Content Brainstorming: How to Generate Effective Ideas

Many palmy selling teams usage contented brainstorming to make ideas connected what to create.

In this guide, we’ll stock the tips and techniques you tin usage to tally brainstorming sessions effectively.

But let’s screen the basics first.

What Is Brainstorming?

Brainstorming is erstwhile a radical of radical stock spontaneous ideas arsenic projected solutions to a problem. It’s a process designed to promote creativity and collaboration.

For example, successful a contented brainstorm, participants mightiness verbally stock blog station ideas portion 1 idiosyncratic writes them down connected a whiteboard.

Generally, the extremity is to make arsenic galore ideas arsenic possible. And refine them later.

So, participants are encouraged to stock immoderate comes to mind. And debar passing judgement connected different people’s ideas.

What Is Content Brainstorming?

Content brainstorming is brainstorming to travel up with content ideas—i.e., concepts for blog posts, videos, infographics, and different types of content.

It tin beryllium an businesslike mode to nutrient unique, diverse, and plentiful ideas for a content calendar.

Because it:

• Gathers ideas from aggregate people
• Allows radical to iterate connected others’ ideas
• Liberates participants from fearfulness of judgment

And the much contented ideas you have, the easier it volition beryllium to find ones that enactment for your content selling strategy.

9 Content Brainstorming Ideas

Experiment with these contentbrainstormingideas to spot what works champion for your team:

1. Use Semrush’s Topic Research Tool

With Semrush’s Topic Research tool, you tin find fashionable and trending subtopics successful your niche. Which marque large launchpads for your contented brainstorm.

Enter a main taxable to basal your hunt around.

Then, take your state and click “Get contented ideas.”

The instrumentality volition contiguous a assortment of subtopic ideas. 

Which you tin benignant by:

• Volume: The mean fig of times the subtopic is Googled each month
• Difficulty: How hard it volition beryllium to fertile highly for the subtopic successful Google, expressed arsenic a percent called “Keyword difficulty”
• Topic Efficiency: A measurement of the subtopic’s wide SEO potential, based connected the subtopic’s measurement and difficulty

Switch the toggle to absorption connected trending subtopics, which are marked with a occurrence icon.

If you request much inspiration, click “Show more” connected immoderate subtopic.

You’ll see:

• Headlines: The apical 10 headlines for the main keyword, prioritized by which ones person the astir backlinks (links from different sites)
• Questions: A database of related questions that you mightiness privation to reply successful your content
• Related searches: Some associated search queries that amusement up connected Google

2. Create a Mind Map

A caput representation is simply a ocular practice of connected ideas.

Here’s an illustration of what a caput representation tin look similar (this 1 is from wrong Keyword Manager and based connected related keywords):

You commencement successful the halfway with your main topic. Then, subdivision disconnected into related subtopics and support branching disconnected until you person your last ideas.

This process allows you to physique ideas 1 measurement astatine a time.

You tin bash caput mapping with a pen and paper. But we urge utilizing a instrumentality similar Miro. To marque it casual to collaborate and make much analyzable diagrams.

3. Curate and Reference a Swipe File

A swipe record is simply a postulation of contented you tin get inspiration from.

For example, you mightiness jot down catchy headlines to usage arsenic models you privation to emulate. Or bookmark blog posts that screen topics you privation to constitute about.

No substance however oregon wherever you store it, support your inspirational contented organized truthful it’s casual to browse done erstwhile you’re brainstorming topics.

Pocket is simply a large instrumentality for redeeming articles, due to the fact that you tin adhd tags and item cardinal passages.

Note that a swipe record is often curated people implicit time. As you spot large contented successful your day-to-day life. 

But you tin question retired inspiration purposefully. We’ll explicate however successful the adjacent section.

4. Seek Out Great Content Examples

Looking astatine content selling examples is 1 of the champion ways to get inspiration during a brainstorm.

Search for utile ideas and roundups connected Google. With queries similar this:

• “[your niche] contented examples”
• “[your topic] contented ideas”
• “[content format] selling examples”

You tin besides get inspiration from:

• Case studies connected bureau and awards websites (e.g., The Drum Awards)
• Online plan portfolios (e.g., samples shared connected Behance and Dribbble)
• Blogs and societal media profiles successful your niche (e.g., a competitor’s Instagram account)

5. Ask Your Audience for Ideas

You privation to springiness your target audience what they want—so wherefore not inquire them for ideas?

Just adhd a connection asking readers what they’d similar to spot from you to your societal media platforms oregon email newsletter. 

Like podcaster Natalie Brunell did here: 

Then, browse done the suggestions during your contented brainstorm.

6. Perform Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of uncovering what your people assemblage searches for utilizing Google (or different search engines).

This is peculiarly adjuvant if you’re brainstorming ideas to enactment your hunt motor optimization (SEO) strategy. Because it tells you what contented successful your niche is successful demand.

To get started, spell to Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.

Enter a word to basal your probe around, past take your state and click “Search.”

The instrumentality volition supply a database of “Broad Match” keywords that incorporate your starting term(s) oregon a adjacent variation.

In the “Volume” column, you’ll spot however galore searches each keyword typically gets each month.

We urge that you filter for keywords with informational search intent.

These are queries that radical usage to find information. So, they’re bully for prompting contented ideas.

7. Try the 6-3-5 Method

The 6-3-5 method is simply a brainstorming method that involves six participants. But it tin beryllium adapted for different radical sizes.

Here’s however it works:

Each subordinate receives a portion of insubstantial (or online document) with a situation astatine the top—e.g., “Come up with video ideas related to distant working.” And they get 5 minutes to silently adhd 3 ideas.

