Have you ever experienced writer’s block? You’re sitting there staring at a blank screen about to pull your hair out because the ideas are just not flowing. The same can be true when trying to come up with creative ideas for content marketing. How are you supposed to keep the ideas fresh and creative? After all, there are only so many ideas out there (and a lot of the good ones have been taken by Oreo and Doritos)! So how do brands like Oreo and Doritos keep coming up with one good idea after another? We’ve put together a few tips to give you a hint at what you can do to have a continuous flow of marketing ideas.
1. Creativity
There is no such thing as “wrong” creativity. Let your ideas flow no matter how ridiculous they may seem in your head. Sometimes we can be too hard on ourselves and shut down an idea before we even get it fully developed. Allow your mind to go places you may normally be critical of. Brainstorm any and every idea you have. This will give you a long list to choose from, and you just may have written down the needle in the haystack.
2. Teamwork
Of course you want to be the person to come up with an idea, but we can’t all be on our A game 100% of the time. Allow others to add their input, even if they aren’t on the marketing team! If your business is designating only a handful of people to add creative content to the marketing department, then you may be missing out on tons of creative ideas! Allow anyone to pitch an idea to you at any time. Just because your accountants sit behind a desk crunching numbers all day doesn’t mean they don’t have creative juices too! Collaborating allows you to bounce ideas off of one another and can often produce the best ideas. You know what they say – two heads are better than one!
3. Current
Be current and stay on top of trends. Get your brand involved in the trends early. You have to do it before everyone else can. Take the ALS ice bucket challenge, for example. If your brand does it, it shows that you support a great cause and have a fun company environment. However, timing is everything. Be one of the first to do it and you get tons of attention and publicity. Be one of the last and you are just another piece of the puzzle.
4. Steal
Okay, we don’t mean you can literally steal. But you can steal ideas, sort of. Read book, watch T.V., look at magazines, anything to get your creative juices flowing. You never know what may trigger an idea. Once you find an idea, you can incorporate your own product and use your own voice to make it original. Of course, you can’t copy the idea exactly, but seeing one thing may trigger you to think of another.
We would love to hear any other tips and tricks you have for being creative and how they worked for you!