Free content idea generator (+5 proven ideation strategies)

In content marketing, success isn’t just about what you publish—it’s also about how frequently you publish. 

According to an Orbit Media study, bloggers who publish two to six posts a week see better results than those who publish less frequently. 

With that said, constantly thinking of new content ideas can be challenging. Simplify the process by using a content idea generator. Here’s how Copy.ai’s content idea generator works. 

‍Copy.ai’s content idea generators

We offer both free and premium idea generator tools that help you brainstorm content ideas quickly, even when you’re tired of ideation and would rather be doing anything else. 

Free content idea generator‍

To try out the free on-page tool, scroll up to the top of this page to find the free content idea generator.

Enter details about your niche and the topic you want to cover, then click the “Create Copy” button to start up the content idea generator.

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The free content generator creates five content ideas based on your query.

If you want to copy any of the ideas to your clipboard, click the “Copy” button (shown above) next to the content idea.

Premium content idea generator

Our free tool is limited in the fact that it only creates five content ideas at a time. However, our premium in-app blog idea generator lets you ideate more deeply. When you sign up to Copy.ai, you get 100 credits to try out all our premium tools for free. 

Here’s how our premium content idea generator works.

Open the Copy.ai app. You’ll find the blog ideas generator under “Blog Tools” in the left-hand “Tools” menu of the application. Click on it to open the generator interface. 

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Once you’ve entered the tool, give the name of your product/brand and describe the product for which you want to generate content ideas. 

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The generator also boasts a “tone of voice” feature that lets the tool know what tone makes the most sense for your brand and your content. If we’re going to be writing about technical search engine optimization (SEO), for example, “professional” is a good tone of voice to choose. 

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Now click “Create Copy” (shown above) to fire up the content idea generator. It only takes a few seconds for the tool to present you with a list of blog ideas. 

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The tool includes both a proposed blog post title and a short summary/description of what the blog post should be about.  

If you want even more content ideas, scroll down to the bottom of the list and click “Make More.”

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Use the “Copy All Results” button (shown above) if you want to copy all the generated content ideas to your clipboard.

See any content ideas that you really like? Click the “Save” button beneath it.

Click on the “Saved” tab on the top right to see all the content ideas that you’ve denoted as having potential. 

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If you’ve cooled on one of the content ideas that you previously liked, you can also remove the idea from the “Saved” tab by clicking the “Remove” button located under the content idea. 

Or, if you want to copy ideas to your clipboard, click the “Copy” button located right next to the “Remove” button.

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The “Make More” feature at the bottom of the original list of ideas creates an additional set of ideas based on your first query. But our app also has a “More Like This” option that allows you to generate new copy based on a specific idea that you’re fond of. 

Here’s how it works:‍

If you’re on the “Saved” tab, click back on the “Create Copy” tab and find one content idea that you want to create more content for, and click the “More Like This” button below it.

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‍The copy created with the “More Like This” feature can give you ideas you can use for a meta description or even the introductory paragraph of your blog post. 

5 ways to generate fresh content ideas 

Great content ideas can come from a wide variety of methods. Here are a few tried and tested ones outside of using a content idea generator.

‍1. Follow trending topics 

AI writing tools like our content idea generator aren’t the only online tools that can help you ideate. Some of the best tools for content ideation are those that help you stay on top of what people are talking about in your niche, for example: 

• BuzzSumo highlights content across the web that’s performing well. You can search by topic and see what type of posts, stories, and subjects are getting the most traffic and engagement. 
• Google Trends follows topics of interest and lets you know any time something that may be interesting to you pops up. It sends emails whenever it finds and curates web pages, articles, blogs, or research that match your search terms.  
• Feedly is a news aggregator that pulls together news stories, blog posts, YouTube videos, and other content based on topics you want to follow. 

All these tools make it easy to stay on top of trending topics in your specific niche. When you’re aware of the latest trends and hot topics, it’s easier to create content that’s timely and relevant to your audience. 

2. Listen to your audience 

If you want to know what to write about, ask the people who are reading your content. 

A good starting point is reading comments on your blog. Look for readers’ questions and opinions in the comments to find your next content idea. 

If you have a newsletter, send regular surveys asking your readers what type of content they want to see. 

Some marketers believe that surveys badger readers and could have a negative effect, but in reality, the opposite is true. People will gladly give feedback when asked. According to a recent BrightLocal survey, 72% of people asked by a company to write a review did so. 

3. Talk to industry experts 

Conversations can spark great ideas. Talk to people within your industry whenever possible. These talks can introduce you to new perspectives and new takes on topics you may have already covered.  

You can also add credibility and weight to your content and get more attention for it by including strong quotes from expert guests.

It doesn’t have to be a full-fledged interview with 20 questions; it can be a 15-minute video call or even an exchange via chat. 

LinkedIn is a good place to identify potential experts. Follow their posts and review their profiles to gauge their expertise so you know which topics to cover in your conversation.  

“Cold-calling” might not always work since industry experts tend to receive a lot of spammy messages. That’s why they often have assistants who screen and approve requests for them.  

Find the email address of the assistant, if possible, and pitch them your idea. Be sure to include:

• Who you are and what you do
• Your availability
• What you’re interested in talking about specifically
• How much time you’ll need to conduct the interview
• What you’re offering ‌(backlinks, social media promotion, money, etc.)

Don’t forget about in-house experts, either. Your CEO or head of product could have excellent insights to share that can boost your content and give you awesome new ideas as well. 

4. Sign up for newsletters 

Newsletters are similar to the news and blog aggregators we’ve already talked about. They help you stay up on trending news, events, and topics. 

Many company newsletters feature outside content as well, not just their own. Businesses often send monthly roundups that spotlight the latest content produced by thought leaders and experts from across the industry.    

Newsletters are probably the easiest channel for keeping up with industry news and following trends that can lead to great content ideas. Just subscribe and get content ideas delivered directly to your inbox.

‍5. Refresh your old content

Revisit your old content regularly. Analyze how it’s performing and what you can do to improve it. New content ideas can come from identifying gaps in your older content and filling them with new blog posts that work ‌with the old ones. 

Old content can also be repurposed into another form of content (infographics, white papers, etc.) or used as inspiration for a Tweetstorm or LinkedIn post.

Break through ideation fatigue with a content idea generator 

Any repetitive task can become tedious and tiresome—including content ideation. 

The good news is that marketing professionals now have AI copywriting tools like our idea generator to aid them in keeping their content ideas diverse and interesting. 

‍Sign up with Copy.ai today to gain access to over 90 productivity-boosting content generation tools.

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You can find other free AI tools here:

Meta description generator

Blog title generator

Marketing email generator

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