4 undercover ways to find fresh content marketing ideas

Business name
Business Victoria
Last updated date
16 Jul 2025

We have made it to the start of the new financial year, but now what? After sales, tax returns and your endless to-do list, the idea of creating NEW marketing content might feel overwhelming.

If you’ve been staring at a blank content calendar or word document, watching the cursor blink at you, grab a beverage and carve out some time to brainstorm ideas.

Don’t worry, we’ve got 4 ways to help you get started on your content marketing strategy.

3 people looking at the computer screen and thinking

1. Dig into social content for gold

From frothy Dalgona coffee to the ‘it’s corn’ moment, social media is a constant stream of trends that break the internet. But for your business, the real wins come from tapping into these moments strategically – with storytelling, customer connection and a clear brand voice.

When you’re lost for content, here’s the good news: your audience, data and trends are all right there, waiting to inspire your next hit post.

The best places to start:

  • Pinterest is a visual discovery tool: find top-performing pins for inspiration or create boards to collect ideas.
  • Ask your audience: run polls or question time to get real time insights.
  • Check your analytics: identify your top and flop posts, then remix or refresh them.
  • Monitoring comments and DMs: real conversations reveal audience desires.
  • Repurpose content: turn longer videos into snack-size reels for extra reach.
  • Search social: use the search functions on social media for inspiration.
  • Watch creators and brands: see what’s trending to create your own remixes.

Social media is a massive playground for content ideas, with over 5 billion people scrolling through apps worldwide.

2. Mining reviews and online chats

We’ve all sneaked a peek at the review section when buying something or haunted our favourite online forums to find out what’s happening in the neighbourhood. But have you ever thought about turning those conversations into content gold to grow your business?

Your audience is already talking about your products or similar online. If you seek out this user generated content, it can tell you a lot about what people like.

The best places to start:

General reviews: check reviews on websites like Amazon, Kogan, Trustpilot and eBay.

Take a look at products similar to yours and focus on the 1-star and the 2 to 4-star reviews to find common frustrations or questions. Use these insights to create content that fills those gaps, answers common questions or highlights how your business solves issues better than the rest.

  • Example: a 3-star laptop review might say, ‘great performance but battery doesn’t last a full day’. You could create a post on tips to extend battery life, reasons for battery drain, or highlight how your product solves this better.

Online forums: search for a topic plus the word ‘forum’ to find online discussions on Reddit, Quora, Whirlpool or other niche industry forums.

Here you can learn more about the questions people are asking, their issues and what they are seeking for your content inspiration.

  • Example: someone on a gardening forum might ask, ‘how do I stop possums from eating my tomatoes?’ You could create a how-to post or video addressing this pain point.

Always check the forum rules before contributing to forums. You can share your expertise respectfully and avoid overt self-promotion to build trust and stay welcome.

Facebook groups: seek out and join Facebook groups (local or global, depending on your target market) related to your topic.

Scan daily posts or use the group’s search function to find common questions and recurring problems.

If the group rules allow, you can ask questions, share helpful links to your content, or provide advice – but avoid obvious self-promotion to maintain trust.

3. Discover who is searching for what

Every day, people search for things from ‘best pizza toppings’ to ‘how to survive a zombie apocalypse’ or even ‘why do my socks disappear in the washing machine?’

By sifting through these (often hilarious) searches, you can reveal questions that can be turned into your own content to grow your business.

The best places to start:

AnswerThePublic: type in a topic or keyword to uncover real questions people are searching for on Google. From ‘how to brew coffee’ to ‘best gardener in Victoria’, you’ll be ready to answer your customers most common questions.

This premium tool organises popular search questions into easy-to-read lists or visual maps (showing you the who, what, where, when and why), to help you see what your audience is curious about. They can also be downloaded into a CSV spreadsheet for offline brainstorming.

  • Example: if you search ‘small business marketing’, you might see questions like ‘how do I market my business on a small budget?’, which could inspire a blog post or quick tips video.

Get started with AnswerThePublic.

Google Trends: check what topics and keywords people are searching for most and when they are searching.

This free tool shows how popular certain search terms are over time and in different regions. Use it to spot trending topics, explore seasonal patterns, or common questions to turn into blog posts, videos or tips.

One thing to note: the numbers show how popular a search term is compared to others; not the exact number of times it’s searched. The range is from 0 to 100, with 0 being the least searched and 100 being extremely popular.

  • Example: an ecommerce store might use Google Trends to spot when ‘eco-friendly gifts’ spike each year and prepare a guide or campaign just in time.

Start searching with Google Trends.

4. Embrace generative AI

Breaking through a creative block as a busy business owner can be draining, but with the right tools (and prompts), you can get a little extra help to keep the ideas flowing. Generative AI can act as your online assistant when creating content, analysing data and brainstorming.

The best places to start:

Brainstorming: AI can be used to brainstorm content ideas for your business. You won’t use every suggestion, but it can be a useful place to start if you’re stuck. Simply type a prompt or idea into your AI tool and review the responses to see what works for you.

  • Example: you could start with ‘marketing ideas for [your industry]’ or ‘blog topics for [your industry]’.

Content creation: AI can be used to create text, images and videos. Content creation isn’t perfect with AI, but it may help overcome writer’s block or provide visual references to give you inspiration.

  • Example: AI can help you start a blog, email or social media post. You can use a tool to come up with an outline or to get you started. Try ‘write an introduction for a blog on …’ or ‘create a template for an order confirmation email’.

Analysis: want to quickly analyse a spreadsheet? You can upload your marketing campaign data and have AI analyse everything from click rates, pageviews, unsubscribes and more. Just remember that any information you give the AI is likely saved somewhere. It’s best that you don’t reveal any personal information or sensitive business data.

  • Example: try uploading your Google Analytics, email marketing or social media data and having the tool analyse it. You might find trends you’d never normally see without AI’s powerful data crunching.

Add your fresh spin

Use these methods to learn more about what your target audience wants to know, what’s topical and what’s trending. That way you can create content that speaks to them.

Come up with as many ideas as you can in one sitting. That way, you’ll have an abundant list of topics to draw from to create content for your preferred medium. Your future self will thank you for avoiding that dreaded blinking cursor of doom.

Start researching and get creative!