How content marketers can overcome the creative block

When inspiration fails to strike, the minutes required to craft an effective and engaging piece of content or build a content strategy can easily stretch to hours and days. Creative fatigue is real and content marketers often find themselves stuck in a creative rut.

BuzzInContent.com discusses with content experts how and when to diagnose a creative block, and how to beat it.

Content marketing requires consistent, quality content creation. And in the digital age, the frequency of content output is more than ever. 

Charu Kishnani

According to Charu Kishnani, Senior Vice-President, Marketing, CarDekho, creative block is as much a reality for conventional marketers as it is for content marketers even though the latter is often seen as more innovative and imaginative. Conventional marketing, too, involves intense planning to crack the right concept, often within tight budgets. To be able to conceive such plans requires critical skill and creative thinking. She said the frequency of interventions for content marketers is higher, more nuanced, and requires more depth and connection with the audience.

Seasoned marketers, she said, are well aware that a creative block can hit them anytime. It’s temporary and, hence, they know how to deal with it without panicking or procrastinating.

Jackie J. Thakkar

Jackie J. Thakkar, Screenwriter, and Creative Manager, FilterCopy, said creative block is more common and frequent among the content marketers than the marketers otherwise.

Sharing his experience, he said, “Personally, I find it arduous to come up with new creative solutions as frequently as we are supposed to. Every three to six months, I'll reach this point where I'm constantly struggling to come up with a clutter-breaking idea. But then I remind myself that not every idea can be a home run. On the days where creative block grips me tightest, I just set a timer and a goal: ‘By 3 pm, you must have three pages of a script. It doesn't have to be high art; just three pages that tell somewhat of a decent story and fits brand tonality.’ That kind of mindset usually makes the creative block go away.”

Petal Gangurde

Petal Gangurde, Vice-President Brand and Marketing, XYXX Apparels, believes that anyone who is thinking disruptive and is looking to make an impact will at some point suffer from a creative block irrespective of role or designation. The brain needs fresh stimulation to function optimally. Simply waiting for inspiration to strike is not a sustainable strategy at all.

“Staring at a blank screen for a while as the clock is ever-ticking, followed by a creeping sensation of anxiety, fear, and guilt, has you in a stranglehold when creative block hits. Work grinds to a halt. Cut yourself some slack. Breaking the cycle of turning the same idea over and over in your head by injecting a little distraction can be the ticket for escaping creative doldrums. Vacations and weekend getaways or simply connecting with nature always work for me when I feel stuck in a rut,” she said.

The pandemic has been difficult for everyone, especially because we have been cooped up at homes. Creative fatigue is real and it happens to everybody.

She said it is not uncommon to feel drained and uninspired, especially during times like these.

For Thakkar, the strongest indication of the block is when he is zoning out while hearing a new brief.

“That's a pretty sure-shot sign for me that I'm reaching a saturation point. This was the worst for me back in 2019. I recall just starting to get some recognition for my work and unknowingly, I let that affect my work. I began putting extra pressure on myself to create fresher content because now I knew there were people who actually had expectations from me. I ended up pushing deadlines on a few scripts because I felt, ‘It's not as good as the work I've put out in the past’,” he said.

The pandemic has changed the way we look at all our work processes. And creative content creation is no different. In fact, in the past 18 months, the digital ecosystem has been forced to be more creative than ever because now the challenge is not only to create engaging content but also do it within lockdown constraints.

With this, he doesn’t think the pandemic has caused a more creative block. If anything, it's been an encouraging jolt for all to ramp up the innovation in ideas.

But content creators certainly are expected to deliver the fine-tuned and great content that resonates with the TG on an almost daily basis and it is no simple feat. Unfortunately, there’s not an easy button for content marketing either. It requires consistent, quality content creation. But how does the creative block impact the overall content output, if it at all does?

Impact of creative block on team, end result of a content piece

The quality of content is a function of the input and with a block, there could be resultant delays in the production and distribution of content, said Gangurde.

In such cases, she said reliable data and actionable insights can help save the day since knowing what questions potential customers have, and what problems they’re trying to solve, is crucial to creating resonant and engaging content.

Thakkar, however, said that it is only sometimes that a creative block can impact the synergy in a content team or the end result of the content piece.

“More often than not, when I've worked on a piece of content while facing a creative block, it's turned out fine. It even surpassed my expectations in a few cases. This is mainly because if the first draft of my script is garbage, I've always been fortunate enough to have team members that are great at giving feedback. Their inputs help make the second and third drafts much better. Never underestimate the power of good, supportive collaborators. They are a blessing when you're facing writer's block,” he said.

While it is great working in a creative and ad industry, it can be overwhelming too. It can be tricky to stay enthusiastic and inspired all the time and the blank page syndrome can be debilitating and frustrating.

How to overcome creative block

Gangurde believes inspiration is everywhere.

We tend to overthink and overanalyse every content piece and collaboration. Out-of-the-box ideas need to be experimented with and given visibility on a small scale so that one knows what is working.

She suggested, “The office as we knew it was a great place for cross-pollination of ideas and with that Zoom and WhatsApp have become the new brainstorming destinations. Bounce off first thoughts with your team, share a few laughs and enjoy a non-work conversation. Ask for a rank outsiders’ perspective. Getting out of the house and being in a new environment can do wonders for rewiring our mindset and bring new, fresh thoughts. Take a walk. Read a new book or skim through an old favourite. Catch up on the latest series or music.”

Kishnani said that while meetings and discussions are important to stimulate ideas, it’s imperative that such sessions remain focused and don’t stretch beyond a prescribed timeline.

“If there is no breakthrough after a meeting, we decide to call off the session and regroup later. That allows for time to marinate the thoughts and come up with stronger, more cohesive ideas later. Though we have been the trendsetters in our domain, we do draw inspiration from what other brands or even our competition is doing at times,” she said.

Thakkar too believes that all content teams should recalibrate their approach every few months.

“I love that the-cutlet in the team who is constantly sharing fun YouTube sketches. It's what keeps the creative juices flowing. All content teams should recalibrate their approach every few months. At FilterCopy, we have bi-weekly meetings where we analyse our content output, discuss numbers and try to understand why a piece of content worked or why it didn't work. It's a supremely helpful exercise and has allowed us to stay ahead of the competition when it comes to listening to our audience and providing them with content that they want to watch,” he said.

Content hasn’t changed, but media has and so has our consumption behaviour.

Ravpreet Ganesh

Ravpreet Ganesh, Chief Integration Officer, Publicis Groupe, said that content needs to constantly morph to fit into new environments. The shelf life and utility of content are decreasing. After you consume a certain amount of content, the value of each new piece is getting less time, and less return.

And to keep it fresh, she said, “We need to become ‘experience architects’. We need to have the keys to create situations and experiences that engage people and create the sentiments we desire. And this needs constant rewiring for the content creators and marketers alike. Instead of looking at the platforms in the same way, the creators need to look at how they can utilise the platforms in a different way and push the narrative. In the fast-paced digital ecosystem, do not think of content as an afterthought. Content is strategy and not execution. As long as we remember this and look at content as a service to the audience to educate, inspire, engage, entertain (and much more), we will be fine.”

She said content creators should constantly question themselves and ask how are they reaching the audience, how are they relevant to their audience and how can they make them respond.

“Next time you are stuck as a content creator, look at pop culture for inspiration and ask yourself – what’s next?” she said.