Those who are familiar with Inbound marketing know that content plays an essential role in the success of any campaign. 

If you're new to the world of content marketing, you may be unsure what to write about. If you're a veteran, your idea well may be running dry. 

Either way, I guarantee you'll find some inspiration in the content download ideas below:

FAQs

You probably spend a lot of time answering questions every day. I'd be willing to bet that a lot of those questions are repeated frequently, and you find yourself typing the same thing over and over. Your sales team likely experiences this even more, as they respond to the same questions from different people every single day.

What if you could channel all of these FAQs into content that both saved your time answering them, and provided an awesome resource to your prospects and existing customers?

You can! I suggest spending an afternoon with your entire team, creating a massive list of the most common questions you're asked from both prospects and current clients. Include everything, from the smallest to the largest questions.

Then, create a series of brief blog posts that answer some of the most popular questions. Ideally, these questions should also naturally include keywords that your search traffic utilizes. At the bottom of each of these blog posts, include a CTA to an eBook that answers more popular questions about your industry, service, etc.

Remember, content is all about education rather than promotion. Very few people will be interested an eBook on "Why You Should Choose Our Company: FAQs." Keep it very informative and focused on general questions people are asking regarding your general field of services.

Term Guides

Does your industry use a lot of buzzwords that leave newcomers perplexed? The jargon associated with your field might be a fantastic gateway to potential new clients.

Take Joomla, for example. If you're an agency that builds Joomla sites, there's a good chance that a lot of your potential clients have no idea about things like modules, extensions, and article categories. But they want to! 

Some of the best content downloads are incredibly simple and just provide straight forward information that empowers the reader through knowledge.

You can call this a dictionary, and ABC list, whatever floats your boat. Just like FAQs, you can also write complimentary condensed blog posts to aid in promoting the download.

Case Studies

I said above that no one wants to download an eBook that's all about pushing a sale for your company. This is true in the initial educational content realm, but there is still definitely a time and place for an engaging case study near the end of the sales process. 

In fact, case studies play a very important role in your content download strategy. Targeted at bottom of the funnel leads, case studies are often utilized as the tipping point to convert a "maybe" into a sale.

There is some controversy over whether or not case studies should be gated (by a form) or simply presented right on the website. My opinion lies in the middle; I suggest creating snapshots of your case studies on the website, which show the highlights of what you accomplished in project. From there, people can opt to download the entire case study PDF which delves into the details of how you reached that success.

Consultations

Free consultations may not be a content download, but they are a pivotal part of a complete content strategy. Like case studies, consultations lie at the very bottom of the funnel. These one-to-one interactions with a potential customer or client help them uncover what they could be doing better in their business or life, and how your service can get them there.

Admittedly, consultations can be a little bit stiff. No matter how endearing your sales team, there is still a perception out there that a consultation will push hard for a sale. That's where lesser commitment, higher funnel alternatives become valuable.

Assessments

With the rise of gamification and the fiercely competitive nature of digital marketing, it's no surprise free online assessments and grading tools have reached such popularity. You've likely seen these tools all over the internet, and could likely build one of your own without a major resource investment. 

The appeal here is two fold for the user: the assessment is fun, and the results are useful for their business. For examples, check out Entrepreneur's Email ROI Calculator and Screaming Frog's SEO Spider tool. 

Stuff

No, I'm not being vague. If you've already created resources that fall into the categories above, it's time to actually create stuff that helps people accomplish their relevant goals.

If you need some inspiration on what kind of stuff you can create, consider these examples:

• Image Assets - HubSpot frequently puts out free compilations of dozens of images which downloaders can use however they see fit. They don't even ask for image credits upon use, they just put it all out there for free.

• Extensions - As a Joomla agency, your team has likely created plenty of workarounds and plug ins to solve common problems. Why not share them with the world? Giving away tools for free keeps your name at the top of mind every time their used, and demonstrates your authority in the space.

• Tutorial Videos - Tired of making FAQ blog posts and eBooks? Set up a recording space and convey that information through video. Whether it's a whiteboard walkthrough or a screen recording tutorial, shaking up your content format is always a good thing.