How to Spark Creativity for Content Creation
As the Director of Storytelling, my absolute favorite thing to do is help our clients tell their stories. One of my favorite quotes is “I don’t think outside of the box; I think of what I can do with the box.” Running campaigns for multiple clients gives me multiple opportunities to create great content. Whether you are creating campaigns or just running your own social media feeds – a creative process is important! I’m going to share with you the steps I take in my creative process, maybe they will work for you or maybe they will help you spark your own creative process!
Editorial Calendar
I always start my content process by looking at our editorial calendar. You can use these calendars to plan out your content for a week, month, quarter, or year – whatever works for your business! If you aren’t sure what an editorial calendar is, make sure to check out our digital course on How to Automate Your Marketing (coming soon!) – with this course you’ll get a free editorial calendar template. The same one we use!
The Core
If I have absolutely no idea where to start, I look to others for inspiration. They don’t have to be a similar business, or even the same industry. Find what sparks your interest! From there I look at holidays, national days, and events. To start, I just place a quick blurb of what I want to talk about by each date. Then, I go through and think about any certain promotions or products that I want to talk about and follow the same blurb step. Once I have my backbone in there, I look at my white space. What dates are left where I can plug some additional content. Depending on the client this could be motivational quotes, hilarious memes, or funny puns. At this point, I really like to utilize Pinterest as a source for inspiration. The list is endless. But it is important to make sure that you have your personality in the posts and that you are GIVING your audience something, not just asking them to do or purchase something.
Content Copy
Once I have all my blurbs in there, I go back through each post and fill out the actual content I want there. I include any links or hashtags depending on the platform. I make sure to read through each post and check that it flows nicely. Double check for spelling or grammatical errors (don’t be that person – there, their, they’re, you, you’re). Ya feel me?
Creative Assets
Now for me, this is the fun part. Once I have my copy in there and know what I want to say, I go find my media to go with it. I like to use a mix of video and photos. These could be from your own photoshoot, a beautiful stock photo from Unsplash, a creative flyer from Canva, a funny boomerang, or informational video. The possibilities are endless and it is totally up to you!
One thing to always remember and keep in mind – be a resource, not a sales pitch. Be consistent in what you post, determine your top 3-5 general topics you want to talk about so your audience knows what they can expect from you. That way, they know what they can come to you and rely on you for.
When you first start, it always seems impossible until it’s done. I learned by asking questions, following influencers and other accounts that are rockin’ it, and making mistakes (they are inevitable and it’s going to happen). Figure out when you creative juices are flowing – this could be different times of day and environments. Continue to learn and explore. You’ve taken the first step by reading this, now go out and create!
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