Given that we\u2019ve invested so heavily in content over the years, we\u2019re often asked about what this looks like day-to-day.<\/p>\n
This week, we were asked:<\/p>\n
How do you decide what gets published and what doesn\u2019t? And where do these ideas come from?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Firstly, start with your high level editorial policy – who are you targeting, with what kind of content, how often will you publish, etc. A really common mistake I see startups making is simply writing articles that attract a lot of readers with no clear sense of whether that audience is a fit for their product. Or if they are potential customers, whether the content they are creating will make them more likely to buy it over a competitor’s.<\/p>\n
Your product and the problem it is trying to solve should be at the core of your content strategy.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a great ego boost to get on the front page of Hacker News, included in Medium\u2019s Daily Digest or retweeted by your favourite startup guru with 100k followers, but will it move the needle for your business?<\/p>\n
Consider publishing evergreen content rather than trying to hijack traffic from current events or news. For much the same effort, an article on your favourite product management tools will pay off better than your take on Apple\u2019s latest event, even if the latter gets more traffic on day one. Tomasz Tunguz has run the numbers that prove this<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Your product and the problem it is trying to solve should be at the core of your content strategy. That doesn\u2019t mean you just write about you and your product. To be brutally honest, no one cares about you or your product when you\u2019re starting out. But they do care about how you can make their life better, help them impress their boss, take some drudgery out of their working day or whatever.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s branding 101 but the promise of your content needs to be delivered by your product. You do that by viewing the world through the lens of your product. So we don\u2019t write posts about how to send auto messages with Intercom (although our product education team do a great job of that in our help center<\/a>). But we do talk about 5 simple messages to engage your customers<\/a> \u2013 it\u2019s informed by our core product philosophy and any reader can get value out of it, regardless of the messaging product they use.<\/p>\n
So on a day-to-day basis how do you come up with article ideas? Here are five actionable tips for any business.<\/p>\n
1. Recycle content<\/h2>\n
Your blog or podcast is not something that sits in its own silo. Research, conference talks, emails to your team – these are just a few examples of \u201ccontent\u201d you are already creating that can be repurposed for public consumption.<\/p>\n
2. Expose your data<\/h2>\n
If you have a product that people are using you\u2019ve potentially got a deep well of stories to draw from. If you\u2019re unsure what that might look like, read the Priceonomics Content Marketing Handbook<\/em>. They\u2019ve mastered the art of data-driven stories.<\/p>\n
3. Share your work<\/h2>\n
The emphasis here is on sharing, not boasting about, your work. What have you learned or done that will help potential customers do their jobs better or quicker?<\/p>\n
4. Move the conversation on<\/h2>\n
Be aware of what people are writing and reading about in your sector and add something to the debate. Don\u2019t waste your potential customers\u2019 time by simply rehashing old arguments. Remember the idea is to produce something evergreen that has value for longer than a week.<\/p>\n
5. Read widely<\/h2>\n
While we love Hacker News<\/a> (really, we do) you\u2019ll get fewer ideas for quality content if you only read about the tech and startup world. We\u2019ve found as much inspiration in the writings of advertising guru David Ogilvy<\/a> as we have in Paul Graham\u2019s<\/a> startup essays.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Given that we\u2019ve invested so heavily in content over the years, we\u2019re often asked about what this looks like day-to-day. This week, we were asked: How do you decide what gets published and what doesn\u2019t? And…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":10871,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"category":[12897],"tags":[85,70,455],"coauthors":[350],"class_list":["post-10865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","tag-content-marketing","tag-marketing","tag-qa"],"yoast_head":"\n
Q&A: How do you decide what to write? - The Intercom Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our editor John Collins explains how startups should think about what to write on their blog and shares his top tips for coming up with article ideas.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Q&A: How do you decide what to write?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our editor John Collins explains how startups should think about what to write on their blog and shares his top tips for coming up with article ideas.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Intercom Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intercominc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-04T14:17:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-30T11:59:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Intercom_QA_06_Logo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1968\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"932\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Collins\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jaycee001\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@intercom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Collins\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"John Collins\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/718c61e2ca1798079da935dd3aee0796\"},\"headline\":\"Q&A: How do you decide what to write?\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-04T14:17:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-30T11:59:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":664,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Intercom_QA_06_Logo.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"content marketing\",\"marketing\",\"q&a\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Customer Engagement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\\\/\",\"name\":\"Q&A: How do you decide what to write? - The Intercom Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Intercom_QA_06_Logo.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-04T14:17:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-30T11:59:15+00:00\",\"description\":\"Our editor John Collins explains how startups should think about what to write on their blog and shares his top tips for coming up with article ideas.