How Experienced Strategists Prioritize High-Impact Content Topics
Content Strategist
Not all topics are created equal.
Some have the power to captivate audiences, drive engagement, and significantly impact your business goals. But how do you separate these high-impact gems from the sea of mediocre ideas?
In this article, I’ll share some techniques for finding ideas and prioritizing content topics for maximum impact.
Table of Contents
Why does content prioritization matter?
Think about how much time you spend creating content.
Now imagine if every piece actually moved the needle for your business.
That's what prioritization does.
It helps you pick topics that'll grab your audience's attention and drive real results. You're focused on what matters – content that brings in leads, boosts conversions, and keeps your customers coming back for more.
How do you make the difference between high-impact vs. low-impact content?
Figuring out what content is high-impact versus low-impact isn't rocket science, but it does require some strategic thinking.
High-impact content is the stuff that really moves the needle for your business (as I mentioned above). It's the content that your audience can't get enough of, that solves their biggest problems, and that keeps them coming back for more. On the flip side, low-impact content might be interesting, but it doesn't do much to drive your business goals forward.
So how do you tell the difference?
Start by looking at your data. What content is getting the most engagement? Which topics are driving the most leads or sales? That's usually a good indicator of high-impact content.
But don't stop there.
Talk to your customers, research industry trends, and monitor your competitors' activities. High-impact content often addresses pain points that your audience is actively seeking solutions to.
Nonetheless… what's high-impact for one business might be low-impact for another. It all depends on your specific audience and goals. That's why you need to really understand your target market and what they're looking for. Once you've got that down, you'll start to see patterns emerge in what resonates with them.
Identifying topics with cascading influence
What an interesting term, isn’t it? 😀
These are the topics that don't just make a splash when you first publish them - they keep on making waves long after.
Smart strategists know that these high-impact topics are gold because they keep on giving, sparking conversations, inspiring other content creators, and keeping your brand in the spotlight.
Let’s think about this for a second – some topics just seem to take on a life of their own. They get shared, discussed, and debated. People create response videos, write their own blog posts expanding on your ideas, or start heated discussions in the comments.
Before you know it, your original piece has spawned a whole ecosystem of content, all linking back to you as the source. That's the power of cascading influence.
The challenge is that these topics aren't always obvious at first glance. Sometimes, a seemingly simple idea strikes a chord and takes off.
Other times, a controversial take gets people talking.
The key is to keep your finger on the pulse of your industry and your audience, always looking for those topics that have the potential to spark ongoing conversations and content creation.
How to identify such topics?
- Tap into trending conversations → Keep an eye on social media, industry forums, and news sites. Look for topics that are generating a lot of buzz but haven't been fully explored yet.
- Analyze your competitors' most successful content → Check out what's working well for others in your space. Which of their posts or articles are getting the most engagement over time?
- Listen to your audience → Pay attention to the questions and comments your audience is leaving on your content on social media. Often, the seeds of high-impact topics are hidden in these interactions. If you're seeing the same questions or pain points come up repeatedly, that's a sign you've hit on something with the potential for cascading influence.
- Conduct keyword research with a twist → Don't just look at the search volume. Pay attention to keywords that actually make sense for your business and are hyper-relevant (e.g. a BOFU keyword might have a search volume of 50, but is surely more valuable than a keyword with 1000 volume that might not be driving as many conversions). You can use Yahini to help you identify these high-priority keywords with just one click of a button.
Finding gold at the crossroads of multiple trends
Finding gold at the crossroads might look like combining AI trends with cybersecurity challenges, or merging remote work solutions with data privacy concerns. Maybe connecting sustainability practices with cloud computing efficiency.
These intersections are where the magic happens.
They create unique angles that grab attention because they're fresh, relevant, and often solve multiple problems at once.
This approach works wonders because it positions your company as an innovative thought leader.
You're not just rehashing the same old topics everyone else is talking about. Instead, you're offering fresh perspectives that can genuinely help other businesses navigate complex challenges.
How to identify such topics?
- Create a trend map → Regularly jot down trends you're seeing in your industry and adjacent fields. Look for unexpected connections between them. For example, you might notice a link between the rise of edge computing and the growing need for real-time analytics in manufacturing.
- Follow diverse sources → Don't just stick to news. Branch out into tech blogs, business journals, and even seemingly unrelated fields like psychology or environmental science.
- Talk to customers across different industries → Your B2B clients are likely facing challenges that span multiple areas. Regular conversations can reveal interesting intersections between their needs that you might not have considered.
