2023 Modern Techniques For Generating Creative Marketing Campaigns #BBOM
Gone are the days when creativity in marketing has deemed a luxury. Today, it’s an essential component of any successful campaign. After all, if your marketing isn’t creative and engaging enough, it won’t stand out from the crowd and won’t get noticed by potential customers. So how do you create a truly creative and effective marketing campaign? There are many techniques available to draw on, ranging from traditional approaches such as storytelling to more modern tactics like using data-driven insights. In this blog post, we will explore some of the modern techniques you can use to generate creative marketing campaigns that deliver real results.
The Benefits of Creativity in Marketing
Creativity in marketing is often thought of as a "nice to have" rather than a necessity. If you’re reading my blog, chances are you err on the side of thinking for your client, not being a production house for your client. However, there are many benefits to being creative in your marketing campaigns. Here are just a few:
Creativity can help you stand out from the competition. In a world where there are an endless amount of marketing messages bombarding consumers from all sides, it can be hard to make your brand and messaging stand out. But if you get creative with your marketing campaigns, you can cut through the noise and grab attention. This is why MOST highly creative agencies tap into emotional triggers to ‘launch’ the setting for their creativity — desire, fear, humor, sex, anger compassion, and so on.
Creativity can make your brand more memorable. If you can find a way to creatively communicate your brand message, it will stick with consumers long after they see your ad or hear your commercial. This means they're more likely to remember your brand when they're ready to make a purchase.
Creativity can help you connect with consumers on an emotional level (as outlined above). We all know that people buy based on emotion, so if you can tap into that with your marketing campaigns, you'll be more successful. Creative campaigns that evoke an emotional response are more likely to resonate with consumers and lead to conversions – and often consumers find your directive more memorable.
Creativity can help you stay ahead of the curve. In today's ever-changing marketplace, it's important to keep up with the latest trends and technologies. By being creative in your approach to marketing, you can stay ahead of the curve and ensure that your campaigns are always fresh and relevant.
How to generate creative ideas for marketing campaigns
I’m still fanatical about the tiny little book "A Technique for Producing Ideas" by James Webb Young. Here’s a tight summary that works well as an overview.
All ideas follow a five-step process of 1) gathering material, 2) intensely working over the material in your mind, 3) stepping away from the problem, 4) allowing the idea to come back to you naturally, and 5) testing your idea in the real world and adjusting it based on feedback.
This is 100% correct but in the modern marketing era, it’s the base foundation on which your creative ideation must stand. Creative inspiration can come from anywhere, but sometimes it helps to have a little structure in your ideation sessions. Here are a few techniques you can use to get the creative juices flowing:
Brainstorming: This is a classic technique for generating ideas. Get a group of people together and just start throwing out ideas. The more ideas you have, the better your chance of coming up with something creative.
Saturation: One of the many techniques that I find akin is cultivating all the previous marketing creative that has been done within the space of a campaign. Collecting all the videos, social, and direct messaging associated with the product, service or education will give you an immediate sense of what’s been done; if it feels effective to you; and give you a platform by which to build or eliminate from your thinking.
Mind mapping: This is a great way to visually organize your thoughts and ideas. Draw a central idea in the middle of a piece of paper and then branch out from there with related thoughts and ideas.
Word association: Another classic technique, involves coming up with a word or phrase and then brainstorming all of the words or phrases that come to mind in relation to it. This can help you come up with new perspectives on familiar topics.
Role-playing: This technique is often used in businesses, but it can also be applied to generate creative marketing ideas. Put yourself in the shoes of your target customer and brainstorm what kinds of campaigns would appeal to them.
Within this phase be sure to create a ‘disaster scenario’ where your campaign is completely ineffective or somehow turns against your efforts. Do your best to map causality and how you can resolve the potential clusterfucks using all the creative in hand so as not to lose time and paid media spend.
Brainwriting: This is similar to brainstorming, but each person writes down their ideas before sharing them with the group. This can help introverts feel more comfortable sharing their ideas and can also lead to some unexpected combinations as people build on each other's thoughts.
Non-linear Storytelling vs. Linear Directive Offers
In the past, marketing campaigns were generally linear in nature, consisting of a series of offers or messages that were delivered in a linear fashion. However, with the advent of digital technology and the proliferation of channels through which consumers can engage with brands, marketers have had to adapt their approach to reflect the non-linear way in which consumers now interact with content and should be seen as the “omnichannel” only diversifying it’s messaging to the audience sensibility per channel.
Whereas before marketers would deliver a message and then wait for consumers to respond, they now need to create content that is designed to be consumed in a non-linear way. This means creating multiple pieces of content that can be consumed in any order, depending on the preferences of the individual consumer.
There are benefits to both approaches – linear storytelling can be more effective in delivering a clear and concise message, while non-linear storytelling allows for greater flexibility and creativity. Ultimately, it is up to the individual marketer to decide which approach is best suited to their campaign objectives.
Brainstorming techniques
There are a number of different brainstorming techniques that can be used in order to generate creative marketing campaigns. One popular technique is known as mind mapping. This involves creating a visual representation of ideas, linking them together, and then expanding on these ideas. Another popular technique is known as SCAMPER, which stands for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate and Reverse. This technique encourages you to take an existing product or service and think about how it could be modified or adapted in order to create something new.
Another useful technique is known as the Six Hats method. This involves thinking about an issue from six different perspectives, each represented by a different color hat. The six hats are white (facts and figures), red (emotions and intuition), black (negative thoughts), yellow (positive thoughts), green (creative ideas) and blue (analytical thinking). By looking at an issue from all of these different angles, it is possible to come up with more creative solutions.
Finally, Brainwriting is another excellent technique for generating creative ideas. This involves a group of people writing down their ideas on individual pieces of paper. Once everyone has finished, the papers are then passed around so that everyone can read what others have written and build on these ideas. Brainwriting can be an extremely effective way of coming up with original and innovative solutions to problems.
Overcoming creative blocks
When it comes to creative marketing campaigns, the key is to keep things fresh and exciting. But sometimes, even the most seasoned marketer can find themselves stuck in a rut. If you're feeling uninspired, don't worry – there are plenty of ways to overcome your creative blocks.
One of the best ways to jumpstart your creativity is to get out of your comfort zone. Trying new things and thinking outside the box will help you come up with new ideas for your campaign see “saturation” above. Another great way to overcome creative blocks is to collaborate with others. Brainstorming with a team can help you come up with fresh perspectives that you may not have thought of on your own.
Creative marketing campaigns can have a significant impact on the success of any business. By utilizing modern techniques like social media and data analysis, businesses can generate creative marketing campaigns that are sure to capture the attention of their target audience.
Everyone Is The Key To Creativity
No matter the size of your agencies to the titles of your staff — everyone should be invited to participate in your ideation process. Does that mean stop all work and disappear for X number of days? No, of course not. You can use chat, presentations, surveys, feedback forms, and countless other ways to interface with your own staff. The point is this if you think “we’ll he’s just a developer” you’re the fool for overlooking a potential source for the next spark that could lead to a winning campaign.
