How to Find Motivation and Inspiration for B2B Marketing
We’ve all been there; as marketing professionals, finding ourselves hitting a creative wall is probably one of the most frustrating things that exist within the profession. It can feel as if you’re trying to squeeze one drop of juice out of a dried up lemon peel; no matter what you do, the creative side of your brain seems to be on pause. What causes this, and how can we as marketers prevent it so that we can continue creating valuable, engaging content? Below we explore a couple of reasons why the creative block happens and provide tips to help you find motivation and inspiration.
A Creative Block
A creative block is a description that encompasses more than just writing; it describes any sort of barrier to creativity. This can happen for a few reasons. Sometimes it’s hard to get started with a new project when you don’t know how to even begin. For example, if you’re tasked with a new marketing initiative that you’ve never done before, the underlying stress combined with perfectionism can make it feel impossible to create content. Not understanding something thoroughly can also make a task seem much more daunting. The same can happen when you don’t find a content topic very interesting. The motivation to get started can be difficult to muster up. What happens when marketers struggle to find ideas for new content? Procrastination, below average work, and low morale are all side effects of low and no motivation. For marketers, inspiration and motivation are keys to success; without them, it can feel impossible to get the job done.
Motivation for Marketing
Although writer’s block and dwindling creativity can seem endless, there are ways to overcome those mental hurdles. Amanda Natividad, Expert Content Marketer and VP of Marketing at SparkToro, shares how she finds motivation and inspiration to create new content.
New Conversations: Having conversations with people who are experts in their field can help light a creative spark and make you feel motivated. According to Amanda, “conversations with people who are building really cool things, working on interesting stuff, who have great ideas and conviction gives me energy.” The positive energy can be contagious, even if their expertise isn’t in your field.
Reading: Picking up a book or reading a new blog can help you build motivation. It can be “long form reads, like a book, a blog post, or a sub stack; it should be something that takes longer than five minutes to read,” explains Amanda. New ideas that come from reading different content can boost creativity. “It fuels me because those are strong ideas that are crystallized and that are really thought through,” explains Amanda.
Repurposing Old Content: Take a look at your past work; are there ways to freshen it up and make it more relevant? Updating it and using a new channel of communication can provide the motivation you need to get going again. For example, if you gather a few social media clips that revolve around a similar topic, you can grab quotes and create a new blog. You could also refer back to old blogs, update them, and write a new podcast episode. Having a foundation ready to go can give you that boost of motivation you need to get started.
Finding Inspiration for Your Content
Getting inspired and finding new ideas for content go hand in hand. One way Amanda achieves this is by relying on feedback from audiences. A big believer in webinars, Amanda uses that space to focus on the questions audiences keep asking. “If I'm getting the same question from a couple people, I start to think, Oh, maybe I should write something about this, or maybe I should create content on this,” she explains. This is a great way to ensure not only that the content you create is high-quality, but also effective and valuable. When customers ask, marketers tell. You can confidently leverage those questions to create something that tells audiences what they want to know.
Social media is another great way to find inspiration for new content. By looking at conversations people are having on professional sites like LinkedIn, marketers can get a better idea about what topics are trending in that space. Amanda uses those topics to create content such as “a really nice high quality original thought blog post” and proceeds to develop different marketing collateral off of that one topic to “hopefully gain high engagement.” One blog post can be the foundation for a podcast topic, a social media post, and a video clip. Build off of hot topics and maximize efficiency by expanding the way you deliver your message.
Experiencing a creative block is pretty common among marketers. However, through intellectual and social stimulation, marketers can get through dry spells and push out great content. At StudioPod, our experienced team of creative professionals and producers know how to pinpoint the right strategy to meet your B2B marketing goals. Consider implementing a B2B podcast for your brand; reach out to us here to find out more.