Back in 2015, when I started learning about copywriting, no one thought about the importance of content ideation tools. It was enough to generate a 1000-word post with 2-3 stock photos to hook your audience.
Today, content marketing has evolved a lot and there’s an immense content overload that results in audience fatigue. People crave unique and fresh content that resonates with their needs and provides value. Content marketers seek out new creative ways to wow their audiences.
When it comes to improving content marketing effectiveness, B2B marketers said that content relevancy and quality (65%) and new technology implementation (51%) had played a crucial role, according to the B2B Content and Marketing Trends Report.
Looking for new content ideas that stand out from the crowd, content ideation tools come in handy.
This post on the top content ideation tools can help you:
- Understand the importance of using content ideation tools.
- Find tools to help you ideate content for various mediums.
- Learn how to leverage technologies and stand out in crowded B2B spaces.
Why do you need content ideation tools in 2026?
B2B content agencies often work with clients that represent 'dry' industries with difficulty in ideating content. Thus, it might be a struggle for B2B content agencies to come up with various ideas for different clients. Especially those that grab the audience’s attention.
Here's where content ideation tools come in handy. Doubting? Check out three reasons for B2B content agencies to give content ideation tools a try.
1). Boost creativity
With the growth of social media and the popularity of artificial intelligence in content creation, the internet is cluttered with content that bombard users from all sides. Content ideation tools help to unleash creativity and overcome creative blocks.
2). Enhance core content
For most B2B companies, having foundational material that reflects your brand's values and message is an important part of the content creation strategy. Content ideation tools also help to uncover content gaps and repurpose well-researched content for other mediums.
3). Save time and energy
There are various ways on how to save time and energy with content ideation tools - from speeding up brainstorming to automating market research and exploring different angles of one topic.
Now that you understand the importance of using content ideation tools, let’s take a look at the top 10 tools that improve content ideation.
1. StoryChief for Content Strategy and Creation
StoryChief is an all-in-one content marketing suite that helps to develop and improve a content strategy in one place, making it a perfect tool to gather, analyze, and work on your content.
When it comes to content ideation, the tool uses data to understand and offer content ideas that could resonate with your target audience and goals (traffic growth, conversions, awareness, etc.). It also shows content gaps and therefore allows you to improve content marketing strategies.
What is more, it’s a perfect solution for B2B content agencies who seek out content ideation as it has a collaboration feature that allows teams to work together on content brainstorming and prioritize ideas together within one content calendar.
Key features:
- AI-powered content suggestions suitable for your content goals and campaigns
- Collaboration features for team review, feedback, and approvals
- In-depth content analytics and improvement opportunities
- Content audit that gives insights for improving future content ideas
Pricing: Offers various pricing plans for individuals, teams, agencies, and enterprises. Includes a free trial and has discounts if paid yearly. Prices start at $22/mo.
2. LTX Studio for Video Style Exploration
LTX Studio (also sometimes called LTX Platform) is an AI-powered video creation platform that helps content marketers generate video ideas and leverage the power of AI video creation in one place.
Developed by Lightricks, it has features that convert text prompts, full scripts, or uploaded reference visuals into complete visual storyboards and clips. The “Gen Space” allows you to experiment with prompts in Flux Kontext and Nano Banana to create visuals to use as style references or even keyframes.
You even have granular control over scene settings, lighting, character casting, facial expressions and camera angles during video editing. You can explore variants using low-res, fast video models for greater compute efficiency before exporting to a moodboard, gathering feedback from team members and then rendering the final clips using HD models like LTX-2 and Veo 3.1. As a result, teams validate video ideas faster and save time on video style exploration.
Key features:
- A mix of user-friendly design and production-ready tools
- In-built AI-driven text-to-video, script-to-video, and image-to-video converters
- Visual style and mood exploration
- Refining visual content ideas with AI-powered suggestions
Pricing: LTX has a free plan along with various paid options - lite, elite, and pro. Prices start at $12/mo (if paid yearly). Gives an opportunity to get an individual enterprise plan on request.
