How To Become More Creative In Your Marketing

By Ben Allen, Guest Contributor

Marketing is all about getting your business to stand out against your competitors and show how your product is the right fit for your potential customers. But standing out, especially in a very competitive market, is not easy. Every business is trying to come across as unique and the best solution. So, how can you actually pull it off?

By being creative.

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Creativity needs to be a priority in your marketing.

Creative marketing means taking risks, breaking expectations, and going above and beyond what your competitors are doing. But true creativity doesn’t just happen, it requires a lot of work and experimentation. If you want to become more creative in your marketing, here’s some tips to get started.

Getting Into a Creative Mindset
True creativity is not easy to produce. Being creative requires being in the right mindset, and for some, getting there is not easy. Especially for those who have to juggle multiple tasks that don’t require creativity, it might be hard to flip the switch and start coming up with new ideas.

First, you need to identify what you require in order to get the creative juices flowing. For many, that means getting into the perfect environment. Some flourish with distractions around them, while others need complete silence. Others need to feel 100 percent comfortable, either lounging in a chair or wearing their comfiest pajamas. Find what conditions you do your best creative work in and make it happen. Whether you need to move to a new work area, buy a personal AC unit to make sure you aren’t too hot, put on noise-cancelling headphones to block out distractions, or sip on a nice warm beverage — do whatever you need to encourage creativity.

Finding Inspiration But Not Copying It
There are tons of people out there who are constantly creating never before seen things. We live in an age of creativity thanks to the internet, and you can see it all online.

Inspiration plays a big role in coming up with new creative ideas by seeing what others have accomplished. You can research what innovative and new ways marketers are engaging with their customers, as well as see what results they got from it. Even looking at other fountains of creativity, like art and literature, can only help inspire you more.

It’s important to note, however, when looking for inspiration, to not straight up copy what you see. You can use elements or parts of ideas, but don’t steal what somebody else has done. Not only is that wrong morally, but it likely won’t work for you. Either your business will get called out (or even sued) for it, or it simply won’t work for your marketing because it’s not the same scenario or target market.

Understanding Expectations and Then Breaking Them
People naturally create expectations for everything they do. From going to the bank, to browsing through social media, expectations are created based off of past experiences and assumptions. Creative marketing breaks expectations, in a good way, and makes you stand out.

Before you start breaking expectations, you need to understand what people currently expect from both you and your industry as a whole. That means looking through data, interviewing people who match your target market, and understanding what it all means.

Once you truly understand what expectations people have, come up with ways to break them. Instead of just being another business, do something that grabs their attention and makes people pay attention.

Balancing Creativity with Best Practices
Don’t just be creative for the sake of being different. Balance any and all creative choices with marketing best practices. Look at what works best for your marketing currently, then use that as a springboard to launch into new ideas. That way, you won’t alienate potential customers or be considered random.

For example, if you see that a majority of your website’s visitors are on mobile devices, use that to your advantage. Create content that celebrates the advantages of smartphones and will stand out to consumers.

Creativity needs to be a priority in your marketing if you ever plan on standing out and growing. Doing the same old tactics over and over makes your marketing stale, and you’ll quickly fall behind in your industry. Find ways to revolutionize your marketing, stand out, and break expectations.
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