Idea 4: Just because you can play all the notes on you guitar it doesn't mean you should.
I'm sure you've heard the saying "less is more". What that means is you don't have to shred on your guitar to get your point across. Sometimes a single note can say it all. You may be a master of the guitar with complete command of the neck but if you never play anything will soul and feeling everything you are just playing is just filler.
A lot of good phrases come from a single octave. Below is a pattern of the first caged position of the pentatonic minor scale. Since five notes make up an octave, you don't have many notes to choose from, just five.
R= root note
e |--R--|-----|-----|--X--|
B |--X--|-----|-----|--X--|
G |--X--|-----|--X--|-----|
D |--X--|-----|--R--|-----|
A |--X--|-----|--X--|-----|
E |--R--|-----|-----|--X--|
Here is the pattern of notes we will focus on:
e |--R--|-----|-----|-----|
B |--X--|-----|-----|--X--|
G |--X--|-----|--X--|-----|
D |-----|-----|--R--|-----|
A |-----|-----|-----|-----|
E |-----|-----|-----|-----|
Now, just playing the R and X marks in the caged position you can employ your techniques, rhythm, and attitude to try and come up with something fresh. Take B.B. King as great inspiration for this idea. He has a great command over his guitar neck however, when he digs he tends to focus on the fewer more meaningful notes and adds his personality to them. The result, classic blues master B.B. King sound.
Idea 5: If you've got something worth saying, repeat yourself.
If you are playing a great riff that really complements the song then play it again. You can repeat what you are playing over and over again, each time you can embellish certain notes with your techniques that you have stored away in your tool belt. Incorporate slides, bends, timing changes, string skipping, sweep picking, etc, etc. You are only limited by your imagination in this area.
Try playing this lick note for note:
