4 Ways to Turn Marketing Ideas Into Engaged Customers

Having engaged customers is, of course, the holy grail for marketers. Some may argue that increasing sales would be the ultimate goal but I would argue back that the most engaged customers are the happier they are and in turn the more revenue will be generated.

A recent global survey of 255 executives across a range of industries and functions from both the brand agency sides of the aisle conducted by Forbes Insights and sponsored by Oracle Marketing Cloud, identified four (4) keys to success in translating marketing visions into more engaged customers via a better relationship between brands and agencies.

1. Successfully mine all of the today’s rich sources of data. 

There is, of course, no shortage of data available. In this context, however, attribution is essential for understanding the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and knowing which investments will deliver the best results. 

Lisa Donohue, CEO of Starcom USA says they tag all the digital media used in each campaign, whether the channel is the Internet, mobile devices or television. “This helps us understand who is clicking on the ads and what do they as a result. Ultimately, we can then tell if they have made a purchase, which puts us in a better position to track the efficacy of the strategy that we implemented.” 

However, Kevin Koh CEO of DDB Group Korea cautions marketing organizations to not lose sight of the art and science of the profession. For example, he sees great value in information that can help convince clients of the efficacy of a new campaign. But while important, the wider use of data analysis shouldn’t be allowed to quash creativity. 

2. Capitalize on the latest technologies for understanding customers and managing marketing programs. 

Survey results revealed that marketing executives express a widespread understand- ing that the latest digital technologies are powering marketing efforts for agencies and marketing organizations alike. 

Survey results also showed that brands and agencies are relying on a range of technologies to further their customer- engagement efforts. Among the most widely deployed applications are social networking tools, web analytics, digital advertising platforms, marketing automation systems and multichannel campaign management programs. 

3. Enhance professional and personal skills.

 New demands mean agencies and brands require new skill sets to be successful. This includes finding people with a broad understanding of businesses, not just the marketing function. “As corporations rethink the role of marketing, we’re seeing deeper integration not only between marketers and their agencies but between marketers and peers in the operations, technology, product and finance departments,” says Patrick Adams, Head of Consumer Marketing, North America. “What makes a stellar head of marketing today is someone who not only has the marketing skill-set but who can also flex across technology and product/merchandising. That skill-set makes for a great marketing leader and will ensure success in the future.” 

4. Balance local and global imperatives. 

Mindful that brands have a global reach, marketing executives must pay attention to regional differences across various international markets. Top local considerations, according to the survey, are what existing technology foundations are prevalent in a target country and the cultural characteristics that must be addressed. 

Executives say brands can’t effectively connect with local customers without a strong regional presence in important markets. Adams says PayPal relies on marketing teams dedicated to overseeing consumer experience in local markets and those teams interact frequently to discuss performance results, new product launches, and other initiatives. 

Source: http://bit.ly/26I4EF9

4 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Becoming An Entrepreneur

1. Are you ready to work harder than you ever have?

As an entrepreneur, you will most likely work harder and longer than ever before. True entrepreneurs aren’t only putting in 40 hours a week and then calling it a long week; they are more than likely doubling the hours they had at their regular jobs.

The best part about working that hard and that much is you’re working towards something that you are passionate about. You’re working towards what you’re creating and what you will be able to call your own.

Working for someone else can be satisfying in a certain sense, but you are still working towards a goal and building a company that is not your own. Working for yourself means ownership, and creating, from the ground up, what is yours.

2. Are you ready for the obstacles ahead?

Being an entrepreneur and following your own path has its own set of obstacles. Tough obstacles. In a 40-hour work week, you faced obstacles, but usually on a smaller scale. The obstacles you face with a normal job can be missing a deadline or messing up a sale, but it’s not life-threatening. The obstacles you will face as an entrepreneur can be life-threatening in the sense of, if you fail or quit, you or your family could lose everything. If you don’t make it through the obstacles as an entrepreneur, you could easily ruin your life and have nothing to show for it. But overcoming the obstacles of entrepreneurship will reap some of the biggest rewards.

