Where to Find Content Ideas That Actually Convert
I'm Doug Lawson, Ray's fractional Chief Content Officer, back with the third and final installment of our content marketing series.
Today, I'm going to reveal where to find an endless supply of content ideas that actually convert prospects into clients … not just generate likes.
Over the past couple of weeks, I've been walking you through my proven framework for creating content that lands actual deals, not just claps.
If you missed the first two parts, here's the ultra-quick recap:
In Part 1, I explained why AI-generated prompts are creating a sea of sameness and why we need a more strategic approach to content.
In Part 2, we discussed the critical difference between B2B and B2C content strategies, and I introduced the concept of "Find your 50". Focusing on the 50 decision makers who can transform your business rather than chasing thousands of likes.
Now we're at Phase 3... the part everyone's been waiting for.
Where do you actually find content ideas that convert?
The Content Idea Problem
Here's what I see happening with most founders and marketers:
Monday morning rolls around. They think, "I need to post something on LinkedIn today."
Then what? They:
→ Scroll through LinkedIn for inspiration
→ Check what's trending
→ Try to come up with something "valuable" off the top of their head
→ Or worse... they ask AI, "Give me some ideas for LinkedIn posts about [my industry]"
This approach is fundamentally flawed because it's disconnected from what actually drives sales conversations.
The Gold Mine You're Sitting On
The truth is, you're already sitting on an absolute gold mine of content ideas. You just don't recognize it.
Every single day, your ideal clients are telling you exactly what content to create... but you're not listening.
Here are the five sources I have my clients mine for their content (and these sources will never run dry):
1. Sales Call Transcripts
This is my all-time favorite source. If you're not recording and transcribing your sales calls, start today.
What to look for:
Questions prospects ask repeatedly
Objections they raise
Stories they tell about their problems
Exact language they use to describe their situation
One client of mine took a single objection he heard on three different sales calls: "We've tried factoring services before, but it didn't work. Just a lot of debt"
He created a post breaking down the five reasons factoring fails for most companies in his industry. That single post generated six sales calls from exactly the right kind of prospect… companies that had tried and failed with his competitors.
2. Customer Support and Client Calls
Your existing clients are a content idea goldmine. Every question, frustration, or win they share contains the seed of a content idea that will resonate with others just like them.
What to look for:
Unexpected challenges they face implementing your solution
Wins and results they're excited about
Questions they ask repeatedly
Language they use when they're happy versus frustrated
I once worked with a SaaS founder who noticed that whenever onboarding calls went long, it was almost always because of the same misunderstanding about their platform's capabilities. He created content specifically addressing this misalignment... and saw onboarding time decrease by 30% while satisfaction scores rose.
3. Industry Forums and Communities
Your ideal clients are having conversations right now about their problems... just not with you.
What to look for:
Recurring problems people are trying to solve
Solutions they've tried that failed
Language patterns of frustration
Who gets praised and who gets criticized
A consultant I work with spent two weeks just observing a niche industry forum before writing any content. He then created a series addressing the three most common complaints he saw. The result? 3 inbound inquiries from ideal prospects who felt like he was "reading their minds."
4. Competitor Content (And Their Comments)
I'm not suggesting you copy competitors... but the comments section on their content reveals what resonates and what falls flat with your shared audience.
What to look for:
Which topics generate the most engagement
What objections appear in the comments
What questions go unanswered
Where prospects seem confused or unsatisfied
One financial advisor I worked with noticed that whenever his competitors posted about retirement planning, comments always revealed anxiety about healthcare costs… which competitors rarely addressed directly. He built an entire content pillar around this overlooked aspect... and now dominates that micro niche.
5. Your Past Clients' Journey
The path that led your best clients to you is the same path future ideal clients will take.
What to look for:
What finally triggered them to seek a solution
What solutions they tried before yours
How they described their problem initially vs. how they describe it now
What they wish they'd known sooner
A DevOps agency owner interviewed five past clients about their journey to hiring her. She discovered they all had the same triggering event … dealing with a production outage that their internal team couldn't resolve quickly enough. She created content specifically addressing that moment of crisis and the technical debt that often leads to it... and saw her pipeline fill with similar prospects who recognized their vulnerability to the same issue.
How to Turn These Sources into Strategic Content
Once you've mined these sources, the transformation into compelling content follows this process:
Identify Patterns: Look for questions, objections, or problems that appear repeatedly.
Map to Your Content Pillars: Connect these patterns to your core content themes (the ones we defined in Phase 2).
Add Your Contrarian Angle: What's the perspective only you can bring? What does everyone else get wrong about this topic?
Frame for Your Ideal 50: Remember, you're not writing for everyone. How would you address this topic if those 50 ideal clients were in a room with you?
Structure for Impact: Start with the problem exactly as your prospects would describe it. Then provide your unique insight. Finish with a clear next step or perspective shift.
The key difference between this approach and what most people do? You're starting with real concerns from real prospects... not guessing what might resonate.
Your Content Creation Workflow
Here's the workflow I recommend:
Spend one hour per month mining these five sources
Create a content idea bank organized by your content pillars
For each idea, write down: The exact client language that inspired it. The common misconception you'll address. Your unique perspective. The transformation you want readers to experience
With this system, you'll never run out of ideas. More importantly, your content will consistently attract the right prospects because it's literally built from their own thoughts and concerns.
Putting It All Together
Over these three weeks, I've given you the complete framework:
A positioning strategy built on what makes you truly different (Phase 1)
Content pillars that reinforce your unique value (Phase 2)
A system for generating ideas that actually convert (Phase 3)
This framework isn't about posting more frequently or chasing trends. It's about creating content with intention. Content that speaks directly to your ideal 50 decision makers and positions you as their clear choice.
Remember: AI can help amplify your message, but it can't define your strategy or extract the gold from your client interactions. That part is still human work. The craftsman's work.
But when you combine the craftsman's approach with the power of AI?
That's when magic happens.
– Doug