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Intercom_QA_06_Logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Intercom_QA_06_Logo.jpg\",\"width\":1968,\"height\":932,\"caption\":\"Q&A: How do you decide what to write?\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Intercom Blog\",\"description\":\"Articles and Podcasts on Customer Service, AI and Automation, Product, and more\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Intercom Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Intercom-logo-sq-black-trans.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Intercom-logo-sq-black-trans.png\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"The Intercom Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/intercominc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/intercom\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/intercom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/2491343\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.ie\\\/intercom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCJG0MvLP03kyzzAkD-w98aQ\",\"https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Intercom_(company)\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/718c61e2ca1798079da935dd3aee0796\",\"name\":\"John Collins\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4db0024789314263949be876f0685dc2cbc27fcf34abc4eb5d4e5d0a60be5890?s=96&d=mm&r=pg6e3361a0532d70728ba77e0bd8b9caa4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4db0024789314263949be876f0685dc2cbc27fcf34abc4eb5d4e5d0a60be5890?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4db0024789314263949be876f0685dc2cbc27fcf34abc4eb5d4e5d0a60be5890?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"John Collins\"},\"description\":\"John leads the Content team at Intercom that manages the award-winning Inside Intercom blog, podcast, and books. He brings over 20 years of editorial experience to the team as a former journalist and editor covering technology and business for major publications such as The Irish Times.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/johncollinsireland\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jaycee001\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/john\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Q&A: How do you decide what to write? - The Intercom Blog","description":"Our editor John Collins explains how startups should think about what to write on their blog and shares his top tips for coming up with article ideas.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Q&A: How do you decide what to write?","og_description":"Our editor John Collins explains how startups should think about what to write on their blog and shares his top tips for coming up with article ideas.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/","og_site_name":"The Intercom Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intercominc","article_published_time":"2016-11-04T14:17:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-30T11:59:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1968,"height":932,"url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Intercom_QA_06_Logo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"John Collins","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jaycee001","twitter_site":"@intercom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Collins","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/"},"author":{"name":"John Collins","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/718c61e2ca1798079da935dd3aee0796"},"headline":"Q&A: How do you decide what to write?","datePublished":"2016-11-04T14:17:22+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-30T11:59:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/"},"wordCount":664,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Intercom_QA_06_Logo.jpg","keywords":["content marketing","marketing","q&a"],"articleSection":["Customer Engagement"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/","url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/","name":"Q&A: How do you decide what to write? - The Intercom Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Intercom_QA_06_Logo.jpg","datePublished":"2016-11-04T14:17:22+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-30T11:59:15+00:00","description":"Our editor John Collins explains how startups should think about what to write on their blog and shares his top tips for coming up with article ideas.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/qa-how-do-you-decide-what-to-write\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Intercom_QA_06_Logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Intercom_QA_06_Logo.jpg","width":1968,"height":932,"caption":"Q&A: How do you decide what to write?"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/","name":"The Intercom Blog","description":"Articles and Podcasts on Customer Service, AI and Automation, Product, and more","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Intercom Blog","url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Intercom-logo-sq-black-trans.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Intercom-logo-sq-black-trans.png","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"The Intercom Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intercominc","https:\/\/x.com\/intercom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/intercom\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/2491343","https:\/\/www.pinterest.ie\/intercom\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCJG0MvLP03kyzzAkD-w98aQ","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Intercom_(company)"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/718c61e2ca1798079da935dd3aee0796","name":"John Collins","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4db0024789314263949be876f0685dc2cbc27fcf34abc4eb5d4e5d0a60be5890?s=96&d=mm&r=pg6e3361a0532d70728ba77e0bd8b9caa4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4db0024789314263949be876f0685dc2cbc27fcf34abc4eb5d4e5d0a60be5890?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4db0024789314263949be876f0685dc2cbc27fcf34abc4eb5d4e5d0a60be5890?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"John Collins"},"description":"John leads the Content team at Intercom that manages the award-winning Inside Intercom blog, podcast, and books. He brings over 20 years of editorial experience to the team as a former journalist and editor covering technology and business for major publications such as The Irish Times.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/johncollinsireland\/","https:\/\/x.com\/jaycee001"],"url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/author\/john\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Intercom_QA_06_Logo.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category?post=10865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10865"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=10865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}