What do you do if you're struggling to come up with creative marketing ideas?

It's easy to become creatively stagnant when we focus too much on our own industry or our closest competitors. When that happens, looking at other brands I admire or successful campaigns that operate well beyond my own product category or audience can sometimes be the perfect source of inspiration I need to connect the dots in my own niche. Podcasts have become another great source of ideas and insights, and they’re easy to enjoy on the weekends or even on the morning commute into the office.

1) Getting inspired by others is the biggest resort when the creative brain goes on vacation! This 'others' can be other people, books, articles, podcasts, and in my case, reading experts' responses on various topics here in the Collaborative article' section is working greatly so far. 2) The more the merrier: This works like a charm when one brain gives up entirely. A brainstorming session between 2 or more people can bring back creative ideas. 3) And if everything fails, simply take a break. Taking a break from work is not always possible, but one can take a break from that particular problem while focusing on other tasks and return to it after a few hours or days with a fresh perspective.

Socializing with other people in the field is always illuminating. Driving inspiration from experiences that other brands have created, helps as well. Reading and exploring new tendencies in different medias, will also help you broaden your mind and give you different perspectives.

Explore other creative fields: Art, music, film – how can you adapt those concepts to your marketing message? Browse industry awards: See what trends and campaigns are getting recognized. Follow marketing thought leaders: Stay updated on the latest strategies and get inspired by innovative approaches.

I have a screen time of 18h/day (which raises a few eyebrows and possibly my blood pressure), but there's a silver lining! Doomscrolling and staying glued to the digital realm might not win me any fitness awards, but it does keep me in the loop, ready to pounce on market trends and soak up insights from the gurus who have done it.

When working remotely or hybrid, it's easy to get caught up in a "heads-down" mentality and focus solely on completing tasks quickly and independently. However, when it comes to developing creative marketing ideas, this approach can hinder progress. In my experience, physically gathering in a room for brainstorming sessions is the most effective way to generate new and innovative ideas. This allows for a natural conversation flow, and multiple people can collaborate on a physical whiteboard, leading to more out-of-the-box ideas. When an in-person meeting is not possible, my team has found that video conferencing with the whiteboard tool is the next best thing. This way, we can all visualize and collaborate in real-time.

I love working with teams that share my energy to create something from scratch. Here's my brainstorming framework: 1. Every solution begins with a problem. Identify the problem that you are trying to solve. Make sure that any wacky ideas from here are solving those problems. Identify the actual problem in a certain scope. 2. Perspective breakdown: List down all possible ideas (even the craziest ones) 3. Iterations on the perspectives: This process can be used as way to detail the solution ideas. 4. Point out weaknesses: Every solution has own weaknesses, note 'em. 5. Break it down into smaller steps and run the Rule of Elimination using a prioritization framework (RICE?) 6. Next steps: Create a list of action items

Brainstorming with a team is all about sharing ideas where each individual contributes their expertise and express their unique perspectives to create powerful and efficient marketing strategies. It's the collective creativity that fuels breakthroughs and drives success in marketing projects.

It is a common problem faced by every marketer at some point or other. First thing to do is to clam down and breathe. sometimes this happens if you are overwhelmed or stressed. 1. brainstorm ideas individually or take help of your team. come up with as many ideas possible even if they are all not great. 2. consume more content, blogs, insights, and industry developments to get a better idea 3. you can always use the help of AI tools for ideas, do not use it to generate ideas completely but take the information and come up with your own ideas 4. Social media is a great place to get ideas from, follow industry leaders, people in similar niche and top creators. 5. If you feel burned out, take time out and relax and recharge

When your computer is stuck, the first thing recommended is to turn it off and back on. The same goes for our brains. Stop straining for inspiration. Instead, go outside and start walking. When I do that, new ideas start to flow. For some reason, movement and fresh air engage my creative supply chain. This simple solution has never failed to help me get projects done thoroughly, insightfully, and on time.

To be a creative marketer is a mindset. A true marketer never stops working and thinking. This is the person that watches the Superbowl waiting for halftime ads, that looks at netflix shows to see the product placements etc. Be that person that truly deeply feel that vocation and you'll be the most creative one of your team!

In my view, embracing a mindset of continuous learning and adaptation is key to overcoming creative blocks in marketing. By actively seeking out new knowledge and insights, you expand your creative repertoire and gain fresh perspectives that can spark innovative ideas. Moreover, the process of learning and adapting fosters agility and flexibility, allowing you to respond creatively to evolving market dynamics and consumer preferences.

You know when a word is on the tip of your tongue and you can't recall it and it drives you crazy, so you forget about it and it comes to you at the most random moment? It's like that. I spent the entire day killing myself over a blank canvas in my burnt out smooth brain, so I ran a few errands and it struck me while buying strawberries at the grocery store.

Dreams are a great source of creativity and inspiration. Keep a journal near your bed and research some techniques you can try to train your memory and record your REM sleep cycle. Jot down the most inspiring dreams and combine the snippets you remember with an AI supercharge ally like story AI. It will help you expand you story and come up with creative storytelling for your next ad or campaign.

We should always keep updating ourselves so if we have our agency so we need to change or replace the agency to get new concepts and creativity