As a marketer or business owner you’re always on the lookout for new ideas right?
But coming up with a brand new idea from scratch in the moment you need it can be tough.
Having a swipe file to pull out of your back backpocket when inspiration is low and to keep ideas flowing is super helpful.
It’s as easy as keeping a folder online in Dropbox or Google Drive or wherever you like to store your stuff.
I started keeping a swipe file six years ago.
So I have six years of ads, campaigns, sales pages, landing pages, all this stuff that I’ve seen that’s inspired me over the years.
I want to show you how to build a folder of inspiration that you can go back to and keep making great ad campaigns, because this is one of the most valuable things that I started doing.
I made a whole YouTube video showing you how to do this here:
Now let’s jump into how I collect great ads. It’s super simple and you’ll thank yourself later!
Table of Contents
Use Facebook To Find Ads
Facebook is the best place to start looking for advertising inspiration.
Facebook released a transparency feature which makes it super easy to see what ads your competitors are running.
Here’s where to find it:
You can filter through and look at the active ads from a company here.
One thing to be aware of while you’re looking around is that just because someone’s running an ad doesn’t mean that it’s profitable.
So you don’t want to just assume that anything that anybody’s running is working.
But a good rule of thumb is if you see something running for a long time, then that’s probably a sign that it’s working.
Use LinkedIn To Find Ads
A lot of people don’t know but you can also use the same type of transparency feature on LinkedIn.
Here’s how you find it: Go to a company page and click on Posts then Ads.
You can click on the ads, see where they go and get inspiration from what other people in your industry and other industries are running on LinkedIn.
Use YouTube To Find Ads
On YouTube it’s a bit harder to simply see the ads someone is running.
But when you see ads that inspire you it’s easy to save an ad you like.
First right click on the video and then click stats for nerds.
You’ll see this little code or video id.
Grab that code and put it right at the end of a URL and that’s the hard code for the video.
I’ve been doing this method for years.
If I see ads that are doing really well, because they have great storytelling I just grab the URL. and put it in a google doc that I keep.
Easy peasy.
Helpful Tools
The Go full page screen capture Chrome extension is great for if you see a landing or sales page that you think is well written, has good structure, or really inspires you.
You can always just take a full page screen capture to save it.
Books For Inspiration
There are a few books that I’ve read over the years that are really helpful for coming up with ideas.
Because again, as a marketer, business owner, or someone who’s trying to grow a company online, that’s something that you’re going to be doing constantly.
- A Technique For Producing Ideas
- Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
- Made to Stick
- Find Your Big Marketing Idea
Summary
Creating a swipe file of inspiration is super important for any marketer.
It’s not about trying to steal anybody’s ideas and go copy them.
It’s about building a folder of things that inspire you so that you can continue to come up with new ideas.
That way when you need to come up with a new campaign, there’s no need to scramble.
You’ve already got stuff that you’re pulling out of your back pocket.
Check out people in your industry, outside your industry and look across industries for better ideas.
Finally, keep an eye out for stuff that you see over and over again. That’s a good sign.
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