Traditional on-site expertise remains important, but I’m talking from a link building perspective here. Our industry is now less about gaming the system and more about creating creative content that fosters organic “link-earning.” Whether you like it or not, I think it’s time to get on the content train before it leaves you behind.

There have been a lot of posts on creating this kind of great link worthy content, and I think a lot of them can boil down to something I heard Dave Snyder say a couple weeks ago. Content is only really successful if it elicits an emotional response of some kind. Whether that emotion is joy, sorrow, fear, or anger, it is that knee jerk reaction that triggers the action you are looking for: a share, response, like, etc.

Producing creative content that accomplishes this type of response is something that I’m working hard to achieve, so I wanted to share five ways I’ve learned to help myself and others cultivate this kind of creativity.

1) Efficient Brainstorming

Brainstorming sessions can be a team’s best friend or worst nightmare. If conducted properly, brainstorming is an effective technique that will help produce creative concepts. While there are many steps involved in a proper brainstorming session, I wanted to highlight just a few that I think are often overlooked.

• Setting parameters is a key difference that separates a brainstorming session from a time wasting session. Before a group session begins, project goals and roadblocks should be addressed to create clear constraints for idea generation.
• Make sure these constraints are noted somewhere to save the group from later having to sort through irrelevant ideas. Personally, I’m not very good at coming up with ideas “on-the-spot” which is why I like knowing these constraints ahead of the group session (days ahead if possible!). This time allows me to passively think up concepts or ideas as I go about my daily life. You never know when hearing or doing something may trigger an idea.
• Another major requirement in brainstorming is to eliminate all negativity. Not only do people not want to be around a negative person, but negative or judgmental comments have the ability to cripple someone’s confidence and creativity, thus undermining his/her effectiveness. Always remember that the creation phase of a brainstorming session is not to vet every idea for its practicality or feasibility.

2) Cross Client Ideation & Collection

Just because an idea doesn’t pan out for a certain project, this doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a bad idea; perhaps it can be reformatted or altered to fit another client’s goal. The thought behind this is that brain power and creative ideas are valuable resources that we shouldn’t waste.

In a practical sense, I think groups should keep a collection of unused creative ideas and what inspired those ideas. Often these ideas will come from effective brainstorming sessions, but other times they will just be a random thought passing through somebody’s mind. Consider creating a shared document or bulletin board of some kind to house all these ideas, my boss Rhea wrote of some good tools for idea collection earlier this year in her Blog Inspiration Series. Try using Springpad, a private Pinterest board, or whatever collaboration tool you may use internally, to begin this collection. Add ideas, pictures, quotes, stats, and anything else that is relevant. Then add to it as you see fit.

I like to think of this idea collection as a place I can always visit for inspiration and creativity. I remember watching Canon’s Long Live Imagination campaign with Ron Howard and thinking to myself how cool it would be to have a room filled with amazing photo’s to pull inspiration from. Maybe one day I will have something similar, but for now I’ll stick to using an app and a computer screen.

3) Personality Awareness

It’s important to understand that in order to foster a creative group culture, we have to all be aware of, and respect, the different personality types in our organization. A personality misunderstanding can often be an underlying hindrance to group cohesiveness and communication. Working with a MBTI or DISC certified assessor will help shed light on what personality types are in the group and how to most effectively work together. I know as an extrovert I often have to spitball ideas with someone just to clear my head of all the drivel or unfinished ideas floating around. I would never come up with anything meaningful if I was told to just think alone at my desk. Knowing how people think and work is a powerful tool to get the most creative out.

4) Reliance on Others

I don’t believe a group can rely on one superstar to lead a team to success (think Cavaliers–Leron James era). Input and collaboration from team members is vital for creating the best results. Hopefully your organization, like Outspoken Media, is more about team wins than personal highlights. An organization like this eliminates any fear of sharing ideas due to a “he/she will steal my idea–and therefore they will look better than me” scenario. While a creative spark may come from just one individual, I think Spy Hop phrased it best in that “creative sparks must be nurtured, invested in, and shared with the world” and this cannot happen without the support of others.

Whether it’s to show me a different perspective, add a different aspect, or to point out an unseen fatal flaw, I am consistently relying on my peers.

5) Open your Mind

I believe there is no greater inhibitor to creativity than a closed mind. I follow the notion that creativity and inspiration are drawn from all of my combined experiences. The more different and unique experiences I can draw from, the more creative my mind will be. For this reason I am always trying to learn and experience new things. I love to travel, learn languages, read different magazines, and watch foreign films. I do these things not only because they give me pleasure, but because I know they are ultimately helping my creativity.

Creativity is not like riding a bike. Neither is it easily quantifiable. While there is research going on to identify exactly what is going on in your brain, nothing has been conclusively determined, so until then, I am going to follow the old adage that “the more you practice, the better you are.” Oatmeal said it best–creativity is a river, not a pool.

With that said, I think its only natural to employ these techniques and consistently think in the mindset of “how can I do it differently.” If this industry is going to continue to push us towards more content-based marketing and outreach, we might as well be producing the most creative, emotion-triggering pieces of content we possibly can.

