As my panel peers and I start the conversations to get ready for the ASAE's Springtime conference, we thought of what's the most practical advice we could give our audience. This was a great exercise since it made me think what would be the 5 best practices for designers and marketers to create the strongest work ever, together.
1. Creative Brief
This simple document can bring so much joy to both designer, marketer, and client. There isn't a better peace maker than a creative brief. It needs to be short and sweet and include key elements such as goals, target audience, tone, core messaging, unique value proposition, positioning, a list of deliverables, and a timeline.
A design-message is strong when images and words work together. You can't design and then write, and you can't write and then design. This collaboration needs to happen concurrently in a brainstorming session.
Your message get stronger through repetition, but not the kind that gets duplicated in all pieces of collateral, but the kind that's integrated and customized to fit a specific media, a specific size, a specific audience and preserving the essence of the design concept and message.
Think about in how many ways you can say something but with different words. How many ways are there to say something but keeping the same desired tone and positioning. Your message is not your call to action. Your message is what needs to stick in your audience's mind after they have turned the page of that magazine in which you are advertising.
Something we all tend to forget. We are so focused on trying to sell our next product or service that we forget about our audience feelings and sentiments. What if we have experienced the frustrations they currently have? We need to knowledge that when we are talking to them because that's how we will create the connection that will bring them to us.
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| This is an ad that I keep on my wall as a sample of empathetic messaging. |