3. Are you ready to be your own boss?

Being a full-time entrepreneur means you set your own schedule, make your own hours, and do your own thing whenever you want. That sounds pretty exciting, right? Just make sure you don’t get too comfortable with that idea. Everything you do as an entrepreneur will affect your results and your success. If you constantly procrastinate and get complacent, you will see the same thing happen in your business and in your life.

4. Are you ready to have fun?

Despite all of the hard work and different challenges you will face as an entrepreneur, you will still have fun. The best part is seeing you slowly progress and build a company or a brand from the ground up. At eye level, it doesn’t seem like too much fun with all of the hard work and dedication, but if you take a step back and look what you have created, you will feel accomplished and it will only motivate you to keep moving forward.

Entrepreneurship takes a lot of effort and dedication, but it’s amazing. Are you ready for it?

 Source: http://tcat.tc/1oIV2aZ

Instagram Now Allows 60-Second Videos: Here's Why

Instagram has just shared good news to Instagram fanatics: the photo and video-based social network is now allowing 60-second videos on its platform. But why?

Instagram rolled out the most recent update on March 29 to all of its users across the globe.

With the update onboard, Instagram is now increasing the allowed length of videos uploaded from 15 seconds to 60 seconds. It appears like the company has realized that 15 seconds is not enough to showcase one's creativity through their posted videos.

Instagram reveals on a blog post that in the last six months, the time people spent streaming videos increased by more than 40 percent. It thinks that longer videos signify diverse stories from the accounts users love the most.

Moreover, Instagram says it wants to bring "fun, flexible and creative ways to create and watch video on Instagram" to its users.

"As part of our continued commitment, you'll soon have the flexibility to tell your story in up to 60 seconds of video," Instagram says, adding that this is only one step of many its users will see within the year.

Sephi Shapira, the chief executive of performance mobile advertising company MassiveImpact says that increasing the video length to full minute is about keeping Instagram users in the feed.

"Unlike Youtube where users jump from video to video, Instagram wants users to finish videos," says Shapira.

Paul Monckton of Forbes believes that increasing the length of allowed video clips on Instagram could prevent users from shifting to other platforms, in the likes of Snapchat or YouTube.

He also adds that it will also enable bloggers to push out more engaging content, for instance recipes or make up tips, that are difficult to cram into only 15 seconds.

Kathleen Chaykowski, also from Forbes, says that perhaps Facebook has realized that videos are key to boosting Instagram’s business, considering the impact of video ads on Facebook.

Forecasting company eMarketer predicts that Facebook-owned Instagram could have mobile ad sales of $1.37 billion in the United States and $1.48 billion across the globe within the year.

In the meantime, to sweeten the pot, Instagram is also dishing out one more great news, particularly to iOS users. It is bringing back a well-liked functionality on its iOS app, which is the ability to put together several video clips into one.

"For iOS, we're also bringing back the ability to make videos out of multiple clips from your camera roll," it says.

With the new 60-second limit on videos, users will certainly have a greater chance to show off what they've got.

Note that iOS users have to download the iOS app's version 7.19 and they're good to go.

Again, the ability to post 60-second videos is pushed out to all Instagram users across all platforms while the feature to stitch together multiple clips is released only to iOS users.

Instagram says that it is rolling out the update in waves starting March 29, which means that there is a possibility that some users can still receive the update on succeeding months.

However, you may check out if the update has already landed on your handset by trying to take a 60-second video and posting it. Once you have successfully uploaded the video, then it means that you can now benefit from this nifty feature, along with other new functionalities Instagram has recently given to its app.

  Source: http://bit.ly/1RPzqRA

8 Valuable Tips for Women Entrepreneurs

The feminist in me (which is pretty much all of me) bristles a bit when we talk about women entrepreneurs as a separate group that requires preferential advice. But unfortunately, we still live in a patriarchal society and as much as I wish I could deny it, women are still treated differently in many areas, including entrepreneurship.

There are also a lot of double-standards out there when it come to how female and male entrepreneurs are treated. Yet, starting in a lower position than our male counterparts, female entrepreneurs are forced to work harder and often outperform men.

