What do you do if your marketing campaigns lack creativity?

In marketing, it’s important to remember not to die on the hill over ideas that are not resonating. Having self awareness in your work and realizing it could be better, or is lacking in execution, is crucial to professional development. Be honest with yourself and take constructive criticism as motivation to think differently and attempt a new approach that you haven’t in the past. Another added benefit of working in this way is you showcase to your team the importance of self reflection and taking steps to challenge your work to be better. It is a great leadership quality.

In my experience it helps to break out of the industry you are in. Often times if you have been in one industry too long, you fall into a rut creatively. Who says you can’t take a B2C approach for B2B? Or maybe look to fast-moving CPG for inspiration to amp up your med tech story. Inspiration can be found from anywhere! You just have to put it through your brand voice to have it hit with impact.

One of the most advantageous things you can do is bring others into your creative brainstorm from other areas of the business. They can spark inspiration and give you a perspective you may have been missing to jumpstart a new idea. I know in brand strategy workshops I have hosted, some of the most insightful findings for the brand came from those outside of the marketing department. Creativity needs inspiration and inspiration can come from the most unlikely of places. One thing to keep in mind when taking this approach is to have an open mind. Some of the newer ideas and perspectives may heavily misalign with your current thought process. Remember different doesn’t mean wrong. Challenge yourself to apply the different thinking.

Creativity is a broad word and has lots of different meanings in different scenarios. With regards to marketing, these three tips can help keep you ahead of the game: 1. Keep your eyes open. Mostly, we get campaign inspiration from ideas we've seen before. The trick here is not to copy but tweak the ideas to fit your brand story. 2. Reach out to other Marketers. What are top networks in your field up to? How are they implementing their campaigns? What can you learn from them? 3. Always take a break, sit back and analyze your work after a break. Sometimes, you might think your work is not creative because your too immersed in it. Breathe, take a step back and go at it again!

When all else fails, try taking a step back. Many times we are too close to a project and become blinded by the flaws. Many times I’ve had to table something for a few days to get a breath in. Then when you return you can take a look with fresh eyes and a fresh perspective. Sitting and staring at one headline for hours is not a great creative process. Go out for a walk, chat with a friend, do something else creative to help shake your mind. This can help you come back refreshed and recharged with your creative tank full again!