3. ChatGPT for Tailoring Your Content
ChatGPT has become one of the most popular AI marketing tools this year, and it’s no wonder as it gathers and processes data really fast. When it comes to content ideation, it’s enough to write a few words about your audience and content goals to get a list of fresh content ideas that are in demand.
You can also specify the content type (blog post, social media post, podcast idea, etc.) and get a narrowed list of ideas that resonate with your audience’s needs. Today, it’s easy to browse prompts that work best for generating content ideas that match not only your needs but also your tone and style.
Key features:
- Trend exploration based on industry and forum analysis
- Fast idea generation and content adoption for various formats
- Rewrite content in different tones and styles
- Competitor analysis for content gap refilement
Pricing: ChatGPT is available for free. However, it also has Plus, Pro, and Business paid plans with the prices from $20/mo. When you opt for an annual subscription, you get a discount.
4. BuzzSumo for Content Trend Analysis
BuzzSumo is a content marketing tool for browsing trending topics. It collects data on the web, including forums, and helps to analyze users’ questions and concerns to give users insights on content ideas that are in demand.
BuzzSumo indexes newly-published articles and posts on forums and keeps historical data for five years which makes this app a great place for content marketers to do data-driven research. If you look for timely trends or evergreen topic opportunities, BuzzSumo is a great place for generating ideas.
Key features:
- Content idea generator
- Trending topics discovery based on trends and forums
- Question analyser for content gap understanding
- Geographic filtering to understand your local audience’s needs
Pricing: BuzzSumo offers a free trial and it has different paid plans, based on your needs - Content creation, PR&Comms, Suite, and Enterprise. Prices start at $159/mo (includes a 20% discount if you pay annually).
5. VistaCreate for Image Content Improvement
VistaCreate (previously Crello) is a graphic design tool that has become a good solution for those seeking out content ideation inspiration. It’s not just one of the image tools on the market; it’s a library of 10k+ professionally made visual templates for different mediums (social media, ads, postcards, etc.) that help companies draw inspiration or even create visuals in-app.
Whether you have an image or want to make it from scratch, VistaCreate offers in-built features and templates for customization. Finally, the content marketing team gets thousands of image content ideas.
Key features:
- A vast library of ready-to-use templates, suitable for various formats (social media, print, web, ads)
- AI-powered tools that generate new ideas and inspire future visuals creation
- Brand kit feature that allows users to store and use elements like logos, fonts, and color palette that meets your brand voice
- Team account option that gives content agency members an opportunity to collaborate on visuals in one place
Pricing: The tool has a free version for basic needs and a paid PRO plan with a 14-day free trial. The price starts from $10/mo if paid annually.
6. Feedly for Topic Research
Feedly is a content aggregator and RSS reader that allows users to monitor trending topics relevant to a selected niche or keyword. It tracks newly published conversations across blogs and news sites, making it a useful tool for content marketers conducting topic market research and generating ideas that reflect their audience’s needs and interests.
With its AI-powered prioritization feature, Feedly makes it easy to find and save content ideas that can be developed into high-signal content. What is more, Feedly keeps up with the competitors and analyzes their content to identify overused topics and uncover content gaps for your content strategy.
Key features:
- Real-time content monitoring that helps to discover timely and relevant topics
- AI-powered assistance for better content research
- Keyword research and topic tracker that allows users to keep an eye on topics that matter most
- Gather and save important insights and data as tables, graphs, or reports
Pricing: Feedly has different pricing policies for its three main products -Threat Intelligence, Market Intelligence, and News Reader. For content ideation, most marketers choose News Reader service, so they get either a free subscription or 3 paid options (PRO, PRO+, Enterprise) and prices start from $6/mo.
