Strategizing For Story Ideas And Making Content King In Your Company

If you’re a marketer working with content, you know how important a content calendar is to your work.

A content calendar is the backbone to your content marketing strategy.

It holds it all together.

Without it, you’re stuck with a soup of story ideas floating around in an abyss of Google Docs and Drives in the dark recesses of your company’s cloud. And that isn’t helpful to you, or to your quarterly targets.

But the value of the content calendar stems from the story ideas housed within it.

And while newsrooms are great at pumping out story ideas, it’s slightly more challenging in the corporate space. In the corporate world, some see content on the periphery to a company’s mandate, which couldn’t be farther from the truth.

And while this can pose a challenge, so can generating story ideas.

But don’t fear. There are a few things you can do to get your colleagues interested in content and also to get those great story ideas on your content calendar.

The Value Of A Byline

Content marketing doesn’t just help a company’s bottom line. It helps the experts who put their names out there. In today’s online, remote world, published work with your byline does wonders for your brand.

It’s a way for you to showcase your knowledge. It can help you land speaking opportunities at conferences. It can help you grow within a company. It showcases authority in an industry and that can do great things for your career.

Once your colleagues discover the value of being thought leaders, they’ll find more reasons to share their expertise, whether in audio, video or written formats.

Have A Ghostwriter On Hand

There might be some subject matter experts within your company who aren’t keen on writing. Maybe they’re not bloggers. Or just never got into writing. This is why it’s important to have a ghostwriter in your company.

Better yet, hire a content marketer who can ghost write articles on behalf of experts in the company.

This allows experts in your company to share their knowledge without the worry of having to write. A simple half-hour Zoom interview with an expert within the company is all a ghost writer would need to start writing an article on behalf of an expert.

It’s always good to have thought leaders know how to muster up an article, but it doesn’t have to be a necessity.

Often, C-Suite and upper management rarely have time to write. This is why a ghostwriter becomes a great value add in a company that is using content marketing to grow.

Recognize That Content Is A Necessity For Businesses Today

It’s probably a good idea to create a culture of content in your company. This is especially important today, with content marketing being a key lead generator for businesses.

Once senior management see the value of content marketing in helping with growth, you’ll find your colleagues more open to the idea of writing up a blog post, or joining in on the company podcast as guest experts.

That happens, however, when the higher ups in a company recognize the importance of content marketing.

For Generating Story Ideas, Think Like A Journalist

Now back to that content calendar. A challenge facing content marketers is how to populate the quarterly calendar with story ideas with some semblance of cadence.

As a former journalist, I would recommend thinking like a journalist or an assignment editor.

Journalists often work on beats. If a journalist is on the workplace safety beat, she’ll know everything there is to know about that space.

As a content marketer working in the healthcare space, I usually start off my day by reading the latest news on HealthTech and healthcare.

I’ve subscribed to magazines and newsletters that keep me aware of my industry. This is one great way of generating timely story ideas.

As a relatively new hire in my current role, I’m also speaking to an array of people from across the company.

I’m joining as many company Slack groups. I’m even showing up for team meetings outside of the marketing department.

This is a great way to understand the expertise housed within your company. And it’s also a great way to generate story ideas for the next several months.

Also, if you get a chance, speak directly to company customers. They’ll offer great insights that can turn into great podcast episodes or blog posts.

Finally, even in this virtual world, there are lots of online conferences taking place. Try to sign up for as many as you can. Doing so can do wonders in helping you create great story ideas.