Newsletter: Don’t Fall for the Creative Cliff

mlns='> [View Message in Browser]( / [Add Us to Safe Sender List]( Weekly News 1.29.21 Connect with CMI [B2C Content Marketers, Get Ready for More Responsibility in 2021 [New Research]]( The pandemic accelerated changes already underway in content marketing. Find out what’s ahead for this year and beyond in the just-released B2C Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Insights for 2021 study. [Read more]( By Robert Rose [Trends and Research] Some more of this week's best stuff: - [4 Questions to Help Vet Your Content Ideas]( [by]( [Amanda Milligan]( Process and Teams] - [How a Content Approval Process Went From 9 Days to a Few Hours]( by Ann Gynn [Editorial Process and Teams] - [5 Underused Video Ideas to Generate Leads]( by Shane Barker [Content Creation] - [Brands Give COVID-19 Vaccine a Shot in the Arm]( by Content Marketing Institute Team [Trends and Research] Join Our Weekly Wrap News Crew Did you come across an exciting content idea, unique example, or puzzling trend this week? Help us share it with your fellow Content Marketing Institute readers by completing [this form](. If we include your submission in an upcoming Weekly Wrap, we’ll credit you as the source of the inspiration.  A Note From Robert Rose Don’t Fall for the Creative Cliff Have you ever lost your keys? If you’re like me, you walk around telling yourself, “They can’t be there,” (then you look anyway). “They should be here,” (though you’ve looked there four times). At some point, you say to no one in particular, “I know they’ll be in the last place I look!” Of course they will. Once you find them, why would you keep looking? Last week I talked about creative brainstorming with a director of marketing at a big professional services firm. He mentioned his team’s struggle with their creative editorial meetings. Since the meetings moved to a virtual format, he said, it’s been increasingly hard to generate quality creative ideas. The director felt the limitations of virtual meetings and the lack of in-person chemistry could be the cause. I think the answer lies elsewhere. I told him the story about the lost keys and asked if he and the team think about creative ideas the way they think about keys. You always find your keys in the last place you look – once you find them, you don't need to look further. Most people find ideas in the first place they look. [Research attributes this phenomenon to the illusion of a “creative cliff.”]( People (wrongly) believe their creativity declines during the meeting, along with their mental energy. That’s why people often settle on their initial ideas – it feels like that’s the best they can do during the meeting. However, the research found creativity tends to remain constant – or improve – as an ideation session goes on. And when meeting participants are made aware of this, the creative cliff illusion can be dispelled. Researchers suggest educating the participating teams about the sustainability of creativity, lengthening the allotted time for creativity sessions, and asking participants for more ideas than you think you need. The marketing director at the professional services company had shortened the team’s creative sessions and scheduled more of them, thinking Zoom fatigue explained their declining creativity. And [experts agree]( that energy and attention do decay faster in virtual meetings. According to the creative cliff research, though, it might work better to decrease the frequency of those creative meetings – but double the length. The director also should educate the team about why energy declines during meetings – and that the decline doesn’t lead to less creativity. Keys will be in the last place you look because you stop looking once you’ve found them. But creative ideas aren’t keys. When you find one in the first place you look, keep looking. Breakthrough ideas remain hidden if you settle for the first idea you find. It’s your story. Tell it well. Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute This article from Robert is available only in this newsletter for you, the newsletter subscriber. If you have friends that would see value in Robert's weekly updates, please have them [subscribe](.  Content Marketing Job Listings Currently on a job search? Thinking about switching gears with your career? Please check out our job listings below. Available Positions: - Director, Content Strategy, Choose Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (South Loop) - [Learn More]( Interested in posting a job here? Please see our [CMI Careers page]( for more info.  A Word from One of Our Content VIPs:  Can your content strategy fuel better PR? The biggest opportunity today’s marketers are missing for building and sustaining lead gen momentum is right in front of you: a PR agency that gets content marketing. Integrate demand gen with external awareness. Align campaign messaging built on brand value and a cohesive content marketing strategy. 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