How to Use Brainstorming to Create Digital Content
How to Use Brainstorming to Create Digital Content
You don’t have to be “the creative” in the room.
Do you struggle with filling your content calendar? Do you find yourself watching your competitor's feed and thinking they have so much great content and you’re just over here stuck on this screen? ⬇️
Content creation doesn’t have to be overwhelming, generating great ideas doesn’t have to be left to the “creatives” in the room.
We hear it all the time from clients, “I’m not creative or I’m out of ideas.”
A little secret, we’re all creative, yes, you are creative!
And you have the power to cultivate and unlock creative ideas from your own brain! So how do you unlock that creativity?
Enter A Brainstorm Session!
A brainstorming session is a relaxed approach to solving a problem by generating ideas with a group of others. It’s a tool designed to use lateral thinking.
What’s lateral thinking?
It’s taking a creative approach to the problem at hand.
(Don’t worry you can train your brain to think laterally - we’ll save that for another day!)
How it works
A brainstorming session can be done in many ways - but here’s the insider scoop on how we here at Tandem Works do them.
Clearly define and state the problem - The problem: I need content to post on my social media, and I feel out of ideas for video posts.
Pick Your Wizard - aka the Facilitator - A good brainstorming facilitator is many things, it’s a sort of wizardry. The facilitator is a true collaborator, positive but a rule enforcer (we’ll get to rules shortly) they are flexible but structured, quick on their feet, a little funny, and don’t mind being front and center.
Doesn’t sound like someone on your team? Invite someone from your friends and mentors groups or book one of our Brainstorm Wizards.
Secure a location offsite with a whiteboard. This is important! Get out of your normal visual routine and comfort zone. If you can’t get off-site then rearrange the room the conference room, add new visuals, and have people to sit in different seats than they normally do.
Bring the party! Have good snacks and drinks on hand. Hangry people are not creative people.
Plan for a break (or two).
Provide toys! For real, grab a couple of fidget spinners, Crayola’s model magic, a stress ball, or a slinky, and encourage fidgeting and playing. Research suggests the simple act of playing with a toy or clay while thinking about something else can generate more productivity and creativity.
Ground Rules for Brainstorms
Judgment-free zone - this means no criticizing. Let ideas flow. Don’t qualify or disqualify ideas. Remember - This statement is never allowed - “This might be a dumb idea, but”… Nope, nope, nope. Get all of that out of your head. Leave all negativity at the door.
There are no bad ideas - at first. Throw any and all ideas upon the board. A crazy idea or not. Your crazy idea that can’t be done tomorrow might cultivate an idea from someone else that can be done tomorrow. Save the discussion and qualify “good” and “bad” for later.
Don’t get married to an idea - write it down and keep going. The point is to get out as many ideas as possible. Brainstorm mode is about unlocking your creativity while also unlocking the creativity of the person sitting next to you.
This leads to - quantity over quality, it’s important to run with it, so sprint to the next idea! Get the board full, don’t stop until you have 10-20-50 ideas. Fill the board. Later you can evaluate and keep, kill or combine ideas.
\How to use a brainstorm for social media content
Think about the main story topics that make up your brand and write them on the board
Under each of these story topics, start filling the board with content ideas (remember, all ideas are goo ideas right now!)
Keep going, set a goal for 20 - 30 - 40 ideas, and don’t stop until you get there no matter how crazy they may seem
Do this for each of the story topics
You may think of new ideas for a story topic you are not working on at the moment, that’s great to capture it and then keep moving
Keep going until you have filled the board. Go for quantity over quality
Then choose what ideas to keep, kill and combine
Choose the top ideas and get started making the content for your social media
Capture all the ideas, even if you don’t act on them now, into a document to create an idea bank you can revisit again
How often should you have a brainstorm?
At first, you schedule brainstorming sessions monthly and then move to quarterly brainstorm to generate ideas and make your Content creation easy and fun! Don’t let your brain get in the way, you have the creativity, trust us!
Want help with your first brainstorm? We offer kickass brainstorming sessions for personal brands and large corporate teams alike. You can book one here.
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Want to join the Social Engagement Method?
The Social Engagement Method is an 8-week course to unlock and tell your brand’s story. Each week is complete with a 15 - 30 minute video guiding you through your workbook and the entire process of discovering your story. Walk away with practical and useful tools to take the frustration and hassle out of creating your digital content. You’ll have access to join our exclusive Facebook Group where we unpack and dive deeper into that week’s topic. If you show up and do the work we guarantee results.
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