Have Writer’s Block? Try These Content Ideation Tools for Marketers

content ideas

This post was significantly updated inโ€ฏJuneโ€ฏ2025 to reflect new information. An archived version fromโ€ฏ2017 is available for reference here.

In 2017, โ€œwriterโ€™s blockโ€ felt like a personal quirk, something a strong coffee or a brisk walk could shake loose.

In 2025 it is structural. Algorithms compress news cycles into hours, audience expectations speedโ€‘run from TikTok soundโ€‘bites to 3,000โ€‘word deep dives, and AI tools multiply ideas faster than humans can filter them.

Little wonder that 39% of B2B marketers still say โ€œcreating enough contentโ€ is a top pain point.

And weโ€™re trying to solve that pain with volume: half of marketers plan to increase contentโ€‘marketing spend this year, while 55% already lean on generativeโ€‘AI tools for ideation or drafting.

Yet more tooling doesnโ€™t equal better thinking.

The goal is not endless output, itโ€™s resonant output.

Below is the practical toolkit I use to turn a blank page into a pipeline of meaningful stories without drowning in โ€œtrendingโ€ noise.

The 2025 ideation stack: eight tools, one purpose

My filter: If a tool doesnโ€™t help you answer a human question you genuinely care about, close the tab.

1. SparkToro โ€“ โ€œWho exactly gives a damn?โ€

  • Core function: Pulls audience affinitiesโ€”keywords, podcasts, subredditsโ€”now enriched with clickโ€‘stream data in its 2025 update.

  • Strategic sweet spot: Microโ€‘niche intelligence. Great for slicing โ€œmarketing leadersโ€ into โ€œB2B demandโ€‘gen leads who binge RevOps podcasts.โ€

  • Quickโ€‘start tip: Search your own URL, then switch to Hidden Gems to surface lesserโ€‘known sources of influence. Pitch one this week.

  • Watchโ€‘out: Small samples can skewโ€”always sanityโ€‘check findings against firstโ€‘party analytics.

2. Exploding topics โ€“ โ€œIs this idea peaking or about to pop?โ€

  • Core function: Trend database tracking a million+ keywords, labeled Exploding, Regular, or Peaked.

  • Strategic sweet spot: Earlyโ€‘stage topics with 6โ€“24โ€‘month runwayโ€”ideal for thoughtโ€‘leadership seeding.

  • Quickโ€‘start tip: Set category to Your Industry and growth status to Exploding; export ten terms and map them to existing content pillars.

  • Watchโ€‘out: Growth curves look sexy; validate search intent before you bet a pillar page on them.

3. Google trends + glimpse โ€“ โ€œValidate curiosity at scaleโ€

  • Core function: Realโ€‘time interest graphs plus Glimpse overlays for demographic splits and breakout queries.

  • Strategic sweet spot: Headlines and social angles. Spot when a concept first crosses mainstream awareness.

  • Quickโ€‘start tip: Compare two potential angles; choose the one with smoother twelveโ€‘month climb, not the recent spike.

  • Watchโ€‘out: Trends lag a few hours. Breakingโ€‘news bloggers still need newsroom instincts.

4. Semrush topic research (2025 release) โ€“ โ€œCluster or be invisibleโ€

  • Core function: AIโ€‘driven content clusters with intent, KD, and SERP feature hints.

  • Strategic sweet spot: Planning hubโ€‘andโ€‘spoke series that rank without cannibalizing siblings.

  • Quickโ€‘start tip: Feed your main keyword, filter by Low Difficulty + High Topic Efficiency, and schedule three spokes per month.

  • Watchโ€‘out: The โ€œDifficultyโ€ score is globalโ€”local niches may be easier or harder than the metric claims.

5. Feedlyโ€ฏAI (Leo) โ€“ โ€œCurate your signal like an editorโ€

  • Core function: Machineโ€‘learning agent that assigns relevance scores, deduplicates sources, and flags โ€œCriticalโ€ articles.

  • Strategic sweet spot: Daily drip of industry intelligence without doomโ€‘scrolling.

  • Quickโ€‘start tip: Train Leo with three โ€œMustโ€‘Readโ€ articles; within a week it will highlight similar pieces at 3ร— accuracy.

  • Watchโ€‘out: Overโ€‘train and youโ€™ll create an echo chamberโ€”refresh your training set quarterly.

6. ChatGPTโ€ฏ/โ€ฏGPTโ€‘4o โ€“ โ€œThe Socratic brainstorm partnerโ€

  • Core function: Conversational ideation, outline generation, counterโ€‘argument surfacing.

  • Strategic sweet spot: Breaking writerโ€™sโ€‘block loops. Use it to question your premise, not just spit content.