Participants past swap sheets and adhd 3 much ideas. And repetition until they’ve contributed to each challenge.

It’ll instrumentality conscionable implicit fractional an hr to make 108 ideas (six participants x 3 ideas x six rounds). At the end, you tin sermon your results and stitchery immoderate other ideas.

This method allows everyone successful the radical to lend and physique connected each other’s ideas. While providing abstraction for autarkic thought.

8. Prompt Ideas with Random Words

Use a random connection generator tool to springiness you words oregon phrases to usage arsenic prompts. Then, situation your squad to brainstorm contented ideas oregon headlines astir them.

This is simply a large mode to animate out-of-the-box thinking. And portion you mightiness not usage each the archetypal ideas, they tin spark absorbing thoughts and discussions.

For example, present are 3 randomly generated words and contented ideas they inspired:

• Regret: Why You Won’t Regret Going Freelance: 5 Parents Share Their Stories
• Common: The Common Denominators of Successful Remote Teams
• Hold: How to Put Work connected Hold When You Have a Home Office

9. Adapt Ideas with the SCAMPER Framework

SCAMPER is simply a acceptable of techniques for generating caller ideas from existing ideas. 

So, it tin assistance you enactment a caller twist connected an existing portion of content. Or extract much worth from ideas you’ve already brainstormed. 

Let’s interruption the acronym down:

Let’s accidental we person a productivity usher for distant workers.

We could:

• Substitute the existing banal images with archetypal infographics
• Combine the nonfiction with a play email newsletter that delivers bite-sized productivity hacks
• Adapt the nonfiction to absorption specifically connected distant workers with young children
• Magnify the quality facet of the nonfiction by incorporating occurrence stories
• Put it to different use by repurposing it into a downloadable ebook
• Eliminate commonplace proposal to make a usher that focuses connected caller tips
• Reverse the thought by sharing productivity myths alternatively than productivity hacks

Best Practices for Content Brainstorming

To get the astir retired of your contented brainstorming session, travel these champion practices:

Create Effective Prompts to Guide Your Efforts

First, you request to specify the extremity of your brainstorming session. You tin past make 1 oregon much prompts to nonstop participants’ thinking.

Avoid vague prompts similar the 1 below. These tin origin participants to go overwhelmed and unfocused. 

❌ Brainstorm contented ideas

Equally, debar being excessively specific. Prompts similar this tin stifle creativity:

❌ Brainstorm infographic ideas that sermon the ergonomic benefits of adjustable bureau chairs with lumbar support, targeted specifically astatine freelance graphic designers moving successful location offices

Instead, effort to onshore determination successful the middle. Only present constraints if they’re indispensable for the goal. Or to springiness your participants immoderate direction.

For example, it’s adjuvant to absorption connected the applicable platform(s) if you’re doing societal media brainstorming. 

✅ Brainstorm video ideas that volition let america to prosecute freelancers connected TikTok

Set Ground Rules

In summation to sharing the extremity with participants, marque it wide what’s expected of them during the brainstorming session.

Here are immoderate rules you mightiness privation to adopt:

• Share immoderate ideas that travel to mind, adjacent if they look outlandish oregon impractical
• Avoid evaluating oregon critiquing different people’s ideas
• Use different people’s ideas to spark your ain creativity
• Avoid distractions (e.g., support laptops closed)

It’s besides champion to found a clip constraint for each brainstorming league oregon activity. 

Try moving successful five-minute bursts with abbreviated breaks successful between. This should assistance your participants enactment focused.

Start with an Ice-Breaker Activity

Ice-breaker activities tin assistance participants consciousness much comfy earlier the brainstorming process begins. Especially if they’re moving with an unfamiliar radical of people.

These activities tin besides get participants into a originative mindset.

For example, you could:

• Play a trivia quiz connected Sporcle
• Watch and discussing a applicable video 
• Take turns adding sentences to physique a story

Practice Effective Record-Keeping

Visibly grounds ideas during the contented brainstorming league truthful participants tin usage them to spark ideas of their own. And truthful they’re not forgotten later.

You could inquire 1 idiosyncratic to instrumentality notes. But they mightiness conflict to seizure everything discussed. And get small accidental to lend their thoughts.

Instead, inquire everyone to jot down their ain ideas: 

• If you’re brainstorming successful person, you could usage sticky notes and station them connected the wall
• If you’re brainstorming online, you tin usage a cloud-based papers oregon integer whiteboard

But fto participants cognize that you’ll polish the notes later. 

That way, everyone tin absorption connected thinking. Rather than note-keeping.

Try Different Brainstorming Techniques

Experiment with immoderate of the antithetic brainstorming techniques we mentioned to spot what works champion for your team.

While immoderate marketers similar a accepted approach, others volition payment from utilizing definite tools and structures.

Plus, antithetic ideation methods support things fresh. And promote participants to deliberation successful caller ways. So, they’re large for sparking creativity.

What to Do After Brainstorming

Once your contented brainstorm is complete, compile your team’s notes successful a azygous document.

You tin past commencement to polish and prioritize contented ideas. Considering factors like:

• SEO potential: How galore radical are searching for this taxable and however precocious mightiness you fertile successful hunt results?
• Target audience: Does the taxable align with your people audience’s needs and preferences?
• Resources: Do you person the skills, tools, and clip required to make the content?
• Marketing goals: How overmuch volition this contented enactment sales, pb generation, etc.?
• Relevance: Does the taxable align with your marque identity? And is it applicable close now?

To streamline the process, cod contented ideas and information with Semrush’s Topic Research tool.

This station was updated successful 2024. Excerpts from the archetypal nonfiction by James Brockbank may remain.