{"id":24054,"date":"2017-02-13T21:48:33","date_gmt":"2017-02-13T21:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iteratemarketing.com\/?p=24054"},"modified":"2021-06-10T11:43:13","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T18:43:13","slug":"use-group-ideation-get-awesome-content-topics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iteratemarketing.com\/blog\/use-group-ideation-get-awesome-content-topics\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Group Ideation to Get Awesome Content Topics"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is repurposed from our new book, “The Content Marketer’s Guide to Ideation.” This massive 187-page guide is available free as a PDF (get it here<\/a>),\u00a0and is also available in Kindle<\/a> and paperback<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Focused teams outproduce individual people in uncovering, selecting, reshuffling, combining, and synthesizing information into new ideas. If you\u2019re looking for the best content ideas, your best bet is to use a team.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s obvious that if four team members each bring one idea, there\u2019s the potential for 1+1+1+1 Ideas, but the truth of ideation is that ideas spark ideas<\/i>. By allowing ideas to come together, you open up the possibility for an \u201cidea bank\u201d to grow exponentially.<\/p>\n

\"idea\"<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not the only reason to ideate in groups. Group ideation can help you accomplish three other goals:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Generate a larger pool of ideas<\/li>\n
  2. Bond with your team<\/li>\n
  3. Get buy-in from your team (+ bosses, execs, etc)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    But how do you avoid the traditional boring, unproductive brainstorm sessions<\/i>? That\u2019s the topic I\u2019ll tackle at length in this article. First, let\u2019s unpack why <\/i>we hate brainstorms.<\/p>\n

    Why Do We Hate Brainstorms?<\/h2>\n

    The reason we hate brainstorm meetings is that our leaders are not equipped with structured exercises, not clear enough about their goals and expectations, and don’t facilitate or police the meetings appropriately. The good news is that if you fix those three issues, group ideation meetings can be one of your best tools for generating great content Ideas.<\/p>\n

    \"brainstorm\"<\/p>\n

    The Makeup of a Content Ideation Group<\/h2>\n

    Small teams of 3 to 4 work great for ideation meetings. Keep your ideation groups under 10. Try to gather participants from diverse disciplines across the organization. Try to bring together more than just your colleagues who have been reading the same content marketing listicles over and over. Like-minded people inevitably produce similar ideas.<\/p>\n

    Don’t assume who will be creative and who won’t be. With the right mindset, processes, and practices, you’ll be surprised by who can generate great Ideas. Often, people who have no preconceived notions about what great content is or \u201cshould be\u201d come up with tremendous ideas.<\/p>\n

    Prepare Your Team Before The Meeting<\/h2>\n

    Ask your team to do a little research before attending the meeting. Give them prompts or resources. \u00a0At the very least, provide your meeting participants with these four building blocks:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Clarify the business problem.<\/li>\n
    2. Identify the objectives of the meeting.<\/li>\n
    3. Ask them to block out 30 minutes on their calendars before the meeting to ideate individually.<\/li>\n
    4. Provide them with data sources to research the topic in depth.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      With these four pieces in place, you\u2019ll have your team ready for a productive session.<\/p>\n

      Give Them Written Instructions<\/h2>\n

      If you’re working with salespeople, customer service reps, technical experts, and other non-marketers, you’ll want to prepare them with an agenda, your goals for the meeting, and an explanation of what a successful outcome looks like. For those participants outside of your department, write a personal email inviting them to an hour-long session.<\/p>\n

      \"written-instructions\"<\/p>\n

      Dear John Doe,<\/i><\/p>\n

      On Thursday, November 6th, I’ll be gathering our content and creative teams to Conference Room Z to work on developing new content ideas for x content marketing campaign. <\/i><\/p>\n

      I’m inviting you because I value your input on x and I think you could be a big help to my team. <\/i><\/p>\n

      Please let me know if you’d be interested in attending and if the suggested time and date works for you! <\/i><\/p>\n

      Thank you very much!<\/i><\/p>\n

      P.S. If you do attend, below are the details of the meeting. I’ll send along an agenda the day of the meeting. <\/i><\/p>\n

      Business Problem<\/b>: Lack of ideas in targeting audience x<\/p>\n

      Objective<\/b>: Develop 10+ engaging ideas related to our audience.<\/p>\n

      Time Investment<\/b>: 30 minutes or less<\/p>\n

      A few sources for research<\/b>:<\/p>\n

      www.oursite.com\/blog<\/p>\n

      www.ourcompetitor.com\/blog<\/p>\n

      www.audience-interest-site.com\/<\/p>\n

      www.audience-interest-site.com\/<\/p>\n

      www.industrypublication.com\/<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      This article is repurposed from our new book, “The Content Marketer’s Guide to Ideation.” This massive 187-page guide is available free as a PDF (get it here<\/a>),\u00a0and is also available in Kindle<\/a> and paperback<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

      Choosing the Right Environment<\/h2>\n

      If possible, use a room other than your conference room. Conference rooms are often a place of hierarchy, conflict, and tension (i.e., the war room), and that setting won\u2019t fly for group ideation. It’s not always easy to get out of the office, and typically you sacrifice some resources and tools when you do so, but a comfortable coffee shop or park can help break people out of their routine thinking.<\/p>\n

      Because you want to create an unstructured, lateral, and creative atmosphere, sometimes a more formal setting helps ground a lot of the rigorous, vertical thinkers. Creating a formal environment signals that though you plan to be relaxed and open-minded, the purpose of the meeting is very serious.<\/p>\n

      Bring The Right Tools To Your Meeting<\/h2>\n

      You won\u2019t need a lot of physical tools to run an effective ideation session, just some basic office supplies and an appropriate environment. The common tools of the trade for ideation sessions are:<\/p>\n

      \"butcher-paper\"<\/b><\/p>\n