By Brielle Williams | October 31, 2020

Managing your content strategy is essential if you want to maintain high traffic levels but that’s often easier said than done. There is so much content online, so how can you get people to click on yours instead of the thousands of other articles that are available to them? 

That’s not a simple question to answer and there are many different factors that can make or break your content marketing, but research is key if you want to get ahead. When you are looking for new content ideas, you need to do some in-depth research to work out what your target audience wants so you can tailor your content to them. These are some of the best research tips to help you come up with winning content ideas. 

Outsource To A Professional 

Often, the best way to handle difficult challenges in business is to outsource to a professional, and content research is no different. Look for great social media management services that offer content research and copywriting services. They will have the expertise to help you find winning content ideas and, best of all, you don’t have to handle the research yourself. Research new content ideas can be very time-consuming and if you are a new business with a small number of employees, it’s not always the most efficient use of time. Outsourcing to a social media management company allows you to focus on all of the other important tasks on your to-do list and you’ll still have plenty of amazing content ideas to work with. 

However, if you are trying to save on spending and you do want to research your own content ideas, these are some of the best ways to do it. 

Send An Email Survey 

The best way to find out what your audience wants is to ask them. If you are going to come up with winning content ideas that drive traffic to your site, you need to work out what your readers value the most. Sending out an email survey is a brilliant way to get that information straight from the horse’s mouth. 

Getting people to answer an email survey can be tough because they are taking time out of their day to help you out. You need to keep it short and sweet and ask general questions that will give you good insights. Think about your products and what problems your consumers are likely to have. For example, if you run an IT consulting business, simple questions like, what are your biggest IT challenges or which areas of IT consulting are you most interested in, will work very well? 

If you are having a lot of trouble getting people to answer your email survey, you should consider offering incentives, like a small discount on their next purchase. 

Look At Blog Comment Sections 

When you post content on your site, how often do you look at the comment sections? If you don’t pay much attention to them, you’re missing a golden opportunity. It’s important that you engage with your readers on the comment sections and build a relationship with them, but you should also use it as a way to come up with new content ideas. 

If you look through the comments, you will often find people asking questions about things that weren’t covered in the article or suggesting improvements. If you note all of these suggestions down, you will have a great list of potential ideas for new posts. You know that your readers will like them because they’re the ones that suggested it. Once you have published those new posts, go back to the original articles and respond to comments with the new link. This shows your audience that you value their input and you are creating content to cater to their needs. 

As well as looking at the comments on your own posts, you should check comment sections on other sites. If you can find posts that are similar to your own and read the comments, you will find a lot more new ideas. If people are asking questions that you have addressed in one of your existing posts, that’s a great opportunity to link to your content and find more readers. 

Check Product Reviews 

Product reviews are so important for all businesses. They give you an insight into your product and any potential issues that consumers have with them. But did you know that you can also use product reviews to find new content ideas? If you look for any common questions that people have about certain product features, for example, you can address them with an informative blog post. People may have questions about the future of your business or new innovations in the industry as well.

Looking at reviews of your own products is always helpful but you should check competitor’s products as well. If there are common issues with your competitor’s products, you can write posts that highlight how your products solve those issues. Not only will that drive more traffic to your website but it will also help to convince people that your products are superior. 

Use Online Forums 

Online forum sites like Reddit are a goldmine for content marketing ideas. There are specific forums for pretty much anything that you can think of, so you will definitely find something that relates to your business area. For example, if you sell kitchen knives, why not check cooking forums and see what kind of questions people have about buying knives or maintaining them? This will give you more specific content ideas that go beyond basic posts on how to buy knives. These forums are constantly being updated so you will find a lot of great new content ideas on there all of the time. 

Find The Right Balance Between Specific And General 

Searching forums and comment sections is a great way to find ideas for content that addresses specific issues that your audience are concerned with. However, it’s important that you find the right balance between specific and general. If you want to create evergreen content that drives traffic in the long term, you need to identify subject areas that will always be of interest to your audience. 

If you follow these research tips, you will be able to create winning content that your readers love.