  • Quickโ€‘start tip: Prompt: โ€œChallenge the central assumption in this angle and propose three unexpected lenses.โ€

  • Watchโ€‘out: High coherence โ‰  high originality. Crossโ€‘reference with audience pain points before publishing.

7. AnswerThePublic (NP Digital edition) โ€“ โ€œHarvest the longโ€‘tail questionsโ€

  • Core function: Visual map of interrogative queriesโ€”what, how, why, versus.

  • Strategic sweet spot: FAQ blocks, YouTube scripts, and SERPโ€‘feature sniping.

  • Quickโ€‘start tip: Export the CSV, sort by Hidden Gems score, turn top ten into social poll questions.

  • Watchโ€‘out: Free quota disappeared in 2025; batchโ€‘process your research during the trial.

8. Notionโ€ฏAI โ€œIdea Gardenโ€ โ€“ โ€œMake capture frictionlessโ€

  • Core function: Generates outlines inside pages, autoโ€‘tags them, and surfaces related notes as you type.

  • Strategic sweet spot: Team ideation vaultโ€”keeps stray Slack ideas from dying in chat purgatory.

  • Quickโ€‘start tip: Embed the AI Autofill block in your meeting notes template; every brainstorm adds to the garden.

  • Watchโ€‘out: Not a replacement for editorial judgmentโ€”tag junk early or it will haunt search later.

Three realโ€‘world stacks in action

1. The SaaS founderโ€™s โ€œinsight loopโ€

Problem: Needs weekly thoughtโ€‘leadership without a content team.
Stack: SparkToro โ†’ Semrush clusters โ†’ ChatGPT refinement.
Outcome: 40% lift in demo requests after aligning articles with podcasts their buyers already binge.

2. The newsโ€‘cycle bloggerโ€™s โ€œ2โ€‘hour turnaroundโ€

Problem: Competes on speed for techโ€‘policy news.
Stack: Google Trendsโ€ฏ+โ€ฏGlimpse alerts โ†’ AnswerThePublic for FAQ blocks โ†’ Feedly AI for authoritative citations.
Outcome: Firstโ€‘mover posts land Google News visibility; average session duration up 18%.

3. The niche newsletterโ€™s โ€œcommunity pulseโ€

Problem: Audience of 12k sustainability pros demands depth over clicks.
Stack: Exploding Topics early signals โ†’ Notionโ€ฏAI garden โ†’ Manual interviews for case studies.
Outcome: Open rate climbs from 41% to 53%; sponsorship CPM almost doubles.

Misfires, myths, and ethical flags

  1. Trendโ€‘surfing โ‰  strategy. A 967% surge in searches for โ€œAI marketing toolsโ€ doesnโ€™t mean your HR tech blog should chase it.

  2. Generative AI is only as good as your edit. A 2024 global survey highlighted by Sproutโ€ฏSocial shows 42% of marketers now use AI tools daily or weekly to draft everything from blog posts to visuals. The speed gain is real, but maintaining tone, style, and narrative still rests on youโ€”so schedule a monthly voice audit to keep the brand unmistakably yours.

  3. Data โ‰  permission. Audienceโ€‘intelligence tools expose microโ€‘communities; respect platform TOS and privacy norms.

  4. Volume worship kills resonance. Even with AI, โ€œmore postsโ€ is not a KPI. Correlate output to qualified leads, not impressions.

Build your personal โ€œidea netโ€ in 5โ€ฏminutes

  1. Audience pain
    Ask: โ€œWhat keeps them up at night?โ€
    Tools: SparkToro, recent interview notes
    Action: List your top three pain points.

    See Also

  2. Data signal
    Ask: โ€œWhich questions are trending upward?โ€
    Tools: Exploding Topics, Google Trends
    Action: Pair one emerging trend with each pain point.

  3. Narrative hook
    Ask: โ€œWhat fresh angle serves both pain and trend?โ€
    Tool: A ChatGPT โ€œchallenge my premiseโ€ prompt
    Action: Draft three potential titlesโ€”then pick the one that feels both timely and true to your voice.

Closing insight: guard the meaning, wield the machine

Writerโ€™s block in 2025 isnโ€™t a shortage of ideas, itโ€™s a shortage of filters.

The tools above are lenses, not autopilots.

Use them to illuminate genuine audience needs, then apply the discipline only a human storyteller can: curiosity, empathy, and restraint.

As I remind every team I coach: metrics can light the path, but only meaning can keep readers on it.

Your new stack is readyโ€”now point it at the problems that matter.

Picture of Justin Brown

Justin Brown

Justin Brown is an entrepreneur and thought leader in personal development and digital media, with a foundation in education from The London School of Economics and The Australian National University. His deep insights are shared on his YouTube channel, JustinBrownVids, offering a rich blend of guidance on living a meaningful and purposeful life.

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