Every marketer is aware of the pain of struggling to come up with content ideas for their next blog post, social media post, email or article.
And where there are plenty of content ideas resources available across the web, I would like to reveal one that does not get much attention.
It is a simple strategy that I have implemented to get great content ideas for articles, blog posts, seminars and more.
I am talking about Reddit.
How to Get Great Content Ideas From Reddit
But wait…does Reddit actually deserve your attention?
The most intriguing concern with content marketing and development is to persistently come up with creative ideas to write about.
If you check out some of the most popular blogs on the web, you will notice that in most cases, you are capable of creating high quality and informative content just like these websites. Then you might be wondering, what is between you and millions of people who can connect with your content?
The issue almost certainly does not link with the kind or the amount of information you are sharing. The actual issue is to understand with WHOM you are sharing the content. This concern pushes us back towards the first step of blogging, “What should I write about?”
To find this, see your target audience and check where these people hang out most on the Internet. One of these places might be Reddit. Yes, surprisingly, Reddit has become a content haven for most marketers. According to latest Alexa ranking, Reddit currently comes at number 5 in the United States and 10 on a global level.
A Content Haven
It is not just its traffic that makes the website so important, however, it is how engaged its visitors are.
According to The Next Web, the average Reddit visitor spends 15 minutes on the website in a day! That is more than Facebook (11 minutes) and Twitter (6 minutes).
Wow, that’s impressive.
Related: How to Create Content Your Audience Will Go Crazy For
A Viral Hub
Currently, Reddit is the most trendy website as it’s communities and subreddit interactions mostly turn into viral sensations across the web.
Given its size, engagement and depth, Reddit is certain to have something valuable for you to use to come up with great content ideas. The key is to explore how to navigate this massive site, and how to extract the most powerful, specific insights from its users.
A Massive Pool of Subreddits
There is a subreddit for almost any topic you can think of. According to Statista, there are almost 1.2 million subreddits.
Subreddits are small groups within Reddit and you can find them on almost every niche and industry. This makes Reddit a huge pool of niche groups that constantly communicate with each other about issues and trending topics. Simply subscribe to as many relevant subreddits as you see fit and you can stay well-informed with the current industry trends and topics.
Find Out What Your Audience Wishes to Talk About
The problem is not with the content quality, but with whether your content has something valuable for your audience or not. To check what your target audience wishes to talk about, use Reddit in these ways:
- Find content that is doing well and rewrite it in a better style that speaks to your audience. The content you select is already doing well, so readers will definitely appreciate an enhanced version of the same topic. This can be done through sorting out relevant subreddits to get high performing results first. Select the discussion you think you can effectively modify. Voila! your next great content idea is ready.
- Check relevant subreddits and search questions in discussion threads, replies, and comments. Remember that you only select discussion that have a high interaction level (check the points on the left column). You will see the top comments on a query thread are answers, but the replies to these comments are mostly in the form of further questions.
- Turn these questions into content ideas. Let me give you an example I used in one of my post. A question, “How can we use video marketing for websites?” can be spun into “6 Major Benefits of Promotional Video for Your Business”.
There are so many queries to choose from so no need to worry if you are not confident on writing on a specific topic, just skip and check the others.
Related: How to Boost Your Client Communication Skills
Integrate Keywords
In order to drive traffic to your content, it is important to include the keywords. Keyworddit is a handy tool to assist you in finding keywords in a particular subreddit that have actual search volume. Just name the relevant subreddit, personalize your search by mentioning search type, relevance, time frame and frequency.
Keyworddit will sprawl every discussion and comment area, recognize keywords and works it through a keyword search tool Grepwords. It will display high performing keywords with actual search volume.
Keywords can be your easiest way to get content ideas. For example, if a high performing keyword for your search is “Start a Blog”, you can twist it into “How to Start a Blog – Simplified in 4 Steps”
Crowdsourcing
Reddit is a huge platform for research and crowdsourcing.
Taking out a paid advertisement for research purposes on Reddit will be much cheaper than other social media websites and will offer you real, insightful data. Use this resource to generate opinions on new ideas, existing ideas, or feedback on your offerings.
Another way to get opinions is to directly comment or post in a discussion. If you wish to share something insightful, you will be able to generate data easily and crowdsource content through quotes and feedback.
Caution: Do not advertise your brand or product! The Reddit community is a sensitive bunch and you could get shunned for self-promotion.
Your Take
I hope by now you know how effectively Reddit can be used to generate great content ideas for your next post. It can be a massive source of information and inspiration.
Creating and selling your content can be a challenging task and it takes more than writing and publishing. You need to be persistently engaged and informed about the current trends and topics. Reddit has made it easier with its myriad source of information and interaction.