As content marketers, we do our best to wear the many hats needed to keep the publishing engine chugging, including but not limited to: idea gate-checker, schedule chaser, information coaxer, task master, and version controller. But sometimes no matter how far you plan ahead, your championship team of content sources is just plain tapped out of time, opinions, or proof points.

Don’t waste one more panicked breath. Instead, scrape through your server, website, and social media channels to find these valuable pieces of content just waiting to be mined.

Upcoming events  Is your company slated to speak at an upcoming association meeting, host a customer webinar, exhibit at a trade show, or even just attend an event? If the person responsible isn’t able to share a presentation or background materials, use the event description as a starting point to research for a trend-based article. Share your draft with the expert to see if they have anything else to add.

Past events Trend-based articles also can be crafted from past events. Use the topic as a starting point for research, then grab presentations, webinar recordings, or marketing material to weave in your company’s connection, opinion, or solution.

Case studies — Case studies are never out of date, but they can get outdated. Take stock of case studies published in the last five years and determine if they can be refreshed with a new layout, more prominent call to action, or approached from a different angle.

Opinion polls Your team has no doubt spent days, months, and years meticulously cultivating your online communities of fans and followers, as well as distribution lists of prospects, connections, and customers. Ask these attentive listeners to give their 2 cents in an opinion poll, share their own purchasing decision tactics via online survey, or provide open feedback on a new product line. Then follow-up with an article that provides the results.

Online chatter  Take some time to scroll through your history of social media engagement. Do certain questions, compliments, or observations come up regularly from different users? Proactively respond to these topics with an article that goes more in-depth on a topic you know your audience will find value in.

Images There are endless possibilities for image galleries: flashback, recap, behind-the-scenes, on-location, or time progression. When in doubt, go to the vaults.

You already serve as reporter, editor, producer, and publisher of your content program. Play news assistant every once in a while and it pays off two-fold — you fill your current content gap while digging up plenty of pre-vetted proof points for future topics.