When it comes to marketing, you’ve got to be constantly “on” in order to find ideas that will inspire your own efforts. You don’t want your campaign to be identical to everyone else’s, but sometimes it’s challenging to find a fresh fountain of innovation.
Pish posh, I say. Inspiration for your next marketing campaign is all around you, if you know where to look.
#1. Other Industries
What does a freelance writing website have to do with your project management certification business? Maybe nothing directly, but the copy on the landing page could appeal to you and give you ideas for how to reach your own customers. Sometimes we get so bogged down in reading content about our own niches that we become saturated and can’t get anything out of the content. But moving to another field entirely can reignite the fuses in our brains and inspire us to find new marketing concepts.
#2. Your Next Walk
Whenever I’m mired in a work problem or am having trouble thinking of a blog topic to write, I grab my dog’s leash (and she’s thrilled, let me tell you) and head out the door. The simple act of getting outside of my workspace helps me reinvigorate my thought process. Maybe it’s all that fresh air blowing between my ears. Whatever the cause, I almost always come back to the office with exciting ideas (and steps added to my FitBit).
#3. The World Around You
If you’re like me and most entrepreneurs, you don’t always shut your brain off from work when you leave the office. Or else, something piques your interest and you connect the dots back to something you were working on. For me, inspiration comes in the strangest places; listening to a Beastie Boys song inspired me to write this post. My son always works his way into my writing as well. And these posts tend to be more fun to write than the stuffy old “how to do this thing in marketing” posts. People relate to me better when I share a slice of my life.
Whether it’s a headline you read while waiting in line at the grocery store, an ad that pops up on your computer, or something your cat did, be open to where these life moments take you, especially if they take you back to your company’s marketing.
#4. Your Inbox
Turn your marketing eyes on the next time you open a promotional email in your inbox. What do you like about it? What turns you off? Keep the emails that appeal to you in a swipe file that you can refer back to when you need ideas for your own campaigns, email and otherwise. You’ll quickly become an expert on what works and what doesn’t.
#5. Headlines and Blog Titles
Styles of headlines change over time. Right now, they’re very engaging and in-your-face (“17 Things You Never Thought You Needed to Know About Cats!”). Whether you decide to emulate them or not, they can keep you tuned in to what people are responding to. Keep titles that you like in your swipe file so you can review them when you need to grab your readers’ attention on a landing page or blog post.
Don’t limit where inspiration finds you. Be open to the serendipity of it coming to you anywhere.
Images: ”woman walking towards unknown places/ Shutterstock.com“
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