Working with clients can feel like a waiting game.
Whether you need approval for a quote or setting up an interview, you typically need the greenlight from a company’s higher ups.
Rather than twiddling your thumbs or constantly refreshing your inbox for a response, you can use your time more efficiently.
Don’t let sources hold you back—work ahead and fill in the gaps. Here’s how.
1. Fill in Other Areas of the Article
You don’t need outside sources to confirm every piece of information you included in the piece. Fact-check any statistics you cited, find other case studies to reference, and check articles published by your competitors to make sure you’re taking a unique angle.
If you’re worried about your source giving vague responses, make sure you have follow-up questions at the ready.
2. Find Other Sources
The person you’re interviewing isn’t the only expert on a topic—reach out to other industry professionals to see if they can provide additional insights.
Plus, you’ll have an extra layer of protection if you don’t hear back from your original source. Just because you interviewed multiple sources doesn’t mean you have to quote all of them. Even one strong industry voice can elevate your story.
3. Work on Other Projects
While it’s true that you don’t have a story without a source, that shouldn’t stop you from working completely. While you wait to hear back from sources, work on tasks you don’t need an interview for.
Follow up on older tasks, move forward with other articles, or pitch a new idea if you’ve reached the end of your topic list.
4. Refresh Old Articles
It’s always a smart idea to audit older content. This ensures your old articles still rank well on search engine results, contain links that actually work, and highlight statistics that are up-to-date. Updating the article’s introduction is another quick-hit, as the opening often references outdated industry conditions.
Refreshing old content is one of the highest-ROI tasks content marketers can complete. It often increases site traffic, strengthens credibility, and keeps momentum moving while you wait to hear back from a source.
5. Identify Which Articles Are Performing
Content marketers often run with ideas without analyzing which articles are performing well on their website. Rather than coming up with new material from scratch, effective content comes from understanding what’s actually resonating with readers.
Traffic and engagement are the two biggest indicators of successful content. Look closely at pageviews, sessions, scroll depth, and engagement time for each article. The topics attracting readers and driving engagement signals what your audience wants to read about. By running with these ideas, your brand could lead the conversation.
6. Prepare for Distribution in Advance
How will you promote the article once it’s finished? Whether you’re writing LinkedIn posts or email copy, start working on it now. That way, you’re ready to promote your article on every platform when you’re done writing it.
As soon as the article is live on your blog, you can post about it on LinkedIn, feature it in your newsletter, and come up with headline variations for different platforms.
7. Create a Repurposing Plan
Content repurposing is key for content marketers. If you’ve written an article that resonates well with readers, don’t just post about it and move on. Turn it into social media snippets, newsletter highlights, or quote graphics that link back to the original post.
Not to mention, you can adapt the written content into other forms of media. You can record a brief video recapping the main takeaways or an audio snippet of a key quote. By using the original article in several different ways, you’ll maximize the time you spent researching, interviewing, and writing.
8. Expand the Content You Already Have
If your article covers a large industry topic or trend, consider how you could expand it into a whitepaper, how-to guide, or podcast interview. Plus, the article is already the foundation of longer content—you just need to build upon it.
You can easily do this by writing detailed explanations of core concepts or adding charts, graphics, and checklists. The larger asset will add value to the interviews you’ve already conducted while also turning the post into a broader narrative. In turn, your brand will remain relevant and start to dominate industry conversations.
Once you’ve made the most of the content you already have, start looking at what you could cover next.
9. Source Other Stories
Review press releases from other publications to see if there’s something else you can cover. New technology, partnerships, and leadership changes always get the industry talking. In content marketing, these announcements signal where the conversation is moving.
Plus, press releases often hint at a bigger trend. While the announcement may be about a new piece of technology, the real story could be how AI is driving the industry forward. Covering the broader implications positions brands as industry leaders—not just participants.
Think Like a Strategist, Not a Reactive Writer
How you spend time waiting on sources determines whether you’re a strategic writer or a reactive one. Don’t treat a non-responsive source as a dead end, but as an opportunity to think bigger.
In reality, the most successful content marketers aren’t just cranking out content. They’re thinking strategically about the content they already have to optimize it, expand upon it, and earn the traffic they’re looking for.