Great marketing campaigns all start with creative marketing ideas. However, where do you find those great marketing strategies?
Check out those competitors.
Find your productive peers and check into what they’re putting into the advertising world. Your competitors share your same goal when creating great marketing strategies. By checking on their progress, you’ll get a good idea of what works and what doesn’t. Which of their marketing campaigns are getting responses from patrons? Don’t duplicate or steal. Rather, grow from the idea. Use their actions as inspiration to fuel your own activity. If there is one thing that I learned from an advertising professor, who worked with Pepsi is this, “Don’t recreate the wheel, just make it your own.” Find what works and make it better! Add some sparkles to it.
What’s going on in the marketing world?
What are the new and trendy marketing campaigns that seem to be catching everyone’s eye? We’ve all seen marketing campaigns take off and become the buzz that gets everyone talking. What is the latest breakthrough that seems to be reaching consumers? Again, don’t copy but draw inspiration. Stop and think, what has grabbed your attention and more importantly held your attention? Which ads make you smile or pause what you’re doing to focus your attention? If the campaign made you say, “Ok, you’ve got my attention.” Then it’s worth keeping in the back of your mind. Those are the campaigns you want to draw inspiration from.
Fully understand your buyer personas.
Reach out to your clientele and get to know them. Develop relationships with them on social media. Watch their actions on Facebook and Instagram. What are they liking? What actions get an interaction from them? Capitalize on it.
Step out of the box.
Animate. Distinguish yourself from your competition. Sometimes being outlandish is the way to go. Don’t blend. Think Phyllis Diller, Joan Rivers, or Allstate’s Mayhem. It worked for them, why can’t it work for you?
Brainstorm with your colleagues.
Get together over dinner, or have a potluck brainstorming party at the office. Those are always fun! Start a discussion on what would bring your product to mind. Sometimes a glass of wine and some one-liners end up in brilliant marketing ideas. Even “bad” ideas are good ideas. If something doesn’t work, write it down and revisit it later. Letting an idea sit and stew for a few days may just result in some brilliant marketing ploy. Give it a try.
Forcing creativity is rarely successful. Allow your thoughts and ideas to expand. Talk it out. Doodle little drawings. Spark the creative thought process and let the ideas flow. In the words of En Vogue: “Free your mind and the rest will follow”.
