The AdLeaks Content Engine

The 2020
Content
Engine

12 Sources to Keep Your
Content Marketing Revved

Up

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Table of
Contents

Introduction

01 Part 1: Inbound & Internal
1. Keyword Research

02 2. Market Research
3. Competitor Research

03 4. Social Media
5. Existing Content
6. Trending Topics
Part 2: Outbound & External
7. Conversations
8. Seasonal Events
9. Customer Surveys
10. Influencers
11. Hosted Events
12. Pop Culture
Before You Go... 

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Businesses, agencies, andAdLeaks Content Engine For each source,
marketers all know that building we’ll explain:
your organic reach and search
engine credentials takes two WHAT IT IS
things: time and content.
WHY IT WORKS
Consistently producing value-add content
HOW TO USE IT
for your audience is a great way to keep the top of
your sales funnel full of leads. But even You’ll also f ind out about:
experienced content creators can struggle with the
output necessary to keep an audience engaged and • Tools: effective ways to use each source
growing. • Outputs: what you can produce with each source

To keep your advertising and content

marketing running smoothly and on the right
track, we’ve assembled the AdLeaks Content
Engine.

Look at each of these 12 sources as a cylinder

in your new Content Engine. Once you get all of
these cylinders firing, you’ll have more than
enough power to keep your content marketing
revved up.

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PART 1 Inbound &
Internal
Content

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PART 1 Inbound & Internal Content
Sources

1. K e y w o r d R e s e a r c h
2. C o m p e t i t o r R e s e a r c h
3. M a r k e t R e s e a r c h
4. S o c i a l M e d i a
5. E x i s t i n g C o n t e n t
6. T r e n d i n g T o p i c s

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Keyword ResearchPART 1 - Inbound & Internal joinadleaks.com

The Engine Block

Keywords are the words and phrases that

people type into search engines to find your
business or brand. When your content has keywords
relevant to a users’ search, your paid ad, website, or
other collateral will appear in their search results.
Keyword research can show you how your existing
content is performing in Google's Search Engine
Results Pages (SERP), but you can also use it as a
springboard for new content marketing ideas.

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Why Keyword 01
Research Works

Inbound & Internal Knowing what keywords consumers use to research
specific problems and solutions in your niche is the best
foundation for content creation.

Further, relevant content that is optimized through keyword
research can bring more traffic to your page, which can generate
more leads and improve ROI over time.

Providing value and answering questions related to those
keywords will help your content reach consumers early in the
buying process, making them more likely to think of you when
they’re ready to convert.

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02 How to Use Keyword
Research

WORK WITH WHAT YOU KNOW
Keyword research is also a good place to start for content marketing
because you’re working with what you know.

IT’S TOOL TIME!
Start by making a list of basic terms — the common words and phrases that
describe what you do or what you sell. Then use keyword research tools to

find the modifiers and specific add-on words that users that are including
with those core terms when they search.

ORGANICALLY GROW
By addressing those specific phrases within your content, your organic
results will improve, and users will see you as an authority in your market.

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Keyword Research Tools

02 01
KWFinder
Research tool for finding long-tail
keywords with low SEO difficulty.

Google Keyword Planner 05

Insights into keyword search queries that BuzzSumo
include average monthly searches and
search volume trends. Designed to Content insights for generating ideas,
supplement Google Ads  improving traffic, and monitoring
performance.
03 Google Trends
04
 Information about the products, events,
and services that Google users search for Moz

over time. SEO toolkit that includes keywords to
target, SERP analysis, Keyword Difficulty
joinadleaks.com scores and more.

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Keyword Research Outputs

01 03

LANDING PAGES BLOGS

Keyword-rich landing page copy helps Fill your editorial calendar with
SEO and assures visitors they’re in the compelling, keyword-rich posts that
right place. address specific customer pain points and

solutions.

02 04

VIDEOS EBOOKS

Relevant videos rank higher in organic Long-form content that provides how-to’s
keyword searches, and video ads based and detailed guides on a specific subject
on keyword research can also be effective.
can serve as lead magnets for landing
pages or paid ad campaigns.

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“

The #1 Search Result Gets 31.7%
of All Clicks on Google.

The Top 3 Google Search Results
Get 75.1% of All Clicks.

backlinko.com
8/27/19

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Market ResearchPART 1 - Inbound & Internal

Keep Your Eyes On The Road joinadleaks.com

Market research for content creation starts with collecting unique or relevant
data for and about your audience. Then you share that information in
interesting ways.
Market research, in a sense, is the flip side of keyword research. Instead of
infusing specific words and phrases into your content, market research usually
takes a broader look at industry or audience demographics and calls out points
of interest to drive engagement.

