What are the most effective ways to develop a clear and concise creative strategy with your team?

A cheat-code when it comes to researching your ideal customer avatar. Open the account of someone who tagged your brand in a post on Instagram. See what do they do in their free time, check what other brands are they following. How do they speak, how do they like being spoken to? What’s important for them? Create your ads based on the learnings you make - your chances of success grow exponentially.

I always try to think in terms of "pain points" when brainstorming the problem with my team. What problems does the target group have, what would trigger them? When we then visualize a specific persona, it is even easier to picture the pain points and understand the problem.

Gather your team, rapidly brainstorm challenges and opportunities, vote on the top pain point, craft a punchy core message, set SMART goals, acknowledge limitations and plan for risks, celebrate progress, and keep re-focusing on the "why" behind your project. Remember to infuse "Humanise" (humour, surprise, mystery, and empathy) for an emotionally engaging strategy. Let's get creative, together!

Desenvolver uma estratégia criativa clara e concisa com uma equipe envolve estabelecer objetivos específicos e compreensíveis, promover um ambiente de comunicação aberta e colaborativa, incentivar a diversidade de ideias e perspectivas, e definir processos claros para tomada de decisão e revisão. Essas práticas ajudam a alinhar a equipe e garantir a eficácia da estratégia.

A good creative campaign consists of telling a story in a clear and engaging manner adapted to the audience and the communication medium. First of all, you must create a space dedicated to experimentation and allocate the necessary resources there. Experimentation must be integrated into the planning cycle, the evolution of results measured regularly and adjustments made to strengthen performance. The identity of the company is a crucial element in formulating a brief. This section must detail the positioning of the brand, its history, its size, and the duration of its existence. Market, budget, goals, art buying need to be sharp with a wide network of creative hub.

At any given point in time, multiple different customer avatars are buying from your brand. A 46-year-old female might buy your bed sheets because of their cooling effect which would prevent her from waking up at 3 am every night due to her night sweats. A 28-year-old female might buy your bed sheets because they are made out of 100% viscose bamboo that doesn’t hold bacteria compared to cotton sheets. 2 different avatars, 2 different pain points, 2 different messages. Always speak to 1 person in mind.

Running surveys and focus groups is useful, but I love field research. Have your team get out into the markets where your customers experience the brand - walk the aisles, peruse the storefront, navigate the YouTube channel. As a first step, ask your team to take note of what jumps out at them - does the messaging resonate or does it feel 2020? 1995? Are the representations of people and culture balanced and realistic, or do they feel forced or intellectualized? In what ways could the target audience’s point of view serve to be shifted? Marketing is about more than meeting the audience where they are. It’s about showing them the possibilities beyond their current perspective. And that is where innovation occurs.

Researching the audience is an essential stride in crafting a customer-centric creative strategy. Dive deep into understanding their needs, preferences, pain points, and aspirations through tools like personas, customer journeys, surveys, interviews, or focus groups. This knowledge allows you to tailor your creative project in a way that truly resonates with your audience. It's akin to speaking their language and addressing their concerns effectively.

If I was selling a product that solves a specific problem these are the 3 UGC frameworks I would use: 1. Problem → Solution If the product solves a common problem, demonstrate that. - Start the creative with the problem and provide the solution - You can also show the solution first, and then continue the video demonstrating how it solved the problem. 2. 3 reasons why Give the viewer 3 reasons why the product that you are selling is beneficial, better, or worth trying - Use real customer reviews for ideas - Demonstrate the reasons throughout the video - Usually top 3 value props + CTA 3. TikTok response bubble Very native to the platform where you answer a question from the comment section with a video.

Crafting the message is the heart of your creative project. Define the core idea, unique value proposition, and desired tone and voice. Consider how you want your audience to feel and act upon encountering your project. Tools like value propositions, positioning statements, taglines, and headlines aid in refining your message. A well-crafted message is like a magnet, drawing your audience in and compelling them to engage.

Selecting the right channels is pivotal for ensuring your message reaches your audience effectively. Evaluate the media platforms and formats that align with your audience's preferences and behaviors. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of each channel and how they complement or contrast each other. Tools like media plans, channel maps, and content calendars aid in making informed choices and scheduling. By choosing the channels wisely, you can craft an integrated creative strategy that maximizes your reach and impact.

If you begin a creative strategy with an understanding of exactly where your audience is, when they’re at those places, and what precisely motivates a response, channel selection may be helpful at a this stage. But it’s confined thinking. Messages can adapt to any channel with the right expertise (but, all messages may not work equally well, everywhere). So, channel selection before ideation can interfere with the performance of an optimized creative strategy. Preceding the right messaging—it is a distraction and opportune to disrupt the best thinking. Try saving precise channel selection for the latter part of creative strategy work. And build experimentation into messaging and channel optimization.

Generating ideas is where creativity truly flourishes. Explore how to transform your message into creative concepts that leverage the unique strengths of each channel. Seek ways to set your creative project apart from the competition. Tools like brainstorming, mind mapping, sketching, and prototyping help bring your ideas to life. By generating diverse and innovative ideas, you craft a creative strategy that captivates and engages your audience.

Testing and refining are the crucible where your creative strategy becomes robust and reliable. Validate your assumptions about your audience, message, channels, and ideas through tools like A/B testing, usability testing, analytics, or surveys. Measure the effectiveness and efficiency of your strategy while collecting and analyzing feedback from stakeholders and customers. It's the final touch that ensures your creative project aligns with your goals.

You don’t know exactly what creative strategy has worked until it does not perform as expected. The greatest mix of marketing art and science may fail you in the marketplace. Messages may be off target or generate a vague response. Nothing proves effectiveness better than results. And when results are not achieved, nothing is more effective than experimentation. Work to identify the problem, improve it, test and reevaluate. Or run multiple messages simultaneously. It may be a single word or phrase, a single selection from a color palette or image, that transforms a non-performer into optimum results.

Without getting the data and getting constraints developing effective Creative Strategies is very hard. We are getting the most creative when we have some limitations!