Thinking of ideas for your clients campaigns can be a difficult task as you can’t think of amazing ideas on the spot all the time. Luckily for you, I have pulled together some top tips to keep your creativity flowing during brainstorm sessions, to help make sure you come away with some fabulous ideas!

CREATE A STRUCTURE

Brainstorming sessions involve a lot of open discussions to come up with great ideas, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't come prepared. You need to set some sort of structure before a brainstorm to make sure all of the topics you intend to discuss are 100% on target for your client.

Always go into a brainstorm with a presentation full of inspiration, pull inspiration from past campaigns that have worked well, as well as keywords that relate to your client, in order to get the creativity flowing! This way you’re navigating the direction of the brainstorm towards topics that are super beneficial.

GIVE PLENTY OF NOTICE

Brainstorms are spontaneous, but always make sure you give your team a heads up, this will help to maximise the level of ideas for your brainstorm. This gives everyone a chance to look over the target and topic of discussion to bring some sensational ideas to the session - so there won't be any awkward silences at the beginning!

TIMING IS KEY

It’s hard to be creative on demand, especially when it comes to brainstorming, so it’s best to plan your sessions around your team’s strengths. The best time of day to book a brainstorm is usually in the morning, as everyone has had a good night's sleep and their mind is clear. But to make sure you have everyone's attention, ask your team what time they think is the most effective to maximise their collective productivity.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

If your client has a specific target or a list of dream publications they want to land, tailor your brainstorm to focus on this to make sure your ideas appeal to your client. Include all your research in your brainstorm presentation, to inspire everyone attending!

THINK OF YOURSELF AS THE AUDIENCE

When you're thinking of ideas ask yourself: is this something I would want to know? Your campaign ideas are aiming to be in publications that loads of people read, so make sure you think of yourself as a reader and always question if you would find the content beneficial to read.

KEEP COMING BACK TO THE MAIN FOCUS

Brainstorms can often get out of hand with one idea leading to another, so your brainstorm can go off track easily. If this happens, go to a specific slide on your presentation to bring the focus right back to the client and what you're wanting out of the session. This might even turn a previous idea, that wasn't on brand, tailored with a clear link to your client.

PERSISTENCE LEADS TO GREAT IDEAS

Creative and inventive ideas usually stem from other ideas during a brainstorm. So encourage everyone on your team to say everything on their mind, as this helps others come out with amazing ideas too. Early ideas in the brainstorm are great, but after further discussion and focus inspires greater ideas, so keep the discussion going to generate the best ideas for your client.

WRITE DOWN EVERY IDEA!

Write down everything from your brainstorm session. Although it might not seem like a great idea at the time, it could inspire a great idea later down the line. On that note (pun intended), no idea is a bad idea during a brainstorm, so don’t hold back contributing as your suggestion could get creativity flowing for others in the session.

That’s it! You’re now all set to have an amazing brainstorm to produce loads of great, inspiring ideas for your client! Thanks so much for reading! If you want to find out more PR tips and tricks just give me a DM on twitter @leaheliseee