All of that being said, I have to admit that it is still somewhat helpful to see advice out there that is specifically tailored towards women and how we interpret and are interpreted by, the world.

Here are some of the best pieces of advice I’ve seen for women entrepreneurs recently. I should add that, if we were to put this advice into a Venn Diagram, while all of it would be useful for women entrepreneurs, a lot of it would also be useful for all entrepreneurs whether male or female, and a lot of it would also be useful for women in general.

1. Find your passion. If you’re going to be spending most of your waking hours working towards something, try your damndest to make it something you’re truly passionate about.
2. Keep your home and work life separate. This can be a huge challenge for those who work from home, and if you’re diving into a startup venture full-time and can’t afford an office space, you’ll almost definitely be working from home. If you keep your schedule too flexible, customers and clients will take advantage of it, causing unnecessary stress.
3. Form real connections with other women. I’m not saying join a twelve step program for women entrepreneurs (does such a thing exist? That could be a genius startup idea in itself!) but get out there and meet other women who are in the same boat. Get yourself a kickass mentor, or create a group if one doesn’t already exist in your area.
4. Network your face off. Even if you’re far from a social butterfly, you can still network with the best of them. Being a successful networker is a learned skill. Knowing the right people, or even just knowing the people who know the right people can be incredibly beneficial when you’re trying to build and grow your business. It can also help you become part of a community of likeminded folk.
5. Don’t start a business just for the money. Sure there are a lot of serial entrepreneurs who jump from one venture to the next and chase trends and money rather than what really interests them. This works, but not often, and it can take a long time before you start actually making money, so it’s best to make sure you enjoy what you’re doing so you don’t burn out before the money even comes.
6. Be brutally honest with yourself. If you can’t be honest with yourself, how can you be expected to be honest with anyone else. It’s challenging at first, but you need to be able to see your own strengths and weaknesses with a critical eye, and assess shortcomings or needs for additional support with unbiased judgement.
7. Ask for help when you need it. This goes along with the previous tip. Don’t try to conquer the world single-handedly. The most successful entrepreneurs know when to ask for help. Be strategic about it and know that it’s not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of good judgement and awareness.
8. Take risks. Almost every aspect of entrepreneurship involves taking risks, and while some might end in failure, the ones that don’t can be very rewarding. Just remember to enter these risks with the confidence that you will succeed.

 Source: http://bit.ly/1pN1NJO

15 ways to boost your brand’s social media ROI

Social media marketing is both a bane and a boon to business owners.

If it’s working for your business and driving traffic, you love it. If it’s not bringing in results, you hate it—and feel that you’re wasting your time.

So, stop wasting your time. Drive results, with the right tactics and appropriate planning.

Here are 15 strategies to improve your social ROI 

that every business owner should practice:

1. Use the right social channels.

The social networks you use for your marketing campaigns should fit your audience—as well as your goals. Consider these points when determining which channel(s) to target, taking into account the following metrics from Alexa:

· Facebook has the largest user base (1.1 billion users, compared to Twitter’s 500 million).

· Facebook garners 8 percent of page views on the web, compared to 1 percent for LinkedIn and Twitter, and .5 percent for Pinterest.

· LinkedIn and Twitter lean toward B2B marketing, while Facebook dominates the B2C market.

· YouTube is the second-largest search engine and is a great ad source to use for amplifying exposure to other social campaigns or your own videos.

Take the time to research your audience and niche so that you can create the blend of social channels that provides the highest return on your efforts.

2. Curate relevant content.

Since it’s not always easy to come up with fresh content, you should curate some. Find relevant articles, news, videos, images, memes, infographics, interviews and more that you can share with your audience.

3. Adapt your strategies based on competitive research.

You’re not the only player in the social landscape. You are competing for a portion of people’s awareness, attention, interests, time and money.

Analyze what the most engaging companies are doing, then innovate and do it better.