7. CastMagic for Audio Content Repurposing
Castmagic is an AI-driven audio content repurposing tool designed to analyze audio files and repurpose them into a source of new content ideas. It analyzes podcasts, interviews, and recordings to generate transcripts, summaries, and key themes, helping marketers identify high-value insights worth expanding.
By breaking long-form audio into highlights, quotes, and topic-based segments, Castmagic enables teams to quickly ideate and repurpose content into blog posts, social media updates, newsletters, and more. Users can also transfer information from one Mac to another to streamline collaboration across devices. As a result, existing audio content becomes a scalable foundation for ongoing content ideation.
Key features:
- AI idea generator that suggests relevant topics for your audience
- Sync and import data from various sources (RSS, YouTube, Zoom, etc.)
- File transcription and content split by speaker
Pricing: The tool has Hobby, Starter, and Business plans and the prices start at $21/mo when paid yearly and it has a 20% discount for annual subscribers.
8. Hubspot for Topic Suggestion
HubSpot is an all-in-one marketing platform that offers several features to support content ideation. One of its key tools is the blog idea generator, a free feature that helps marketers overcome creative blocks by generating topic ideas based on keyword research or a rough concept.
It also takes audience needs and business goals into account, making it easier to evaluate which ideas align best with campaign objectives. In addition, HubSpot provides SEO recommendations and performance insights that help users explore topics more deeply and prioritize ideas with higher potential impact.
Key features:
- Unlimited blog post suggestion based on your keyword and input
- Content remix feature that drives deeper an existing topic or offers how to chunk it into several topics
- Competitor content analysis for finding content gaps and trending topics
Pricing: Free!
9. Frase for Brainstorming Content Briefs
Frase is a content research and optimization tool that uses AI search to analyze top-ranking content and discover search intent for a given keyword. It supports content ideation by helping marketers explore trending angles, analyze competing pages, and identify content gaps before creating new content.
Users can select the type and length of content they plan to produce and receive insights into what currently ranks on Google, making it easier to validate topic ideas. In addition, Frase helps teams create SEO-driven content briefs based on these insights, allowing them to focus on topics with stronger potential to perform well in search.
Beyond ideation, the platform also supports SEO optimization and the creation of optimized content designed to attract traffic and rank effectively. You can also check out the list of Frase alternatives before signing up for Frase.
Key features:
- Content brief and outline builder for improving content creation process
- SERP analysis that monitors top 20 Google results on a given keyword/topic
- Data insights based on research to understand and fulfill user intent
- Team collaboration feature for a smoother content workflows
Pricing: The tool has various paid options (Starter, Professional, Scale, and Advanced) and the prices start at $38 for solo creators if paid annually, including a 15% discount.
10. Google Trends For Finding Trend-Driven Content Ideas
Google Trends is a simple and free tool that helps marketers discover what topics are currently popular and monitor changes in search interest over time. It supports content ideation by highlighting emerging trends, rising queries, and related topics, enabling teams to generate timely and relevant content ideas.
Users can compare multiple topics, analyze geographic interest, and identify seasonal patterns to plan content strategically. By validating ideas based on real search behavior, Google Trends helps marketers prioritize topics with higher audience demand and balance trending content with evergreen opportunities.
Key features:
- Real-time Google research monitoring for finding actual trends
- Local insights to understand your geo-based audience better
- Audience demand validation confirms the importance of a generated topic for your audience
Pricing: Free!
Is There a One-Size-Fits-All Content Ideation Tool?
Most content marketers agree that a good content ideation platform should include a mix of creativity-driven and insight-driven tools. Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all content ideation tool on the market.
For B2B content agencies, juggling multiple ideation tools for blogs, videos, and podcasts can be both overwhelming and expensive. If you need to choose one content ideation tool, it’s better to consider using a tool that gets closer to covering more aspects of content ideation and creation.
For instance, StoryChief is a single integrated platform where you can generate ideas, create content, collaborate with other team members, optimize your content workflows, publish to various platforms, or even measure results.
Sign up for a free trial of StoryChief.
