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Creative marketing is a must in order to stand out in your industry and set yourself apart from the competition. You have to be able to quickly capture the attention of the audience you’re trying to reach, if you want them to take notice and be drawn to your company. Here are a few things to think about as you develop your marketing campaign and to help you maximize your creativity.

1. What kind of marketing are you doing? Is your marketing campaign advertising a website, a new product, a promotional launch, a social media push, a joint venture? What you are marketing is important and your strategy will be different if you are marketing a new website as opposed to a new promotion.
2. Who is your target audience? This is really the part where many marketing campaigns fall apart. Too many people fail to realize who their target audience is and what they are looking for. Take the time to develop the buyer personas that you will be marketing to, and this will help you be more creative when addressing them.
3. Create a mind map. Plan out your marketing campaign by considering all the steps that need to be taken to put things into place. Determine your topic, and your subtopics. Figure out what tools you are going to use—website, networking, social media, snail mail, online ads, affiliates, etc.
4. Put time into crafting your marketing message. A marketing message should elicit some kind of emotional response from the target audience. You have to be able to get a reaction from them. Take the time to find your own inspiration for the message. Some creative marketers use the phrase “Meditate, caffeinate, create,” to refer to their thinking process. This is just a clever way to tell you to take the time, look around, browse the internet, use Google, use Instagram, use Pinterest, use everything until something clicks and you get an idea that is going to work for you.
5. Consider adding a freebie. People love to get things for free. If you can find inexpensive things to include with your marketing campaign, items that have your logo on them, give these away for free as part of your marketing campaign. Maybe it’s a pen or a notepad, maybe it’s an online resource that will be helpful. Choose something that makes sense for your company. Consider webinars, podcasts, ebooks, videos, checklists, reports, articles, or even snail mail.
6. Determine where you need help. You will need help. Decide which parts of the campaign you can handle yourself, and decide which parts you will need to outsource. Do what you are good at, and what you have time for. If you are not skilled at graphic design, outsource this task. If you don’t have time to write, hire a writer. There are people out there who can help with every step. Certainly, you don’t want to outsource everything—but do delegate some of the tasks so that you can have the right amount of time to devote to developing your business.

Creating a creative marketing plan might be the difference between your company and your competition. The more attention you can grab, the more business you will get, and your company will be able to easily set itself apart within your industry.