4. Keep your team on track.

Pay close attention to what your team should be focusing on, and set goals, identify important channels and eliminate activities that are ineffective. You always want to keep your team working on social activities that perform the best for your company.

5. Balance promotions, with value-oriented content.

Remember the 80/20 rule in everything you do. The importance of not spamming and overselling your business on social media cannot be emphasized enough. Keep your content 80 percent organic and value-oriented, and 20 percent promotional.

6. Push individual user engagement.

It doesn’t matter how big the company is: Customers love personal attention. Respond to those making comments, even if they’re not asking a question. Directly engage followers in all of your social channels. That builds trust and respect, and followers will be far more likely to do business with you.

7. Be authentic.

Today’s customers are savvy, and you can't fake it online. Says Sid Shuman, who runs social media for Sony Playstation: "They can smell that a mile away."

The same people who are die-hard fans of your brand will be the first to call you on the carpet for shady behavior or activity and content that does not reflect the culture that you’ve already created.

8. Stick to a calendar.

Fans appreciate it when they know they can expect certain types of content at certain times of the week. When you’re posting daily and then drop off the radar for a week, it’s noticed and remembered. Schedule your posts, set the number of posts per week and stick to the plan.

9. Leverage social media outside of social channels.

“Incorporate social into every aspect of what you do,” says Jordan Kretchmer, Livefyre's founder and chief executive. Kretchmer's company reports that 88 percent of businesses using Twitter feeds, comments, ratings and reviews on home pages have increased user engagement. Some 42 report of business have boosted their average time on site, says Lifefyre.

Social media can bring you indirect ROI right on your website because of the social authority that comes with being active and engaging your fans.

10. Experiment and monitor ROI

Don’t be afraid to break the mold and try new things. Some of those things won’t work, but many will, and you’ll be adding to your toolbox of tactics to improve engagement over the long term.

11. Use paid promotions.

More and more social platforms are offering you the opportunity to promote your page, push specific messages and more, beyond your immediate network of fans.

You’ll see much-improved ROI by boosting posts and sponsoring Instagram photos, not only for immediate campaigns, but also for long-term ROI from newly acquired fans who otherwise never would have discovered you.

12. Tag URLs to better track ROI

With multiple campaigns running, it can be difficult to see the return across a variety of channels. One way to simplify that is to use UTM tags in the URL that tag a specific campaign source.

This lets you see traffic from Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud or YouTube within your analytics. Now, you can actively see the return as it applies to specific posts or campaigns.

13. Join conversations.

Get to know your audience in groups and communities like Reddit, and let them know who you are as you contribute organically to the conversation. The more you engage your audience, the more you can build trust, brand visibility and referral traffic.

14. Mention people.

When there are opportunities to mention “influencers” and brand advocates in your industry, do it. When you have a proud customer, highlight that person or company. Mentioning people, and tagging them, puts a spotlight on them that leads back to your social channels—a spotlight that everyone in their network can see.

15. Recycle past content

Past content, especially content that your fans enjoyed, should be repurposed whenever possible because you’re always gaining new fans who never saw the original piece.

If you’re short on content, grab some of your “greatest hits” material and repost.

Which social platform(s) bring you the highest returns or the most engagement?

  Source : http://bit.ly/1Toag2a

5 Big Changes Coming to Social Media in 2016

It’s been a memorable year in social media. 2015 saw the birth of live social streaming, with apps like Periscope and Meerkat winning over early adopters. Snapchat fully shed its reputation as a niche network and now counts more than 200 million active users. Meanwhile, video dominated social headlines, with Facebook users now logging an estimated 8 billion video views a day(even more than on YouTube, by some counts).

What does 2016 hold for social media users? Expect to see new technologies fundamentally change how we interact with social media, opening up new options like shopping and enabling us to share ever-more vivid, real-time experiences. But new functionality and the widening universe of social options also threaten to leave some users in the dust. Here’s a peek into the crystal ball at five trends that will change how we use social media in 2016:

Virtual reality comes to social media: “Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.” That’s what Mark Zuckerberg wrote after Facebook acquired Oculus, the virtual reality company, for $2 billion back in March 2014. Well, we won’t have to imagine much longer. Facebook has already begun incorporating Oculus technology into its 360 Video. The unique videos, which have rolled out on News Feeds, allow users to experience scenes from different angles (looking right, left, up, down, etc.), on both web and mobile devices, creating a more immersive experience.

