How to Use a Content Idea Generator

There’s nothing worse than a blank page during a content brainstorming session. Whether you are a marketer, creator, or business owner, thinking of original and unique content ideas can feel daunting.

A content idea generator acts as a brainstorming partner to help supercharge your content strategy. With content idea generators, you have access to unlimited suggestions to speed up your content creation process and create captivating material for your audience. 

What is a content idea generator?

Content idea generators help you brainstorm ideas for blogs, social media posts, videos, podcasts, and even eBooks. 

While content idea generators are not new, past models leaned on pre-defined formulas to produce content topics.

AI content idea generators—like Jasper—use GPT-3 to suggest more nuanced recommendations. GPT, which stands for Generated Pre-trained Transformer, is a machine-learning language model trained to generate realistic human text. AI tools analyze content from across the internet and use predictive writing patterns to learn about common language. 

The result? A valuable resource to help you get the most out of your content strategy. 

Why should you use a content idea generator?

According to a survey by Content Marketing Institute, 71% of B2B marketers believe content marketing has become even more critical to their organizations this year. But only 29% of those surveyed had a “successful” content marketing strategy in place.

With content marketing becoming increasingly important across industries, content idea generators are valuable tools. 

Content generators save time

Whether you are a marketer, creator, or business owner, you likely have a lot of competing responsibilities. Content idea generators simplify the brainstorming process by providing a list of content ideas. As a result, you have more time to focus on other tasks.

Content idea generators help beat writer’s block 

When brainstorming, writer’s block is inevitable. Whether you are thinking of ideas for your podcast or B2B blog, coming up with fresh content can feel intimidating. With unlimited suggestions, content idea generators help spark creativity.

Content idea generators help you develop new perspectives

Content idea generators stimulate your curiosity and expand your content horizons. It’s easy to fall into the habit of producing the same type of content. With content idea generators, creators and marketers can break out of their usual thinking patterns. 

8 ways to generate new content ideas 

Here are a few ideas to help kick off your next brainstorming session.

1. Use a content generator tool

Content generator tools require you to enter information about your business—such as your target audience, keywords, and the brand’s tone of voice. The tool will then generate a list of fresh content ideas. Our favorite content idea generator? Jasper. We’ll dig into how to use Jasper below. 

2. Follow trending topics in your niche

By following trending topics in your industry, you will stay on top of what is relevant to your audience. Here are a few places to see what’s trending:

• Google Trends: You can learn what your audience searches for using Google trends. Type in a topic, and Google will share related queries. 
• Quora: Use Quora to see what types of questions users are asking about your niche. 
• Reddit: Reddit is another valuable tool for following keywords in your field. Use the social site to find out what kind of questions users ask. 
• Podcasts: Listen to podcasts in your field and check out the titles and descriptions for new ideas.
• BuzzSumo: BuzzSumo is a helpful tool to find out what content is popular in your field. 
• Feedly: Feedly acts as a central place to follow and organize sources in your niche.
• YouTube: Watch trending YouTube videos in your area of expertise.
• Twitter: Follow industry experts in your field or use the Twitter Topics feature to monitor trends. 

3. Use Google Search

As the most popular engine, Google Search is ideal for finding inspiration. Type a topic into the search bar and look at the “People Also Ask” feature to find new ideas. Google Image tags are also another useful source of inspiration. 

4. Interview industry experts

In addition to bringing credibility to your content, interviews with industry experts are often the best place to source new content ideas. These experts will highlight trends or discuss pain points you can explore.

5. Engage with your audience

Another source for content inspiration that resonates is your own audience. 

• Post a question on your Instagram story or Twitter feed.
• Read the comments on your blog posts. If your company has a Facebook group, read the recent threads, comments, and questions. 
• Reach out to your audience with a survey 
• Ask your Customer Support or Sales teams. As the first point of contact for customers, these teams can speak to common questions and concerns from your customers. 

6. Research your competitors

Review your competitors’ websites, FAQ sections, and YouTube videos. You could uncover new ways to highlight your product or service. 

