Blog - The DSM Group

Content Marketing Ideas For 2014: Brainstorm Strategies Like A Boss

Written by Chelsea | 6:46 PM on May 22, 2014

We all know that you need to be creating great content. Everyone is looking for the best list of content marketing ideas online.

Although no one knows for sure where content marketing is heading in 2014, one thing is for sure...you have to click publish.

But we get it, sometimes you run out of things to blog about, and no one wants to just create content for content's sake. That's why our marketing agency created this list of over 100 content marketing ideas for 2014. Check out the list and let us know what you would add in the comments below.

Individual Achievement

  • Discuss a transition to a new role and how your specific skill set helped you adapt
  • Explain lessons you learned the hard way and offer advice for others in similar circumstance
  • Share your daily work routine and why you believe it has contributed to your success
  • Write about a mentor figure or brand you admire and why
  • Describe your thought process for approaching different tasks
  • Share an action plan for the future
  • Share a company secret - something that is unusual/unique - that contributed to success

Marketing Tools

  • Create a video tutorial on using a tool for a specific task
  • Review a new or popular tool
  • Explore plugins and explain how to create powerful combinations
  • Reveal an in-house tool and present a case study of why it works so well
  • Perform one task with a variety of tools and note the benefits/detractors of each

Lists

  • Rank your favorite tools, blogs, ads, etc
  • “Best of” lists
  • Gather content that shows the best examples of what people should be striving for
  • “Pros and Cons” lists
  • Curate useful content and compile successful “tactics and strategies” lists
  • List of quotes/personal mottos of important people in the industry
  • Helpful resources (articles, videos, books, etc)
  • Checklists for task completion
  • Explain something using gifs
  • “10 Commandments of” your industry
  • Movies relevant to your industry
  • TV shows relevant to your industry
  • Commonly used jargon in the industry

How-To’s

  • Create a five step process for daily tasks that those in the industry face
  • Ask leadership to comment on how to keep a business running smoothly
  • What skills it takes to succeed in the industry

Internal Operations

  • Examine communication styles and workflow around the office and turn into content about conquering internal objections/roadblocks
  • Find out what questions the account managers get asked most frequently
  • Write case studies on each department’s biggest accomplishments
  • Highlight employees
  • Highlight customers
  • Share your challenges

Industry Trends

  • Comment on a popular piece and support with more research or make a case against it
  • Introduce a new technique or strategy
  • Comment on a trend
  • Share tips and best practices
  • Share examples of bad practices/industry fails
  • Analyze breaking news/popular stories from your industry’s point of view
  • Interview someone important in the industry
  • Write the “anti-post” on why not to use a popular/support a new trend in the industry
  • Create a sense of urgency with a “What you need to know” post about a new trend

Current Events

  • When a list of speakers is released for a big event in the industry, select a few for interview/guest post, or simply highlight them in a post
  • Scan live tweets/recaps of conferences you did not attend and find common themes
  • If someone from your company speaks at an event, have them write a blog that expands on the presentation
  • Create a list of upcoming events in the industry

Seasonal

  • Create New Years Resolutions for your business
  • On Valentine’s Day, reveal yourself as an admirer of one or more brands
  • On President’s Day, take motto’s that past president’s lived by and apply them to your business practices
  • At the start of summer, make a list of the ways your business will make it the best summer ever
  • On Labor Day, give a shoutout to excelling employees
  • For Thanksgiving, thank your supporters

Theories & Opinions

  • Write about why a certain trend has emerged and how it will evolve in the future
  • Give advice for others in the industry
  • Make a prediction about how a new technology will impact the industry
  • Post an “Open Letter” to a company/product
  • Share a story or learnings from a celebrity that can be applied to your business

Company Culture

  • What is going on in your community and why is it important
  • Ask coworkers the best part of working at this job as opposed to others
  • Have leadership discuss the core vales of the company
  • Highlight new hires
  • Let interns shadow and employee for a day and write about what a day in the life of someone in this role entails
  • Share your manifesto - your company’s beliefs and goals in one small document

Education

  • Teach a skill or illustrate how to use a tool/software
  • Summarize long articles/eBooks into key insights and actionable takeaways
  • Answer questions that customers have asked
  • Explain a common myth/misconception about the industry
  • Write “The Complete Guide” for a complicated topic
  • “The History of” a successful company in your industry
  • Make an extended analogy to compare your work to a process people understand
  • “Beginner’s Guide to” AND “Advanced Guide to”
  • “The Psychology of” practices in your industry

Research

  • A/B test internal marketing changes and compare results
  • Analyze market research about consumer behavior
  • Find a popular study done recently and update it with new research
  • Walk your audience through the research and measurement procedures at your business
  • Conduct a growth analysis of your company

There's no way we covered it all. Let us know what's missing in the comments below.