How to Develop Your Next Blockbuster Content Idea

One of the principal concepts our marketing team emphasizes is that no idea is a bad idea. In our brainstorming sessions, anything goes. We’re encouraged to embrace weird, get crazy, say what pops into our head, and write everything down because you never know where your next blockbuster idea will come from.

This culture makes it easier for our teammates to consistently deliver great ideas that bring our clients value. But, just because your idea is good, doesn’t mean it couldn’t be better. These are a few of our tried and true strategies to generate new ideas and enhance the ones we’ve already got.

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Ask the Right Questions

Every month our marketing team has a meeting to go over our ups and downs of the month, address any ongoing concerns, and learn something new. Our most recent lesson involved watching this video, a TEDx Talk with Mark Rober about creativity. One of Rober’s main points was that curiosity drives creativity. Asking questions about why things are successful and how to use that concept to duplicate their success gives you the tools to create new ideas off of the back of established success.

If you’re wondering how to make an idea better, try asking further questions about it. It’s easy to have an idea and stop there. Asking how you could repurpose the content, engage further audiences, or turn the campaign idea into a bigger project opens up even more possibilities.

Pull From Your Own Experience

Our team has a wide array of passions. We’ve got sports junkies, bookworms, foodies, reality TV enthusiasts, retail experts, beauty addicts, movie buffs, and that’s just the beginning of our interests. The best ideas that we’ve had came from one of our team members pulling a topic from something they are naturally interested in and turning it into a multifaceted idea. Not only do we have more excitement for these ideas, we have an expert in our midst to help us through potential roadblocks during the campaign.

One of our best campaigns came from our sports lovers. All of us were excited about watching the 2018 Winter Games and someone asked a question about how athletes could compete in the games for other countries if they had dual citizenship. This immediately peaked everyone’s interest and, just like that, our Olympic Athlete Campaign was born and went on to be very successful. The idea of “Let’s do an Olympic campaign” turned into a really great piece because we were able to look into one unique aspect of the games that interested everyone in the room and could grab attention elsewhere.

Keep Up with Industry Advances

We’re lucky to be working in an industry that is constantly changing. New advancements in content creation seem to pop up every day, and we’re always looking at the latest trends in the industry to see how we can integrate them into our campaigns.

These days, the internet is moving everyone forward at lightspeed, and even if your industry isn’t known for rapid change, keeping up with the news gives you the opportunity to answer new concerns and questions with your content, making it relevant and engaging.

Do Something Different

What’s the best way to bust through a block? Get out a sledgehammer.

Or in this case, get some new perspective. Look for a new data source, read some articles on a new topic, check the news, or even just scroll through social media. Ideas sometimes just pop into your head, but when the inspiration won’t come, start by looking at something you’ve never looked at before.  

A particularly popular way to get specific info on a broad topic is to check out Mix, formerly known as StumbleUpon. The best thing about Mix is that the information you’re looking for is provided to you in an interesting, unique way. If you type in a broad topic, you don’t have to sift through Google searches looking for something substantial. Mix provides articles based on your interests but without the need for a specific search. It’s a great tool to find random new ideas that relate to a broader topic.

Tap the Creative Culture

If you walk into our office, you can feel the creative vibes. Everyone’s plugged in, absorbed in their computer screens, and has an almost intimidating level of focus. But, the best part about working at our office is that there are at least 30 other perspectives you can tap into with one simple message. Our team has a dedicated office messaging channel for exactly this purpose. When we hit a roadblock or need another angle, we ask the office and they always manage to deliver something that gets us going again.

Creative ideas don’t always pop into our heads fully completed. More often than not, we spend a substantial amount of time researching and developing concepts into dynamic campaign concepts. Wherever you start with your idea, spend some time looking at it with these tactics and by the end, you won’t just have a suggestion – you’ll have a winner!