Don’t you love it when you get home from a long day’s work, slip off your shoes, flip on the tube, and get an unsolicited phone call from some Joe Shmoe asking you for five minutes of your time?
It’s the best, right? – (Cue sarcastic eye roll).
Outbound marketing tactics such as this are inherently annoying; so much so that you probably find yourself screaming “Get a real job!!!” to some poor pathetic soul you’ve never even met.
It’s no coincidence.
Many of us can relate to the sadistic joy of degrading the occupational status of some random person—after all—they couldn’t possibly think we’d consider pressing pause on the season finale of Game of Thrones, did they?
And as the Digital (Information) Age continues to mature, so does the intellect of a B2B consumer. It’s become second nature for us to scream at phones, slam doors, fast-forward thru commercials, create spam folders, and walk past “clipboard people” as if they were a ghost. We’ve developed an immunity towards invasive marketing tactics such as this, and willingly ignore their rhetoric interruptions whenever we encounter them.
Good marketers today realize that inbound marketing tactics (e.g. blog posts, infographics, landing pages, emails, podcasts, webinars, SEO, etc.) are the far more effective/lucrative strategy in regards to capturing the interest of potential B2B customers, acquiring referrals, developing an established value proposition, building marketplace influence and creating long-lasting, fruitful B2B relationships.
However, just because many of today’s marketers and advertisers are catching on to this new trend of “reputable B2B outreach,” not everyone is obtaining the same success.
Inbound marketing does not guarantee more profit for your business, increased brand awareness, or an ethical status within your industry. However, it does mean that your efforts will be earned rather than bought, patient stratagem outweighs tumultuous output, and that relying on inbound marketing to be the begins-all-ends-all medium to your business’s success is a naïve method to deploy. But one of the first lessons every aspiring or struggling inbound marketer needs to have in their organically-curated-content marketing-campaign arsenal is: Creativity.
Although output marketing efforts can indeed be creative (see Skittles and Old Spice ads), consumers respond better to creativity in an organic environment. Thinking creatively is much easier said than done, as it takes an accumulation of tangibles and intangibles in order to be successfully executed, and thus capture (and maintain) the interest of your targeted B2B consumer base. The below suggestions are aimed to help you strengthen your inbound marketing efforts via the most imperative component to any successful inbound marketing campaign: Creativity.
#1. Being Unafraid
Don’t allow your pride or ego to stand in the way of thinking outside the box.
Sometimes a crazy idea can burst into your brain like a bullet, and downplaying that idea due to your insecurity in how others may respond to it is the reason why so many wonderful and effective ideas never see the light of day.
#2. Fresh Air
Inspiration comes in many forms. But one of the easiest, most efficient and highly constructive methods of ‘getting the creative juices flowing’ is to simply step outside to get some much needed fresh air.
Take 10 deep breathes (slowly inhale thru your nose, fill and expand your belly with air, hold for three seconds, and slowly exhale thru your mouth for another five seconds). Do this 10 or so times twice each day—it is sure to help you break your habit of coffee, energy drinks, cigarettes or any other crutch you may have that you thought you needed to produce creative thoughts.
#3. Socioeconomic and/or Cultural Understanding
Nothing promotes your humanistic (or organic) attempt at inbound marketing more than knowing the ins-and-out of today’s most relevant issues. People simply relate better when you are able to successfully allude inbound marketing content with pop culture, politics, sports, economics, technological achievements, etc. And when you have a better comprehension of the world around you, creativity will shower over you like a hurricane of inspiration.
#4. Be a Fly on the Wall
The human condition is a bewildering species. When you perceive the world around with an introspective lens, you will find that our existence is a multifaceted (at times comical) society brimming with exotic people, chaos, subtle movement and intricate flashes of beauty, violence and cringe-worthy awkwardness.
So, when you have time, bring a notebook and pen to the mall and visit the local street fair, boardwalk, airport, busy intersection, lively cafe, sporting event or literally anywhere or everywhere where people might congregate.
A simple contemplative reflection on something as mundane as everyday life can inspire you in more ways that you’d ever thought imaginable.
Harness your Creativity Today
– Create, schedule and distribute content with seamless efficiency
– Optimize consumer awareness
– Nurture leads
– Develop consistent brand messaging
– Increase customer loyalty
– Reach a broad scale audience
– Measure marketing campaign effectiveness
– And more!
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