7. Repurpose old content

Content repurposing means using older content in a new way. For example, you can turn popular Tweets into longer blog posts or use a popular blog post to create a YouTube video. By repurposing content, you find new ways to present popular topics. 

8. Keep a content “swipe” file

A “swipe file” is where you store content that you find interesting or inspiring—even if it is not in your niche. You can refer to your swipe file to spark new ideas or ways to communicate with your audience. 

How to generate creative content ideas 10x faster with Jasper

Jasper offers over fifty templates to help speed up your content generation process. Let’s look at how to use a few.

Blog Post Topic Ideas template

The Blog Post Topic Ideas template helps users generate ideas that will captivate readers and boost search engine rankings.

The template asks you to complete several inputs, including:

• Company Name: Fill in the name of your organization or blog.
• Product Description: Enter an overview of your company and your products or services.
• Audience: Describe your target customers or audience. 
• Tone of Voice: Include more information about the tone of your content (e.g., formal, informal, academic, funny). Consider using a few different tones to give Jasper a sense of what you want. You can even put a person’s name— such as Oprah Winfrey.
• Examples: Enter examples of previous headlines to give Jasper a better understanding of the content you provide.

Here’s an example of a hypothetical dog-training company looking to create blog posts for new dog owners:

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After hitting generate, the tool will give you a list of topic ideas. The number of topics generated can be adjusted.

Some of our favorite suggestions from Jasper:

• How to train your new dog in 30 days or less
• How to pick the right dog breed for your lifestyle
• 10 top tips for new dog owners
• The first 10 things you should do when bringing home a new pet
• How to crate train your new puppy 
• 5 ways to make dog training fun for everyone

Video Topic Ideas template

The video topic ideas template helps users brainstorm engaging video topics that rank well on YouTube. 

To get started, the template will ask you to fill in the following:

• A video topic or subject
• A keyword
• Tone of voice

Here are a few of our favorite suggestions from Jasper:

• 10 things you should do before your first snowboarding lesson
• How to choose the right snowboarding school and instructor
• How to carry your board when walking in a ski resort
• Tips for staying safe and avoiding injuries
• What is the best way to learn how to snowboard? Take lessons or teach yourself?
• 5 mistakes people make when learning to snowboard

Start from Scratch

You can also create a new document on Jasper’s dashboard and “start from scratch.” Jasper will prompt you to include a content description, identify the tone of voice, and share keywords. 

Here’s what Jasper created for a hypothetical gardening blog:

While this tool starts the writing process for you, it can also help generate additional ideas for your blog, such as:

• What tools do you need for a home garden?
• How to choose vegetables that will thrive in your climate
• How to choose the best soil for your garden
• How to choose a location for your vegetable garden

Bonus tool: Ridiculous Marketing Ideas template

The Ridiculous Marketing Idea template generates “bad marketing ideas.” This template is a favorite within the official Jasper Facebook community—a private community of over 70,000 users to exchange tips and tricks. While the template is meant to be a joke, it may be just the tool you need to help break out of a creative rut. 

The template asks you to fill in the company or product name, add a description, and specify the tone of voice. Here’s what Jasper suggested for the same hypothetical gardening blog:

Here are a few of our favorite “ridiculous” suggestions from Jasper:

• Hire a private chef to come to people’s houses and teach them how to cook with unusual ingredients
• Create the world’s longest-raised garden bed
• Perform a random act of gardening kindness
• Create a dating site called “Find Your Root.” 

Supercharge your next content brainstorming session with Jasper

Jasper is the AI content creation writing assistant to help you create quality content faster. With over fifty templates, Jasper enables you to generate new ideas for your blog, YouTube channel, or podcast. And with specific inputs, you can direct Jasper to make recommendations that resonate with your target audience.

Need images for your content? Jasper has you covered there, too. Try out it's AI art generator tool.

Sign up today to see how Jasper is helping marketers, content creators, and business owners generate creative content 10x faster.