Right now, there’s 360 Video available from the likes of Vice and The Disney Channel and a really cool clip from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Expect to see more immersive videos in 2016 as publishers and even brands catch up with the technology and begin creating more content. As for true, fully immersive VR, the consumer version of the Oculus Rift headset is slated for release in early 2016, opening up even more interesting possibilities for our News Feeds. Meanwhile, Oculus VR has already released a new “social” appcalled Oculus Social Alpha, for use with the Samsung Gear VR headset. The virtual movie-watching app allows you to “sit” in a theater and watch a video in real-time with other users — perhaps the first truly social application of Facebook’s new technology.

Social shopping takes off: Over the last year, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest all unveiled or upgraded in-line buy buttons, which allow users to purchase clothes, crafts, gadgets and more without ever leaving their feeds. In many respects, this development is long overdue. We’re already discovering and talking about products on social media, and four out of five people say that posts from friends directly influence buying decisions. Plus, overseas in China, Korea and elsewhere, social channels have long incorporated ecommerce functionality.

So far, the primary stumbling block in North America has been ease of use. To buy on social media, we’ve had to click out to other sites (always problematic on smartphones) or we’ve been offered limited selection (a lathe now defunct Facebook Gifts). But innovations like Pinterest’s Buyable Pins now let users browse color and style options and pay, all without leaving the platform. In 2016, expect to see networks’ role shift from being channels whose primary function in ecommerce is providing referral traffic to being platforms where users make purchases directly.

Facebook Live takes live streaming mainstream: 2015 started off with lots of excitement about the new crop of live streaming apps, which allow users to broadcast live video to their followings. By late summer, Twitter-owned Periscope already boasted 10 million active users, and just this month it was named by Apple the best iOS app of 2015.

Expect to see live streaming reach a whole new, mainstream audience in the year ahead as Facebook rolls out its own mobile streaming functionality, generally referred to as Facebook Live. Already being beta-tested among a small number of U.S. iOS users, the feature allows for instantly sharing live video using the Facebook platform. What’s key here is that you don’t have to download a special app or leave Facebook to use the new video functionality. If Facebook Live rolls out as expected, it’s likely to not only dominate other live streaming options but also to fundamentally change the way Facebook’s 1.5 billion users engage with the platform.

The social media skills gap at work widens: With the explosion of workplace social networks like Slack (which recently saw more than 1 million users logged in at the same time) and the imminent launch of Facebook at Work, using social media in the office has gone from taboo to requirement. Businesses are incorporating social tools to streamline internal communications, to help sales staff reach customers, and, of course, for marketing and advertising. The problem is that front-line employees aren’t up to the challenge. Among 2,100 companies surveyed by Harvard Business Review, just 12 percent of those using social media feel they use it effectively. Even millennials brought up on social media are falling short: “Because somebody grows up being a social media native, it doesn’t make them an expert in using social media at work,”explains William Ward, professor of social media at Syracuse University.

The consequence of this social media skills gap can be seen in mounting corporate social media gaffes, from misused hashtags (see #WhyIStayed) to scheduled posts gone awry, not to mention trillions of dollars (yes, trillions) in lost productivity and business value. In 2016, expect to see social media training finally begin to make its way into the workplace in an effort to close this gap — similar to initiatives launched when office software suites and later email and the Internet itself emerged as critical business tools. A number of online offerings now provide self-paced lessons and video modules designed for the workplace. (Hootsuite is giving our course away free.)

Social media customer service gets a lot better: Customer service on social media has always seemed like a great idea. Why wait on the phone when you can Tweet and get an answer immediately? But the reality has been quite different. A new study of 500 top retailers shows that only 20 percent answer questions sent via Twitter and 54 percent respond via Facebook. And the average response time ranges from 27–31 hours! Not to mention that not all customer service problems lend themselves to being handled out in the open in a public forum.

