The secret to good content marketing writing is generating lots of exciting ideas and then following the ones that make the most sense to you in the heat of the moment. Of course, developing new and attractive ideas takes time, effort, and patience. However, if you invest in a good brainstorming session, it will cut those efforts by half.
Everyone is quite familiar with brainstorming and has used this approach more than once. This approach is one of the reliable ways of getting multiple ideas in a short amount of time.
However, not many people use this strategy to its full potential. It also depends if you are brainstorming with a group or taking a solo flight. Research proves that group brainstorming is more effective than individual brainstorming.
That is why you should check all the group brainstorming techniques that will make your content marketing writing style better.
Creative Brainstorming Techniques
Try the following brainstorming techniques in a group or by yourself to come up with some new and exciting content marketing writing ideas:
Use A Concept Map
Concept mapping is a brainstorming technique that uses charts, tables, and figures to connect and compare various ideas.
Moreover, various geometrical shapes like circles, ovals, and boxes are used in a standard concept map to represent the concepts. Arrows or cross-links illustrate the connection between these notions. To help you understand the concept map, the arrows often contain linking words and verbs.
In short, concept mapping allows you to organize your information systematically to better understand a specific subject or solution to a complex problem. In addition, it enables you to understand the connection between every idea or concept and how they are linked.
A perfect way of keeping track of every thought and idea is by using online concept mapping. Online concept map maker tools will also allow you to hold group sessions from different locations. Thus, it makes group brainstorming possible while maintaining the ongoing social distancing policy.
The Step Ladder Technique
The step ladder technique ensures that every team member contributes to their ideas to the brainstorming session. It also helps increase the decision-making abilities of the group on the whole. It has five basic steps:
- Explain the topic: Introduce the subject in the group
- Build the ladder: Pair two people together to discuss the matter
- Keep building the ladder: Ask a third person to join the pair but don’t disclose any discussed ideas to them
- Finish the ladder: Keeping adding people one by one till there is no one left. Let everyone share their opinion before adding a new person to the group
- Make the decision: After hearing everyone, choose the most relevant and exciting ideas
With the step ladder technique, every group member gets the chance to share their thoughts.
Six Thinking Hats
Six thinking hats is a brainstorming technique introduced by Psychologist Edward De Bono. In this technique, every group member can share their positive and negative thoughts. This approach is the best for thinking logically and creatively to come up with exciting ideas.
These hats represent six different ways of thinking. Additionally, each team member wears a uniquely colored hat during the discussion and contributes to the debate as mandated by that color.
1. White Thinking Hat
White hat demands you to gather and analyze every piece of information and fact of the topic.
2. Yellow Thinking Hat
The yellow hat represents optimism. It urges you to recognize the value and positive aspects of the topic.
3. Black Thinking Hat
The black hat is the opposite of the yellow hat. It shines the light on everything wrong with the topic.
4. Red Thinking Hat
Red hat weighs all the proposed ideas and chooses which ones are worth pursuing. It also takes reviews from other hats and decides accordingly.
5. Green Thinking Hat
The green hat represents creativity and gives out-of-the-box solutions.
6. Blue Thinking Hat
The blue hat is the moderator between every hat. It ensures that the team is focused and efficient.
The Medici Effect
The Medici effect refers to the relationship between two items and how they interact. In this brainstorming technique, you get to thoroughly compare two seemingly unrelated ideas to develop a new concept by finding common ground between them.
The SWOT Analysis
SWOT analysis is commonly used in the field of marketing. Project planners often use this technique to come up with a vital topic. The SWOT analysis can help you come up with a list of pros and cons about the suggested subject or idea.
SWOT stands for:
- Strength
- Weakness
- Opportunities
- Threats
Make a column for each category and fill it. Then, you can write those points in the body of your content marketing piece.
Rolestorming
Rolestorming is a group-based brainstorming technique. In this approach, every member can choose a character to role-play. Then they are asked to share what that character would say on the topic.
This approach is best for people who shy from public speaking are afraid of being shot down. Rolestorming allows them to share their thoughts under a guise of a fictional character.
Conclusion
Brainstorming can help you gather new ideas and perspectives for writing a content marketing topic. It can be done alone or in a group. However, a group brainstorming session is sure to be productive as two minds are better than one. Moreover, you can make group brainstorming sessions fun and exciting using online brainstorming tools.