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Why Market 01
Research Works

Inbound & Internal It isn’t necessarily fun. Or easy.
But learning about your audience
to produce content can generate
new ideas and more effective,
interesting collateral. 

Look at market research-driven
content as an opportunity.

Researching data and sharing
insights with your audience

enhances your authority in the
marketplace, but it also gives you a
jumping-off point for creative ideas

and valuable analysis.

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02 How to Generate
Market Research

USE WHAT’S IN FRONT OF YOU
Market research for content can be found through economic reports,
industry publications, surveys, and more. You can also use the tools in this
section to generate custom market reports that you can repurpose for your
content.

HIT THE BOOKS
You can also conduct market research by

“studying” your audience directly.

15 joinadleaks.com ATTRACTION BY INTERACTION
Interact with readers who comment on your blog, talk to your sales and support
teams, and join community groups and social networking sites related to the buyers
you serve. Answer questions and provide value where you can, and look for common
topics that you can address in your content.

Market Research Tools

01 SEMrush

02 Digital marketing toolkit that includes 04
reports and analysis on market or industry
Statistia
performance and growth.
A global business data platform that
SurveyMonkey provides insights and facts for more than
One of many online survey tools you can 600 industries and 50 countries.

use to conduct and analyze your own
research.

Business Dynamics Statistics

03 Census data that shows information on job
creation, startups and shutdowns, business

openings, expansions, and closures.

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Market Research Outputs

01 02

ON-SITE COPY BLOGS

 Audit and improve the text on your Don’t just summarize! Analyze and
website based on what you learn about expand on the data you find in a series
your audience.
of blog posts.

03 04

WHITE PAPERS INFOGRAPHICS

Industry- or user-specific data can support Presenting your data and analysis in a
detailed collateral for niche targeting. visually appealing, well-designed format can

drive engagement, shares, and backlinks.

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“ DAVID OGILVY

Advertising people who ignore research are as
dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy
signals.

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Competitor ResearchPART 1 - Inbound & Internal

Take the Checkered Flag joinadleaks.com

Looking at what your competitors are publishing can be a useful source
of ideas and the best way to ensure you’re creating unique and
engaging content.
This doesn’t mean letting your competition dictate your strategy, of
course. But by using your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses to
inform your content marketing plans, you can be more effective and
generate substantial gains.

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Why Competitor 01
Research Works

Inbound & Internal Creating content from scratch requires
burning a lot of mental calories. But if
you already know something’s working
well for your competitors, the odds are
better that it might work for you.

And since search engines are
constantly updating and looking for
new content, monitoring competitor
performance and strategies can lead

you to new opportunities to create
better, more relevant content.

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02 How to Start Your
Competitor Research

KEEP UP WITH THE COMPETITION
Comprehensive competitor research should begin with an inventory and
analysis of what your competitors are publishing, which can include blogs,
social posts, videos, etc.

SEE WHAT’S ALREADY WORKING
Look for content topics and common themes and take note of
engagement metrics such as likes, comments, and shares. The clearer your
picture of the competition's content strategy, the easier it will be for you to

fill in the gaps around it and grow your own audience.

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Competitor Research Tools

01 SpyFu

02 SpyFu provides your competitors' top 04
keywords and ads for paid and organic
Similarweb
search.
This tool dives into where competitor
Ahrefs traffic comes from and where
competitor sites send their visitors.
 Analysis tool that shows where pages rank
in search results, checks top organic
keywords for competitors’ URLs, and

estimates how much traffic competitors
receive on those keywords.

iSpionage

Reports on multiple aspects of a

competitor’s paid ad campaigns, including

03 how many keywords they’re targeting on
Google Ads.

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Competitor Research Outputs

01

BLOGS

Try the “Skyscraper Technique,” where you find 02
your competitors’ most popular content and
create your own version with more depth and a COMPARE CARDS
unique twist. If you can create something even
better than the original, you can pull market Charts that compare your brand to the
share from an existing audience. competition on specific features in a
ranked order. Common for product
pages and sales collateral.

SOCIAL MEDIA REACH

Check out which profiles your competitors are linking to 03
and interacting with on social networks, and join the
conversation. Follow their profiles and they’ll probably
follow yours too, which can lead to more opportunities
and ideas.

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“Once you’ve seen your competitor’s ads,
use them as inspiration. Challenge
yourself to make better creatives and use

the data you gather to optimize your
campaigns.

ADLEAKS

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Social MediaPART 1 - Inbound & Internal

Gas In The Tank joinadleaks.com

Even if you don’t have a Kardashian-esque digital following, your social
media networks can be a valuable source of content marketing ideas.
Hashtags, organic engagement, and ongoing discussions in high-value
forums like Facebook groups can be an evergreen source of relevant
topics, trends, and industry news.

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Why Social 01
Media Works

Inbound & Internal All of the content sources covered so
far have given big-picture views of
search engine interactions, your
audience, your competitors, and
other top-down points of view.