Fortunately, change is on the horizon. In the latter part of 2015, both Twitter and Facebook significantly upped their customer service functionality. Twitter ditched the “mutual follow” requirement for its DM (Direct Messages) feature, meaning companies and customers can now contact each other directly and privately. At the same time, it lifted the standard 140-character limit for Direct Messages, so DM now makes a great one-on-one channel for tackling customer issues. Facebook, not to be outdone, has launched a beta version of Messenger Business, offering a new chat-based avenue for companies to have real-time, personal conversations with customers. Considering that Messenger has more than 800 million users, it’s not hard to see it evolving into a ubiquitous, mobile-friendly channel for customer service in the years ahead.

Perhaps the biggest change in social media is the accelerated evolution of networks into “everything platforms.” Twitter isn’t just for blasting out 140-character updates anymore: It’s for one-on-one messaging, video-sharing, customer service and more. Facebook isn’t just about connecting with friends: It’s now (or soon to be) a workplace productivity tool, a video sharing and streaming platform, a place to shop, etc. Similar transformations can be seen across LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat, among other networks. Social media has become less a discrete thing that people do than a natural component of everything they do. And that trend shows no signs of slowing.

Source : http://bit.ly/1PkKSKb

4 Content-Marketing Methods to Stay Above Your Competition

Promoting irrelevant content to your customer base is as useless as bringing a knife to a gunfight. The question is no longer whether targeted content is a competition worth entering, but how to bring home the gold.

With 86 percent of buyers “frequently” using mobile phones to access business-related content, it’s no wonder marketers and publishers are leaving their pay-per-click and display tactics in the closet and opting for the gold medal of all advertising methods: content marketing.

Here are some of the methods being used by winning companies:

1. Leveraging influencers

Influencer marketing is the force of nature shaking the online marketing world. There are two things to know when utilizing influencer-based marketing: it's expensive and it works. With that said, choosing the right influencer takes much more than a bit of YouTube browsing. Successful influencer marketing doesn’t end once a video goes live. It is important to follow up with comments and viewer queries across your channels, as well as the influencer’s.

2. Making it move

Digital storytelling should be as engaging and fluid as your content. Having a compelling user experience is exactly what your brand needs to draw your customer in and retain them. Content should be moving with your customer and enhancing their online customer journey. 

Interactive content is also a highly useful way for testing audiences’ online preferences, allowing for brands to elevate the content they curate. 

Recommended app: Apester allows brands to engage using personalized experiences such as quizzes and interactive content.

3. Creating for your customer

A surprising 61 percent of consumers are more likely to buy from a company that delivers personal content that is specific to their wants and needs, according to Custom Content Council. Being that content has such an impact on conversion and retention, having an awareness of trending topics and industry keywords is a great way of understanding what your customer is searching for online.

It’s crucial to remember that content should be targeted to your customer’s needs, not your own. While self promotion and PR are huge forces in marketing, giving information to your clients with no strings attached is the best way to organically reach your customer base and keep them for good. By knowing your customers' personas and breaking down their pain points, you can adapt your content to your target customer and create deeper connections.

At the same time, if you are truly creating content for your customer, it should never be a one-way street. Instead, your content should be a catalyst for a dialogue. To make your content genuinely useful, encourage your users to add their own insights. This not only enriches the content itself, but it also empowers them to become loyal users.

Recommended app: Popular sites such as EW.com use Spot.IM’s social sidebar to make such conversations easy and simple.

4. Letting the journey drive content

The competition for outstanding content begins with a keen understanding of the customer journey, so that your brand can improve it. By creating a road map for this epic, you can position your content to tell a consistent story -- one that individually addresses each action and motivation of your customer base. Much of the content story can be boiled down to smart planning and a well-devised content calendar.

Recommended app: This one I haven't tried yet, but searching through many blogs I've found DivvyHQ to be highly recommended. With it, you are able to plan and manage your calendar on one dashboard, allowing you to be ready for your customers' journeys. Remember that the customer journey isn't necessarily linear, but is constantly in flux.

