The phrase “content is king” is used so much, it has become a cliché, but there is a lot of truth to it. Content marketing has become a necessity for all brands and businesses. It is behind the majority of successful digital marketing campaigns, and it can help you to improve your brand reputation, help to influence conversations in your field, improve your SEO efforts, and even attract new customers or generate leads.

So content marketing is really important. But what do you do if you have a hard time coming up with ideas for content marketing? First of all, I believe everyone has a spark of creativity in them. They just need to let it evolve by practicing that creativity. But if you need a little boost to help you get started, you can find a ton of ideas simply by Googling “content marketing ideas.” Here are six things you may also want to try.

1. Share a list

Everyone loves list posts. “Top 10 ______,” “The Worst ______” “_ Reasons You Should Do _____,” “_ Reasons You Shouldn’t Do ________.” Fill in the blanks with items that are specific to your field or your industry. You can create a list of the benefits that come with doing or not doing something or share a list of things to avoid. Write what you know. If your business is a gym, for example, instead of writing specifically about your business, write about fitness in general or living in a healthy way.

2. Host a contest or giveaway

Contests and giveaways are a great way to get people to participate with your brand. Everyone loves to win prizes. You can request for people to follow you on social media, tag their friends, and share your giveaway or you can have a photo contest or video contest. These are relatively easy to enter. You will then have a ton of user-generated content or material for future blog posts.

3. Get offline

When everyone is glued to their screens all the time, there is something effective about real-life marketing. It will make you stand out. Put up flyers and posters. Use sidewalk chalk to write on a college campus. Commission a mural or take creative photographs of your staff in various famous sites in your city. Get creative and think about the ways you can use your surroundings.

4. Create a guide

Creating a helpful and informative guide can be a good way for you to get backlinks. Create a guide that’s relevant to your industry and then reach out to related websites and see if they will link to your guide. You can also send it out in emails. Offering people valuable information without asking them for anything is a great way to get people on your email list.

5. Use user-generated content

Blatantly tell people you want to use their photos or other content. Find photos that are relevant to your brand and repost. This is a great way to bring a little personality to your brand. If you run a travel company, for example, find pictures of various destinations and repost them. Make sure you give credit to the original content creator.

6. Create infographics, graphs, and charts

People love infographics, graphs, and charts because they typically lay out statistical information in an easy-to-digest way. Not only that, but you’ll get a lot of people in your industry reposting your infographic, and you can ask them to give you credit each time, which will give you a mention on their website and perhaps a nice backlink.

There are many more creative ways to go about content marketing. There may be some more industry-specific content marketing ideas out there. Now is the time to use your creativity and think outside the box.

WT Digital Agency is an Atlanta marketing agency specializing in brand development, content marketing, social media marketing, website design, SEO, and more. To learn more about what we do, click here.