Using social media for content You can see what questions people are
marketing ideas, however, brings you asking, how community members
respond, and other organic
back down to ground level.
interactions. These conversations can
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that you might have missed otherwise.

02 How to Use
Social Media

COMPOUND KNOWLEDGE
Social media monitoring is another form of market research, which we covered earlier.
But think of Facebook groups, Twitter discussions, LinkedIn boards, and Reddit threads
as self-selected focus groups.  The information they provide can inform the content you
create as much as any other report or survey.

FOLLOW THE LEADERS
Also, follow the pages and interactions of industry leaders and experts in your field. The

topics and trends they post can serve as indicators for future content creation.

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Social Media Tools

01

Facebook Page Insights

Facebook’s built-in tool for marketing and lead generation provides

audience demographic information and engagement metrics like

comments, reactions, and shares.

02 03

Hootsuite Google Alerts

In addition to automating your social Monitors the web for mentions
media posts, Hootsuite (and similar tools) of your company, your
competitors, and other
can track brand mentions, relevant relevant topics according to
hashtags, competitor mentions and keywords and phrases.

industry trends.

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Social Media Outputs

02

TESTIMONIALS

01 If customers say good things about you on

VIDEOS social media, use those quotes as social

Record short “explainer” videos that proof in your marketing collateral. (You
answer common buyer questions and post
them on your channel. For bonus content, can even combine these two tactics and
transcribe the videos and publish them as
blogs. solicit video testimonials, which can be

used on landing pages and in ad

03 campaigns.)

CASE STUDIES

 Use social media to connect with power
users or repeat customers and share their

stories of how you helped them.

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“

Facebook has almost 2.5 billion
monthly active users and 800

million daily Facebook and
Instagram Stories users.2

(There must be ideas you can use in
there somewhere.)

Facebook for Business, 3/29/19

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Existing ContentPART 1 - Inbound & Internal

The Motor Oil joinadleaks.com

Most content marketing efforts don’t start from scratch.
Somewhere along the way, people were writing blog posts, or making landing
pages, or wrote three-fourths of a white paper that didn’t get published.
All of that existing content has value. And when you’re done with it, it will have
even more.

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Why Existing 01
Content Works

Inbound & Internal Existing content like blogs, how-to
videos, and other content doesn’t
just have to appear above the fold

once and then disappear.

If you have an archive of high-value Finally, repurposing content is also
content that goes back months or an easy way to fill any gaps in your
years, there’s a good chance most of content schedule, because most of
your audience hasn’t seen it. Bringing the work has already been done.
that information back into the spotlight
can reinforce your brand’s authority

and your key messages.

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02 How to Use Existing
Content

LOOK IT OVER FIRST
To start auditing your existing content, look at the pages and blog posts on
your website that have gotten significant traffic in the past.

FRESHEN UP!
Update those pages with new links and information, and re-release them
with “new” publication dates. Google will re-index the page, and over time,

those pages’ search rankings should improve.

33 joinadleaks.com TWEAK IT A LITTLE
Look through existing collateral that could be updated with new statistics
or more recent techniques. Assuming your company’s core offers and
products haven’t changed much, this shouldn’t require too much heavy
lifting.

Existing Content Tools

01 Google Analytics

 Google’s tracking hub can show you the

existing content on your website that has

gotten the most pageviews, conversions,

and click-throughs, which you can use to

02 start repurposing content. 03
SE Ranking
Yoast SEO
SEO software that audits your website to
Free WordPress add-on that grades
increase rankings and reduce on-page the SEO quality and readability of
every page on your site.
vulnerabilities.

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Existing Content Outputs

01 02

INFOGRAPHICS PODCASTS

Repurpose old list posts, how-to’s, and Pick a few old posts about one topic
other evergreen content into something and record a discussion about them
visually engaging and shareable. with a guest or high-level co-worker.

FAQ’S 03 04

Your sales team probably has to answer a WEBINARS
half-dozen or so standard questions
during different parts of the sales cycle. Like the podcasts above, re-package old
Collect the questions, and answers, on an content as collateral for a live event or
FAQ page or into a series of blog posts.
webinar. (And if you’re lucky, the event will
give you ideas for more new content.)

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51“%

marketers that said repurposing
existing content was a

successful tactic in 2019.

Smart Insights, 2/20/20

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Trending TopicsPART 1 - Inbound & Internal

The Latest & Greatest joinadleaks.com

From Tiger Woods to the Tiger King, the internet has become the world’s
most intense spotlight for the latest news, jokes, screw-ups, and trends.
Ironically, “trending topics” has become an evergreen source of content
for digital marketers. By staying involved with online buzz, you’ll be able
to reach an engaged audience that could turn into future customers.

