Make Your Ideas Fly!
Written By Lesley Anderson
Image by Poppy Jakes Photography
One of the constant challenges for anyone in marketing is the pressure to come up with something new – or at least feels new! If you’ve ever tried to write some copy for a brochure or had to put together some ideas for an advertising campaign, you’ll know how daunting that can be.
Of course, what to one person is a fantastic idea can be seen by another person as a terrible idea and if you have to pitch an idea to a committee or Board, it’s even more challenging to appeal to all of them to get the go-ahead. So, how to get over the creative block and make your ideas fly?
Use your friends and family
Yes honestly, inject some hive thinking without people even knowing you’re doing it. Start talking around the subject you’re interested in and see what they say. If you can get some crazy ideas rolling around, there’s usually one that grabs your attention and is worth exploring. It also gives you insights into what the wider audience thinks about that particular product or service. It’s like a brainstorm but without the pressure.
Have some fun
Start playing with words around your topic. Try writing a list of synonyms, rhyming words, opposites, analogues and anything else you can think of. I’ve often had a mini brain wave just playing with words. Think of the most unlikely combinations you can. So, if you are marketing a toaster, imagine it plugged into a beach lounger on a ski slope and start visualising how and why that happened! The more unusual the images in your imagination, the most interesting your creative mind will be.
Turn things around
It’s really easy to fall into corporate-speak. ‘We’re delighted to introduce Value Proposition ABC to our range of services’ etc. Shoot me now. Who wants to read that? But how about ‘The office rental market doubled in 2021 leaving 30% of potential tenants competing for space. Meet our new Commercial Agent who specialises in Value Proposition ABC and wears a cape in his spare time.’ Ok, you probably can’t get away with any super-hero references in your average press release but you can certainly brighten things up.
If you look at what your new product or service actually does for your clients, that’s a great place to start.
Let’s get emotional
People respond to an advert, a post or a pitch that stirs emotion. Your marketing will have a boost if you can inject humour, anger or excitement. Most people buy something that they feel will give them pleasure or take away the pain, so your marketing needs a very simple message that focuses on pain or pleasure.
While you’re at it, say your words out loud. If it sounds false or stuffy, ditch them. We’re people not machines and we can spot false. Use words that you would use and put some personality into your marketing.
List all the good things you’re offering to a client and all the pain points like the problems they have that you could solve as well as additional benefits like the time saved, money saved, productivity increased. You don’t want to list the features but you do want to draw out how great they will feel once they have your gadget in their hands.
There are some great examples of humour and personality on Twitter. Whoever runs some of the big brand accounts is having a blast! Wendy’s is famous for sarcasm and dry humour aimed at their competitors like McDonald’s and they have a huge following as a result. (3.8 million). You don’t need to be an international brand to have a bit of fun online (just don’t be a troll…).
The great outdoors
My favourite plan B, when I really do need to be creative and have hit a brick wall! Just going for a walk can be very motivating – but so can dancing in the kitchen, so don’t feel inhibited. Whatever gets your marketing muscles working is all you need. Have fun creating!
