To be able to create good Marketing content, you need creativity. But creativity isn’t always there. Sometimes you’re out of inspiration. Tell me all about it.

That’s why I wrote a blog about the things that help me find good Marketing ideas. Who knows these tips might help you too:

Go outside.

Seriously. Go outside. Go for a walk or take the bike. Fresh air is good for you. Walking and biking are mindful activities. Often, good ideas will pop up while you’re outside.

Go read a book

When I’m out of ideas, I often read a book. It doesn’t matter the genre. While reading, I get inspired by an idea, word or phrase presented by the author. And I have to save those!

Focus on one activity

If you want to get your creativity going, you have to focus on one activity and try not to be distracted by anything else. Scrolling through Social Media or accessing the internet on your smartphone or laptop are distracting activities in itself.

When you use your phone or laptop, your brain is exposed to a lot of stimuli. Think of all the messages that pop up on your Twitter timeline, while at the same time a WhatsApp notification pops up. No much time for your brain to think.

When doing focused activities, like reading a book or going for a walk, this isn’t the case: You just read or walk. You are merely exposed to the bird chatter outside or the plethora of words when reading a book. And when performing these activities, sometimes your mind starts wandering. It starts to think by itself. Suddenly, good ideas start to pop up

Just start writing

If you’re out of ideas, it might be that you’re full of ideas. And there’s one way to find that out: Write, write, write!

Sometimes, it seems like you don’t have any good ideas, because you (unconsciously) have too many ideas in your mind. All these ideas swarm through your brain and it is difficult to spot the good ideas.

So what to do? Get all your ideas on paper!

1. Get a pen and some paper. You can use your laptop too. But please make sure to turn off your WiFi so you don’t get distracted. Try to focus solely on the process of writing
2. Just start writing. Write down every idea that comes to mind. Don’t let the bad ideas and grammar you’re writing down bother you. Just only write for the sake of getting your thoughts down on paper.
3. Stop writing after 20 minutes. Next, read everything you’ve written down. Maybe you spot a few good ideas you could sue for later. And if not, at least it means you’ve released all the bad ideas from your mind.

Have a pen and paper close to you

The fun thing about creativity is that it appears at the weirdest moments. “Shower thoughts” isn’t just a phrase. Sometimes, good ideas pop up when you’re about to fall asleep, or while you take a shower, or while you cook.

 And you don’t want to forget your good ideas. So always make sure to have a pen and paper close to you! And if a good idea pops up, immediately write it down!

Steal” from others

What if you don’t know how to design a Social Media graph or a landing page? What to do next?

Look at other people. The nice thing about our digital society is that we all steal ideas from one another. By gathering other peoples’ ideas, we learn from one another and we develop our own coherent ideas.

What’s the similarity between a successful scientist and an author of a best-selling book? They all get inspired by their predecessors and colleagues,

Gather the good

As Online Marketer, you’re exposed to many great adverts, blogs, social media ideas and landing pages. Save them and put them in a file. If you want to, you could also elaborate on why you think these examples are successful.

The file that includes good executions of Online Marketing might come handy later when you run out of ideas or don’t know how to deal with a certain project.

Look at your earlier projects

Content Marketing isn’t only about creating. The process of recycling and repurposing your older content is just as important. So if you’re out of ideas, why not look at one of your earlier executions of your ideas?

I often reread and rewatch the content I’ve created months ago. By doing so, I develop ideas for new content and I find new ways to use the content I’ve already created.

Give yourself some rest

We can’t always stay on and neither can our creativity. it is completely normal that we have days full of inspiration and days without. So don’t be worried if you find yourself in an absolute creativity rut.

The tips I’ve outlined above might help you regain some of your creativity when you’re out of ideas. But sometimes it’s also good to take some rest.