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Why Trending 01
Topics Work

Inbound & Internal Content that highlights your
knowledge of current or popular
topics can personalize your brand
and reinforce your credibility.

And if you can work quickly and plan
ahead with seasonal or time-sensitive

content, you can start driving the
direction of the conversation rather

than just responding to it.

Most importantly, your audience will
grow and engage if you’re consistently
producing and sharing relevant
content that provides them with value.

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02 How To Use
Trending Topics

CATCH UP ON THE LATEST
To use trending topics when you’re creating content, you need to know
what -- and where -- they are first.

START BIG
Start with the major players -- Twitter, Facebook,
Google, LinkedIn -- and see what your audience

and industry are talking about.

39 joinadleaks.com KEEP TRACK
Keep track of the trends that are driving discussion and relate to the problem your
product or service solves. Add your own comments if possible, and tag any
content with the appropriate hashtags, categories, etc., when you publish on your
chosen subject.

01 Trending Topic Tools

Feedly

Content aggregator that collects and organizes content as

02 it’s published so you can see what your audience and 05
competitors are talking about.
BuzzSumo
Google Trends
Create custom feeds for your own
View the topics and phrases users have topics. Monitor and curate trending
been searching for according to time, stories in any niche with BuzzSumo’s
location, and other attributes.

Trending function.

Answer the Public StoryBase 04

03  Keyword tool for visualizing search Provides your target audience’s Google
questions and autocomplete suggestions search data and tools for creating
optimized content that answers frequently
in a cloud view. searched-for questions.

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Trending Topic Outputs

01 02

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS EMAILS

Pairing relevant content with trending Addressing trending topics in
hashtags can improve your reach and marketing email copy shows your
grow your audience. audience you’re engaged with their

interests.

03 04

VIDEOS BLOGS

Create a short video post or blog to share Discuss the latest trends’ affects on your
your take or insights on what people are audience and how it relates to the benefits
talking about.
and features of your core offer.

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“ Provide value and become an authority
with a following and people will buy
whatever you post.

ADLEAKS

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PART 2 Outbound
& External

Content

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PART 2 Outbound & External
Content Sources

Now that we’ve exhausted all of the content you already have
access to, it’s time to go out into the world and get some more.

These outbound and external content sources will require you to
be a bit more proactive, but they can be extremely effective and
generate unique ideas that will make you a content leader, not a
follower.

1. C o n v e r s a t i o n s
2. S e a s o n a l E v e n t s
3. M a r k e t R e s e a r c h
4. I n f l u e n c e r s
5. H o s t e d E v e n t s
6. P o p C u l t u r e

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ConversationsPART 2 - Outbound & External

The Social Spark Plug joinadleaks.com

The content sources in Part 1 are easy to access, but just about all of them
involve an intermediary. Keywords are collected through tools, topics are
gleaned from competitors, and so on.
Unlike these screen-based systems, external content ideas can come from
a shockingly simple template -- find people who know things, talk to
them, and pay attention.

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Why Conversations 01
Work

Effective content, like good conversation, is a two-way street.

Outbound & External If you’re trying to generate new
ideas for your marketing strategy,
not only are conversations useful
for inspiration, but they might
trigger ideas or points-of-view
that can help you repurpose
existing content.

The parties involved are sharing
ideas, bouncing thoughts off of each
other, and reaching conclusions that

they may not have considered in a
solitary environment.

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02 How to Use
Conversations

An ancient philosopher once said that “we have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen
twice as much as we speak.”

KEEP ON TRACK
Remember that the goal of your conversation is to generate new content
marketing ideas. Keep the discussion on track but focus on listening,
responding, and clarifying information, not just looking for opportunities to
talk.

USE YOUR TEAM
And don’t limit your conversations to just high-value targets. Chats with your

sales and support teams, for example, can be just as inspiring for ideas as
discussions with industry leaders.

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Conversation Tools

01

02 Slack 03

Most companies use Slack for internal VidMob
communication, but you can also connect
Video editor and brand marketplace for
with users at other companies for uploading user-generated content to
conversations and group discussions. create social video ads for Snapchat,
Instagram, and other channels.
Zoom
Video conferencing app with screen-
sharing and recording abilities for face-to-

face conversations regardless of
geography.

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Conversation Content Outputs

01

Q&A/AMA POSTS 02

Interview-style blogs and videos are engaging and SOCIAL PROOF
easy for your audience to consume, especially if
they’re broken up into a modular format. Industry leaders and influencers who
discuss your brand or products in a
03 semi-public forum can be quoted in
testimonials and sales collateral.
CASE STUDIES

Customers with a before-and-after story about your
offer can be cited in examples of your brand’s
benefits.

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“ John Seely Brown
Conversation is a catalyst for
innovation.

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