One of the phrases that often strikes fear into many corporate employees is, “let’s hear some ideas, people!” While there’s nothing wrong with organizations requesting new advertising and marketing solutions, not everyone enjoys being asked to be creative on demand.
The good news is that there are plenty of other ways to generate creative marketing ideas within a company without resorting to mandatory brainstorming sessions.
For companies not sure where or how to start harnessing their brain power for future ads, consider these four strategies for killer marketing ideas.
1. Define the purpose
Why are you putting this commercial together? What do you hope to accomplish, beyond “more sales.” Create a specific objective for each ad and make sure everyone focuses on this through the development process.
This can be an “awareness ad,” which reminds existing customers about your product/service, and could get potential customers excited. Or it can be an action ad, which invites viewers to do something specific, like take advantage of a sale.
Don’t try to put in too many goals – because you don’t have a lot of time; your message needs to be direct and straightforward. If you have multiple themes or angles to emphasize you can always put them in future ads.
2. Clarify your one key objective
Once you’ve defined the purpose behind your commercial, come up with one key objective. During the creative process, it can be easy to get inspired and want to try and achieve multiple goals within one commercial. You don’t want to overload your audience and risk missing the mark, so deciding on one key objective is very important to ensure a successful commercial.
By focusing on one overall goal, you are able to create a commercial that really speaks to the topic, draws in the audience’s attention, and clearly spells out the message. With one clear objective in mind, the creative process will be even more streamlined.
3. Identify your target audience
Who are you making the commercial for? How will your commercial capture their attention and make them want to buy? Knowing this info can guide you in the design of your commercial, including vocabulary, music, and visuals.
A good exercise is to visualize the target audience as one ideal customer. What does he or she like? Where do they like to shop? What do they do for fun? What are their challenges and how can your product/service help?
Generally, failure to do this runs the risk of designing an ad you like, but not necessarily what your target audience will like. Working with a media partner can be extremely helpful when defining your target audience and building a strategy around tailoring your commercial ideas to them.
4. Focus on the call to action
Be sure to close with direction for the viewer. It can be as simple as “pick some up next time you’re shopping’ or “check out our site for more info.” It’s essential to be specific, clear and perhaps even repeat your message more than once in case they missed it the first time. Or show a picture as well as state the info, since not everyone will have their audio on.
5. Use the right tone
Part of defining your brand is knowing how you want people to feel when they think about your company. Your creative marketing ideas need to express this, whether you want to be serious, fun, professional, formal or goofy. Your tone plays a big role in your commercial and deciding what you want the tone to be, and then sticking with it, is key to a successful marketing strategy.
Overall, we know that some people dread the “idea generation” part of the commercial production process. When everyone is creative and focused on coming up with something viewers will remember and enjoy, it can be a great experience.