- Analyze search data creatively → Look for overlaps in search trends that might not seem related at first glance. Tools like Google Trends can help you spot when different topics are spiking simultaneously.
Challenging mainstream ideas
Challenging mainstream ideas is where content strategists really flex their thought leadership muscles. It's about taking a step back and asking, "But what if we're all wrong?"
True thought leadership means having the guts to say something different, backed by solid evidence and experience. When you challenge mainstream ideas effectively, you position yourself and your company as innovative thinkers who aren't afraid to push boundaries. This kind of content often sparks heated discussions, gets shared widely, and can even shift industry perspectives over time.
But (and there’s a big “but”) challenging mainstream ideas isn't about being controversial just to get attention. You need to offer genuine insights that make people stop and reconsider their assumptions. When done right, this approach can establish your brand as a go-to source for fresh, forward-thinking content.
How to identify such topics?
- Question everything → Ask yourself, "Why do we do things this way?" Sometimes, the most impactful content comes from challenging ideas that everyone takes for granted.
- Look for gaps in current thinking → Pay attention to problems that persist despite widespread "solutions." These gaps often indicate areas where current approaches are falling short.
- Monitor industry pain points → Keep a close eye on recurring complaints or frustrations in your field. These are prime opportunities for thought leadership content that offers fresh solutions or perspectives on stubborn problems.
- Analyze failed predictions → Look back at industry forecasts or trends that didn't pan out as expected.
- Bring forward your unique experiences → Draw from your company's specific challenges and successes. Your unique journey in the field might contradict common advice, providing a basis for thought-provoking content that challenges the status quo.
Borrowing content strategies from unexpected sources
This is NOT copying others, it’s finding inspiration in unlikely places and adapting it to your unique context.
I do this a lot. I browse through magazines like Paris Review or Aeon and I “borrow” content ideas. Imagine taking the edge-of-your-seat storytelling from true crime podcasts and applying it to your case studies. Or picture using the visual appeal of travel blogs to showcase your product features. These unexpected twists can make your content pop in a sea of sameness.
Here's a pro tip: some of the best insights are hiding right under your nose. Your sales team, for instance, is a goldmine of customer insights. They're chatting with prospects daily, hearing their struggles, dreams, and objections firsthand.
How to identify such topics?
- Become a department explorer → Grab your notebook and spend a day with your sales or support team. Listen to calls, read through tickets, and chat with team members over coffee. You'll come away bursting with ideas for content that addresses real customer pain points.
- Channel your inner content detective → Pick an industry that's nothing like yours. What makes their top content work so well? Could you put an _enter your industry here_ spin on those strategies?
- Diversify your social feed → Start following thought leaders from all sorts of fields on social media. Their posts and discussions might spark ideas that bring an unexpected twist to your topics.
The ✨curiosity gap✨
The curiosity gap is that irresistible itch we all get when we know there's something we don't know.
It's the reason you can't help but click on that "You won't believe what happened next" headline, even though you know it's probably clickbait.
Our brains are wired to seek out information. When we sense a gap in our knowledge, it creates a kind of mental tension that we're driven to resolve. It's why cliffhangers in TV shows work so well and why you'll stay up way too late reading "just one more chapter" of a good book.
But here's where it gets interesting for us content creators: to satisfy the curiosity gap means identifying the questions your audience is dying to have answered, the problems they're grappling with, or the insights they crave but haven't found yet.
How to identify such topics?
- Mine your FAQ → Look at the questions your customers ask most often, but dig deeper. What's the question behind the question? Often, the real curiosity gap lies in the underlying issue they're trying to solve.
- Analyze search trends → Tools, like Answer the Public, can show you what questions people are asking about topics in your industry. Look for questions that hint at knowledge gaps or uncertainties in your field.
- Conduct surveys → Ask your audience directly what they're most curious about or what problems keep them up at night.
From content prioritization to content briefing
Identifying high-impact content topics is just the first step in creating a killer content strategy.
Once you've pinpointed these golden opportunities, the next challenge is turning them into well-structured content.
This is where content briefing comes into play…
Yahini offers you the strategic advice you need to create a content strategy from the ground up. Its AI has been trained by seasoned content strategists, providing you with expert-level content briefs right at your fingertips.
Ditch the generic outlines! Sign up now.
-
Need a 24/7 content strategist? See how Yahini can help you craft perfect content briefs.
-
Any questions? I’m happy to help! Just reach out to us!
-
Not ready yet? Learn more about Yahini here.