If you’re like most content writers, you understand the consistent need for quality content. You’re constantly generating ideas for new articles meant to engage and inform your audience, but sometimes, you just get stuck.

Getting stuck for article ideas happens to every content marketer at some point or another. Fortunately, there are a lot of different ways to get creative when it comes to generating new article ideas. These 5 strategies will help you get creative and find creative article ideas in no time.

Diversify Your Content

Do all of your articles have the same format? If so, it might be time to switch things up. Writing articles in new styles not only helps you think of new ideas but keeps things fresh and interesting for your readers. You can try:

  • How-to guides.
  • Cheat sheet.
  • A checklist.
  • Interview an industry expert.

For some inspiration, check out the Travel Channel blog. They do a great job of mixing things up and keeping content fresh.

Taking a look at what news is trending can be a great place to find inspiration.

To see what’s trending in your industry, give Buzzsumo a try. It only takes a few clicks to see what stories related to your search term are trending.

You can also take a broader look at what’s in the general news. What’s happening in the world that you can apply your knowledge to and make relevant to your industry? Big events like the Super Bowl usually provide great opportunities for learning by example.

Repurpose Old Content

If your blog has been around for a while, there’s a good chance it’s full of older posts that could still be valuable to your audience. You can’t just repost an old article and call it new again, but with a little bit of work, your old content can be a great resource for new ideas.

  • Update an old post with new info – Say you wrote a guide called “How to Get More Followers on YouTube in 2018.” In 2019, you’ll be able to update that with new content. The same technique can be applied to anything that might be a seasonal or monthly guide too.
  • Do a follow-up or check in – if you wrote a guide for the beginning of the year, do a check in later on. You can rehash a lot of ideas you already used in the first one by refreshing readers on your tips and tricks.
  • Turn a single post into a series – if you started to cover a topic in one of your posts, there’s a good chance you could go more in-depth with it by creating a comprehensive series.
  • Create variations of the same subject – Take a topic you’ve written about and make it apply to a narrower audience. If you’ve covered “Best Summer Vacations in New England,” you can then do “Best Summer Vacations in New England for Families with Kids” or “Best Vacations in New England for Solo Travellers.”

Keep an Eye on the Competition

It’s never a bad idea to keep an eye on what your competitors are up to. You definitely don’t want to steal their content, but you can always use it as inspiration. Maybe they covered a hot-button topic that you somehow missed or their followers are responding well to something you never thought of.

Your competition can also be a great source for collaboration. Is there someone in your industry who you admire and would love to work with? It’s a great opportunity to share ideas and gain from each other’s audiences when you co-author a post together.

Ask the Audience

Your audience knows what it wants. If you’re really lost for ideas, why not ask them? You can create a poll on social media or just pose the question and see what people have to say. Either way, having insight into what they’d like to see can be a great place to get new ideas.

No writer is ever inspired all the time. The pressure to generate creative article ideas will leave even the most creative people stuck for ideas at times. Having a few strategies in place to find inspiration will help you think of those great ideas even when getting creative seems impossible.