There are so many other things that inspire me to try and be creative, but I would love to hear some things that inspire YOUR creativity.

“bundle into three things: Community, Content and Campaigns, all pointed towards a well thought out content strategy.”

I believe it is a great philosophy and way of approaching SEO strategies, but as a long time forum and Twitter lurker, I think there is a bit TOO much RCS being thrown around. This leads me to the conclusion that not everyone realizes either what RCS really means, or how hard it is to achieve. While the effort and consideration to create better, astonishing ideas that convert for SEO efforts are leading the industry in a positive direction, there are a few things to keep in mind.

You were hired to get results, not waste money on “cool ideas.”

I for one always get a pain in my chest when I remind myself of what’s said above. Our primary responsibility as SEOs, to our company and our client (sometimes one and the same), is to create results that improve a company’s performance metrics. Before jumping into a long-term or in-depth strategy that checks off all of the RCS boxes (refresher: engaging, leading, educating, caring) keep in mind that quantifiable results are still necessary, if not the primary goal.

I have come across many ideas that are good and applicable for all of the aforementioned reasons, yet fail to have translatable SEO results. Coming up with great ideas is not the challenge; the challenge is being able to translate that idea and prove to yourself, your company, and the client that there is a tangible return on this investment. Sadly the internet can’t run on cat memes alone… right?

A perfect example of a creative idea that also had great translatable SEO results can be seen with American Express’ Small Business Saturday campaign. Re-occurring as a nationwide event for its third year only a few days ago, American Express has been able to connect with small businesses across the country and create a new nation-wide shopping trend, benefiting all parties involved tremendously. This isn’t just RCS, this is RCS on behalf of all the participating stores and communities. The intangible benefits of brand awareness and perception as well as the tangible sales results have been very successful so far. The very impressive backlink profile doesn’t hurt AmEX either, just see for yourself.

You must gain client trust before implementation.

While the issue of client-agency trust can be talked about in volumes, I wanted to highlight why trust is so important for a new SEO marketing technique. For a long time now many companies have had a misunderstanding of search marketing, and it seemed like many did not want to learn more about it as long as their SEO agencies brought in the results. While this attitude is currently changing for the better, we still have much work to do before SEO is fully understood and given the respect and budgets needed for effective RCS.

RCS strategies require that SEOs do something different from established, quick-win tactics, and it must be understood that the C-Suite will be a bit skeptical.

But, can we blame them?

When SEOs cannibalize their efforts by charging premium fees, leaving clients in the dark, and then get penalized, this kills the industry’s positive push towards credibility and legitimacy. It’s a bit like this trust fail:

Shallow search marketing practices of comment spam, paid links, and reciprocal link networks that set clients up for failure long-term make it less likely for future investment in “big ideas.” How many companies hit by poor past decisions are now being asked to spend a large amount of time, money, and resources for new results?

I would be a bit skeptical myself.

This is why cultivating a strong, trusting relationship between you and your client is so important not just to get new campaigns rolling, but to be able to have open and transparent communication. Not all companies will be willing to give the go-ahead for a new resource-intensive tactic without a solid foundation of trust. At Outspoken Media, we begin building this trust from day one, which allows us to have many great relationships and provide great Internet marketing services and results. It also gives us the privilege to speak openly with our clients and offer the very best we can.

RCS isn’t just about SEO strategy anymore.

As I said before, most successful RCS campaigns will be very resource-intensive, and it will not just be completed by an SEO. Sorry. RCS is not just about you or your job function alone. Think back to the traditional marketing you learned in school… and if you never learned or can’t remember that far back, then think back to the last episode of Mad Men you watched.

“Real Company Stuff” in essence is just a hip term for an integrated marketing strategy that focuses not on impressions, purchases, or brand awareness, but on organic link generation. If we are to shift towards creating strong integrated marketing campaigns, we have to stop thinking like link-builders and start thinking like traditional marketers (less focus on tactics, more focus on strategy). This transition in thought process may be hard for those stuck in their ways, but adaptation and change (thanks algorithm updates) are things that we excel at.

Acting with the bigger picture in mind allows SEOs to get large scale campaigns and projects pushed forward and see amazing results. It also forces us to understand that these bigger strategies will most likely require a green-light from the legal department and VP of Marketing, and at least, the input from development, social, PR, design, etc. The faster we learn to play well with others, the faster we can transition to successful integrated marketing campaigns.

As my awesome boss Rhea just discussed (I’ve linked twice now… go read it), the SEO industry IS maturing, and the push towards integrated marketing strategies is a perfect example of this. While the misunderstood will still throw around “#RCS” like it’s a hot buzzword, it is up to us to act and behave like the professional marketers we are. The time to be transparent and responsible is now–go out there and create an integrated marketing strategy that brings the incredible results it deserves.

Just remember to keep these three things in mind:

1. Quantifiable results are still the priority,
2. Strong client-agency trust is a necessity,
3. and you are not alone. Learn to get along with other company divisions, they can be your best friend or worst nightmare.

Agree, disagree, or have another great example of an SEO-focused integrated marketing strategy? Let me know in the comments below!