Tips for Generating new Ideas to keep your digital marketing approach fresh
Digital marketing is one of the industries that is constantly changing, and as marketeers its our job to keep up with those changes along with new ideas to get them out there! Heres a few tips to keep your ideas fresh and up to date.
1. Take a Break From the Web
WHAT! I hear your cry… According to experts studies, to get in touch with the muse, you have to first do the mental equivalent of cleansing your palate.
Some professionals use a “take a step back” approach. Often it’s as simple as spending a few minutes internalizing the challenge at hand, and then doing something else entirely.
Taking a walk is easy enough, but if there’s time then reading something on a different subject or going for a walk or just [doing] anything that actively stimulates your mind and senses really opens things up.
Also, sleep. Never underestimate the power of sleep!
2. Communicate New Ideas to New People
So what do you do after you’ve untethered yourself from your mac?
Its been said that its a good idea to strike up a conversation with someone — inside the office or out — who you don’t know very well. The theory behind this is the more random the person, the better because it will force you out of whatever mindset you’re in.
Advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, for instance, has a rule, articulated by co-founder Alex Bogusky: “Anyone who’s looking for inspiration from other ad agencies is in the wrong building.”
3. Avoid Brainstorming in Large Groups…
Brainstorming in large groups often ends in confusion as the sessions seem to go on for hours with ideas and comments often going around In circles. I quite often feel like I haven’t really come away with anything (except a headache)
We at SGM are a small team so that helps with our brainstorming. We talk, we organize and assign tasks to each of us and get the job done – most of the time anyways!
If you are hosting brainstorming meetings with more than 10 people, consider dividing the groups in halves and I am pretty confident they will be a lot more productive.
If that is impractical, brainstorming in a large group can work if it’s done digitally, rather than in the flesh. A chat room, for instance, might be a more welcoming place for new ideas than an actual room.
4. Look back at things that have inspired you before.
If you are having one of those days where you need to come up with something creative and innovative and you feel like you have hit a wall. Nothing good is going to come from your brain today.
Then I would suggest you look back at something you have done before, look back at old presentations, emails and notes, or this can even be things like movies, books, blogs, pictures and so on. You can literally pluck inspiration out of the air at times.
Music does it for me. If im sitting here desperately trying to think of a blog to write but all I see in my head is cupcakes and butterflies I tend to plug in my headphones and put my ipod on shuffle. This shuts me away from whats going on around me and before I know it ive written a fabulous blog called ‘Tips for Generating new Ideas to keep your digital marketing approach fresh’
I hope this is helpful and you are already feeling creative!