What to do When You Have no Inspiration

Coming up with content ideas can feel relentless and it’s easy to get to a point where you dread those creation days. Here’s what we do when we’re struggling for inspiration.

Scroll
This is something we’re pretty sure you’re familiar with (no judgment here!), but we’re talking about more than just endlessly scrolling. Be intentional and make sure you save ideas as they come to you. Keep a notebook nearby or a document open in the background to quickly take note of inspiration and ideas.

One of the limitations of using scrolling as a way to get inspired is that you’re only hearing from a small portion of your audience. It’s important to tie this method in with something else to keep content varied. Another issue, and this one’s a biggie, is the very real risk of ending up in a scroll-hole. We’ve all been there, you look up and suddenly it’s dark, you’ve no idea what day it is, and you can’t remember the last time you ate. Avoid the dreaded scroll-hole by setting a timer – 15 or 20 minutes should be plenty of time – and be strict with yourself when it goes off.

Revisit your pillars
Hopefully, you’ve got a solid content strategy in place (we’ll be releasing a blog on this soon if you haven’t) and a superb way to come up with content ideas is by delving deeper into it. Your pillars are an excellent starting point for topics your audience cares about. Think about related questions you’ve heard, unpopular opinions you could share, anything related to them that will help your audience get to know you on a deeper level.

The reason this one works so well is that it’s directly related to your niche and your business. After all, there’s a reason you came up with these pillars to start with! So use them for inspiration and see how the content performs.

One of our main pillars is Core Beliefs, and one of our core beliefs is putting your mental health first. This is why we often talk about mental health in relation to our business and are strongly anti-hustle.

Use those FAQs
Using FAQs as content inspiration is simple because all you’re doing is noting down questions you get asked all the time and then answering them. Easy, right?

The beautiful thing about it is that the content is coming directly from your audience and customers so you know it’s going to resonate with them. Not only does it mean you’re creating content that speaks directly to your potential customers, it also positions you as the expert. Which in turn builds trust, making them far more likely to work with you. Hell yes!

A question we’re often asked is how to come up with content ideas, which is why this blog post came into being. You’re welcome.

Bust a myth
Another excellent way of coming up with content ideas is thinking about common misconceptions you hear, either about your business specifically or niche in general, and talking about them.

With this method you’re building trust by directly addressing concerns your audience might have. Not only are you appealing directly to them, you’re also putting to bed any worries they might have, and showing why they can trust you. Win frigging win!

A common misconception we hear is that “social media managers just spend their whole time scrolling”, sadly that’s not true! A large part of what we do is planning content, getting to know our customers, analysing data, with a little bit of scrolling thrown in for good measure winks.

Brainstorm
Sometimes the best things are the simplest, and that’s definitely true when it comes to brainstorming. We’re lucky that we’re able to bounce ideas around the team but if you’re riding solo why not team up with another person from your niche? Set time aside in your diaries to throw ideas around and see what comes up. Make sure you let each other know when you’re planning on using each one to avoid talking about the same thing on the same day.

You’re probably thinking, “but if I do that then they’ll know the ins and outs of my business”, and they will. But there’s no one who can do the same things as you in the same way. So while you’ll have a bank of shared ideas you’ll be presenting them in totally different ways. And who doesn’t want an extra person in their corner cheering them on?!

Before she had a team, Jordan would regularly speak to other creators and social media managers to come up with content ideas. There’s room for everyone.

Ask the audience
The best people to tell you what they want to hear is your audience! Sounds obvious, right? But often we think we know what our audience wants without actually asking them and then get frustrated when things don’t land the way we expected. If you’re struggling for ideas, ask away. Instagram Stories has some great features such as Question stickers, Polls, Reaction Sliders, and Quizes to help you guage reactions.

When you first start asking your audience don’t be disheartened if you get radio silence, especially if they’re not used to interacting with you in this way. It can take a few weeks for people to get into the habit of reacting so try things out and persevere. It’s good to be specific with your questions – so instead of asking “what content do you want to see” ask “would you be interested in more content around (insert topic)” and then DM the people who answer asking them to explain.

This is great because it opens up that conversation between you and your audience, creating a more natural dynamic.

Recycle
Last but definitely not least is repurposing content from other platforms. Admittedly this one only works if you have pre-existing content so if you’re starting from scratch you might want to revisit this later. For those of you who’ve been going a while, repurposing content isn’t complicated. In fact, we’ve got a whole blog post outlining how to do it, so go check it out!

The reason we love this is because, if you have an excellent piece of content that performed well, why wouldn’t you want to use it again? We’re all about working smarter, not harder, so let’s get repurposing.

Hopefully this blog has got your creative juices flowing and you’re ready to start creating content like a boss. If you’d like to talk about anything social-media-related book a free call, we’re always happy to help.

Thanks to Arthur Franklin for the image.