Source : http://entm.ag/1Swsy0T

6 CREATIVITY HABITS FOR PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY'RE NOT CREATIVE

EVERYONE IS CREATIVE. (NO, REALLY.) HERE'S HOW TO UNLEASH YOUR BEST IDEAS.

Think about the roles and responsibilities in your office. There are probably people you think of as "creative"—maybe those in product or graphic design, marketing, and even sales. Then there are those who don’t immediately spring to mind when that word is used.

But thinking about people—or yourself—as "not creative" could be hurting your company, because you’re discouraging them from thinking in innovative ways before they can even do so, says Mark Prommel, a partner at Pensa, a Brooklyn-based design and invention firm.

"Ideas and the creative execution of those ideas comes from anyone, anywhere," he says.

Does your workplace have creative designations? Use these six tips to create a culture where everyone’s creativity is stoked.

HABIT NO. 1: BANISH "YEAH, BUT"

If Leslie Ehm, president and "chief fire starter" at Toronto creativity training firmCombustion, could give organizations only one piece of advice to encourage creativity, it would be "to ban the phrase ‘yeah, but,’" she says. "'Yeah, but’ is just ‘no’ in a dress." Change the phrase to, "Yeah, and." That simple change suddenly confirms the original person’s contribution as valuable and builds on it. People don’t feel shut down. That’s collaboration in action, she says.

HABIT NO. 2: GET NEW PEOPLE AROUND A TABLE

One of the quickest ways to get people who think they aren’t creative to shed that viewpoint and start to contribute is to get them around a table brainstorming and coming up with solutions with a diverse group of people, says Jay Mathur, founder ofvalueideas, a creativity and management consultancy. The interaction with new people can bring perspectives never before considered and spur new ideas within the group, he says.

"If you bring a diversity of ideas, this is where a collision of ideas happen and the energy that releases new ideas. It can combine ideas. It can create more refined ideas," he says.

A 2015 study by researchers at Rice University and elsewhere backs a similar concept. The researchers looked at sales representatives at a pharmaceutical company in China. Those with wide networks of contacts came up with more creative solutions to sales and marketing challenges.

HABIT NO. 3: GIVE YOUR EMPLOYEES FREEDOM

It’s important to have job descriptions so that people can get things done and know the benchmarks by which they’re being measured. However, leaders who are trying to create a culture of creativity also need to reward—or, at the very least, not discourage—people from contributing beyond the confines of their roles, Ehm says. She cites a team she’s currently training where employees are worried about whether they’ll actually be allowed to contribute once the training is over.

"We keep saying to them, ‘Leadership is saying yes,’ [and they say,] ‘But, when we get back to the regular kind of workflow, and we have to do things fast, are they going to allow us to do it?’" she says. Make sure your own culture isn’t causing this type of creative hesitation. And encourage people to question processes, Prommel says. Let people know that if they see a better way to do something, it’s not only okay to speak up—it’s valued.

HABIT NO. 4: REWARD THE EFFORT EVEN IF IT'S A FAILURE

Ehm defines creativity as "combining previously uncombined thoughts and ideas to create new thoughts and ideas. Once you’ve gotten people to do that, you need to reward the effort, rather than the outcome," she says.

"Hierarchically, everyone is rewarded for coming up with the right answer, to sort of smooth the rough spots in the process. There's not a lot of room for rewarding or celebrating the risk and the failure. You can't have creativity without failure," she says.

HABIT NO. 5: WORK ON NEW PROJECTS

Grinding out the same old projects every day can burn out even the brightest creative light. At Pensa, Prommel and his team try to carve out time to think about projects on which they’d like to work, or areas in which they’re interested and think of ideas. Give employees time to think about the projects on which they’d like to work and try to get them involved on those teams, he says. Letting employees be part of projects that excite them is going to stir creativity. Plus, contributions from people who have fresh perspectives can help bring forth new ideas.

Source : http://bit.ly/1RPk6bK