We now have a solid understanding of your business and the people it should target. Using the SWST test, we have developed the key messages for our marketing campaigns.   

Next, we will be diving into the fifth part of our nine-part framework. Here we will show you how to map your content themes and engage users as much as possible!

This is a brief post that will give you an overview of our Content Ideas exercise. It’s a simple exercise that can help you generate content ideas around questions your customers may be asking.

Why should you plan your content?

It’s not enough just to have a website if you are a business. The right content is also essential. If customers can’t find the information they need on your website, it doesn’t matter how beautiful or user-friendly your site is. Sometimes it’s because there wasn’t enough of it!

Planning your content carefully will make you stand out among competitors with more resources and time. You’ll have happier customers and higher conversion rates if your visitors are engaged online.

Content mapping can be a great way to identify specific content themes that support and relate to your customer’s journey. This exercise will help you identify search queries that relate to your product or service, and convert them into rich content.

How to use our Content Ideas Map to Create a Growth Map For Your Business

The graphic above shows a blank mind map (also known as spider web maps or concept mappings) that allows you to add core products/services. Then, we start to mine the different questions your audience has.

To understand your customers’ needs, we use a series of structured questions. We begin with “How” and then move onto “where”, “what” or “why do they want it?”

Be as specific as you can when it comes to which product or service to focus on. This will allow potential customers to make better decisions about the solution that is best for them. This will allow you to create richer, more detailed content by going deeper.

What can you do to make your content more relevant? A plan could be created for an accounting firm to attract the attention of their target audience. However, this might not be sufficient as there are many types.

Businesses have better chances of capturing people’s attention by mapping out the niches and types that would interest them.

If you instead look at common queries related to “tax audits”, or “management reports”, your audience is more likely to be relevant to a particular group.

We use two tools to find out what questions your ideal customers are looking for. AnswerThePublic and AlsoAsked.com give us an idea of what people might be searching on Google and Bing. Both tools are available in free versions.

Both work in the same way. They use Google search results to find related searches, before compiling an enormous list of questions relevant to your product, industry, or service.

We could use the phrase “eCommerce Fraud” for content marketing, as we have done previously. These tools can be used to generate creative ideas, test them and then write articles or create graphics.

Take, for example:

• How can you prevent eCommerce fraud?
• How can you detect fraud in eCommerce?
• Where can I report eCommerce fraud?
• What should you do if you are scammed online?
• What can I complain about eCommerce?

With the help of the most valuable suggestions, we then create a list of possible options for high-quality content.

The deeper you go, the more valuable this exercise will be. You will find more valuable questions!

Searching for “eCommerce Fraud” will bring up a variety of topics that are extremely specific, such as:

• Can chargebacks be reversed
• Are chargebacks legal?
• What is the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)?
• More…

You can help customers navigate their journeys to the right content by being an industry expert.

Content marketing does not require the creation of new titles or topics. It is about utilizing what customers want. Make sure your content answers their questions. This idea can be furthered by creating blogs and newsletters that are based on customer needs.