If your business is struggling, or isn’t quite at the level you were hoping for, the solution could be as simple as not trying to be so darn original.

Let’s imagine for a second that you were taking a road trip in another country.

You have two options to get to your destination.

1. The first is to get in your car and start driving. Hoping, wishing, and praying, that you make it to your destination.

2. The other option is to plug in the GPS, and follow the directions, step by step, mile by mile, until you reach your destination safely, comfortably, and most importantly, in one piece.

Given these two choices it’s easy to see that the second option is going to save you a lot of time, headaches, and money (after all driving around all day takes a lot of gas).

So why is it that when it comes to business, many business owners and entrepreneurs feel that they constantly need to re-invent the wheel?

Or even worse, they go on an endless wild goose chase searching for a magic bullet marketing strategy that their competitors aren’t using, or a tactic that nobody else has ever even heard of.

Success Has Left Us Clues

Maybe you’ve heard that “success leaves clues”?

Well, it’s even better than that.

Success has already left us clues, and they’re right there in front you, ready and waiting to be acted on.

We now have years of data, case studies, reports, and analytics that provide more information than ever before, and most of it is available free online.

We know what works and what doesn’t.

• We know which headlines convert the best
• We know which images drive the most traffic
• We know which social media channels different demographics are active on
• We know how people search for local businesses online and what words they use when looking
• We know how long people watch videos for before turning them off
• We know what type of content gets shared, liked, and commented on
• Essentially… we now know a lot

There has never been a better time to be in business than right now.

Adopt What Works – Discard The Rest

Ideas are useless without action and so is having all of this incredible data available and not using it.

If your business is stuck, and you just can’t seem to break through to the next level, often the best solution is to simply take a step back and look at what’s already working.

Not only what’s already working in your business, but also what’s working in others business, both in your industry and even in other non-related industries.

While you’re business may not be a giant brand like Apple, Nike, Samsung, or Microsoft, you can still learn from them.

After all, they’ve spent millions upon millions of dollars ensuring their marketing is as effective as possible.

So the next time you see an ad, ask yourself:

• Who are they trying to reach? (Am I the target market?)
• What images are they using? (Or video)
• What copywriting are they using? (Headlines, call to action, and body copy)
• What are they trying to get me to do? (Learn, buy, visit, call)

By learning and understanding what the top brands are doing, you’re often able to transplant many of the core marketing principles they’re using in their ads directly into your own marketing messages.

Sure you may need to swap out the running shoes or the latest iPhone with whatever it is you’re selling, but you get the idea.

Take what works for you, and discard the rest.

Good artists copy, great artists steal. -Pablo Picasso

When To Get Creative

Once you have a solid foundation in place, and you’ve incorporated proven marketing messages, media, and strategies into your business, then (and only then) is it time to get creative.

The magic word when it comes to marketing creativity here is TEST.

Test, test, and test again.

Test different headlines, images, ideas, graphics, colors, and of course calls to action.

There have been countless times when I’ve tested one marketing campaign against another and the results have shocked me.

It could be that what I thought was an absolutely terrible ad was for some reason performing great.

Or it could be that a small, almost imperceptible change (like making the font a half size bigger) in turn caused more people to buy.

No matter the change, I never would have known if I hadn’t tested.

The key here is to see what’s already working well and use that as a baseline, and then see if you can improve it from there.

It’s important to eventually to break free and push the boundaries of your marketing in an effort to improve, but the first step is finding something that works.

When you do find something that works, that’s great!

The next step is to go find a way to make it better.