit customers’ needs. 

Organize Your Ideas

Everything has structure, even if you simply do what you feel like in the moment, that in itself is a structure. So, before starting to type the first few words or create the first design, you may want to think of the content structure. The simplest method is to categorize your ideas into an introduction, a main text or message, and a conclusion. For most creators, executing the main text or message first before writing the introduction or conclusion is the best approach. However, feel free to experiment and find out which works best for you. 

To Sum Up 

Despite our efforts, trying to find content ideas can get boring and confusing at times. When you feel stuck without an idea, remember to not overthink it, get offline, consume content, take a walk, decide the level of content, and organize your ideas. 

If you need any assistance with content marketing Auckland, Digital Squad NZ is happy to help you in your digital marketing journey. We are a digital marketing agency Auckland, and are able to help you within the areas of Google Ads, SEO, Linkedin marketing, and others. 

Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have!