A Cheat Sheet to Perfect Creative

Give your creative the FREEDOM of a tight strategy.

What I love about what we do is that there are infinite ways to address the same problem.  There are few rules and usually, the crazier the idea, the better.

You want your creative to stand up and take notice.  You need it to be clear and concise.  To get there, you have to be focused!  

That's the job of the creative brief.  In one to two pages, describe exactly what needs to happen.  A great creative brief can lead to killer creative.  It's also your sanity check to know whether the creative is simply entertaining or on strategy too.

Here are the 5 areas to focus on when you're focused on creative:

1. What do you want to do?

Why are you spending this money?  What do you want the effort to accomplish?  How will you quantitatively know if it worked or not.

• What does the advertising do for the brand?
• How will the objective be measured?

2. Who are you talking to?
It's easier to write to a person than to a nameless group.  Who do you want to talk to?  Give them a name, a face, a personality and needs:

• What do they look like? What do they like to do? What is their economic standing?  What makes them tick? (be as specific as possible)
• What motivates them?  Why are they making this purchase decision? What's going on in their life?
• When they buy, why do they choose you?
• When they don't buy with you, why not?
• How do they FEEL when they make the decision?  How do you WANT them to feel (tone)?

3. The ONE Big Thing

Let's face it, we're lucky if anyone ever sees our work ... we're blessed if they care ... and if they take away ONE message, we've done our job.  What is the ONE big thing that you want them to know?

• How does it make you different from the competition?
• So what? (Benefit) What problem are we solving?  Why should anyone care?
• Prove it (3-5 supports - Prioritize) Why should they believe you?
• Who's voice is telling them?  Are you the trusted old uncle or the hip young friend or the crazy granny?

4. What do you want them to do?
How will the audience help you achieve your objective?  Do you want them to feel something?  Pick up the phone?  Go to a URL?  Run to your location?

• Is it easy for the target to do what you want?
• Who answers the Call to Action?  Are they prepared?

5. Thou Shalts and Thou Shalt Nots
What are the rules? The must and must nots.

• Budget
• Schedule and duration
• Media options: Print? Broadcast? Web? Direct Mail? SEO? Point of Sale? Outdoor?
• What does the staff need to know or do?
• Mandatories (logos, icons, legals, etc)

Now go back and start crossing words out.  Keep the brief ... well, BRIEF!  The more focused you are, the less sidetracked the creative ideas will be (You know creatives ... show 'em something shiny and you lose them for hours!).

From the brief, try to come up with at least 3 good ideas:

• The safe idea
• One that scares the hell out of you
• Something in between

Finally, when the work is complete, go back to the brief and start checking off each item.  If the work addresses each element of the brief, then it should be on strategy ... focused ... and ready to generate business.

We bring these marketing philosophies to credit unions and community banks nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too.  Contact us to see how.

Nearing 230,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues.  Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker.  Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

Follow me on Twitter @egagliano

Never give up in the first mile.

This morning, I rolled out of bed, laced up my New Balance, zombie-walked through the hotel lobby and started yet another self-guided tour of a strange city. And, like so many runs lately, I had no idea how far I would go.

You see, I have hundreds of track and cross country miles on a young, energetic body and on my less-young, less-energetic body, I have multiple marathons, ultra-marathons, a triathlon and countless trail races. I've trained to injuries and through injuries and, after 41 years, I've decided it's finally time for my body to have a loud vote in my training.

I, of course, had a minimum and a stretch goal in mind heading out the door, but there was nothing serious driving either. After 3 minutes, my body's loud vote was screaming that the minimum goal was looking pretty darn good. My legs were heavy, I was still waking up and I was ready to bail on the run.

Luckily, I have a basic rule ... 

Never make any significant decisions in the first mile.

The same holds true for your marketing plans and campaigns. You should go in with a minimum and stretch goal, but don't ever bail in the first mile. Just as you need to give your muscles and chance to warm up, you also need to give your plans a chance to take root.  

Budgets are limited and time lines are tight. But if you've done your upfront homework and your strategy is sound - give your plan time to work. You should monitor and tweak where necessary to hit or destroy your goals, but never bail in the first mile.  

This morning, I adjusted my pace, fell into a good stride and easily passed my stretch goal ... and you can too.

Run on my marketing friends.

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With more than 180,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues.  Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

We bring these marketing philosophies to community banks and credit unions nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too.  Contact us to see how.

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker.  Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

Can Marketing Really Be This Easy?!?

Alternate Blog Title ... "3 is a Magic Number"

The average day in the life of a financial marketer (the way many people see us):

• Get the newsletter written
• Plan a customer appreciation day
•  Build a float for the parade

Is this time well spent?  The answers may vary.

A friend in Maryland made me aware of a great article on The Financial Brand titled, Marketing’s (Only) Three Challenges, written by Ron Shevlin.

Ron’s Take

There are three – and only three – challenges that Marketing faces:

•  Acquiring the right customers
• Retaining the right customers
• Growing the relationship with the right customers

Everything is related to one of these three challenges. 

I purposefully did not label the challenges with numbers, because the priorities may differ based on your institution’s current performance and business objectives.  But that’s it.  That’s all you have to do.  It’s that easy!

Alright, so you could argue that the newsletter builds relationships and Customer Appreciation Day helps retention and the Parade Float drives acquisition.  Again, is this time well spent?  It all comes down to resources and priorities…

The MarketMatch Client Mantra

There are a thousand things you COULD be doing … 

what are the 3 things you SHOULD be doing?

Resources

We all have limited resources. And it is very likely that, for your department, time is at a higher premium than even your limited budget.  Since you only have so many hours in a day and so many dollars in your GL, you need to focus on priorities and make a strategic decision to let some things simply not get done.

Prioritize

1. You should have a business plan to work from.  Of your Business Objectives, what is mandatory?  In short, if your institution only accomplishes 3 things this year – what should those 3 things be?
2. In order to accomplish those 3 Business Objectives, what are the top 3 Marketing Strategies for each Objective? Now prioritize your 9 total strategies.
3. What are the 3 most impactful Marketing Tacticsyou can do to support each of your 9 Strategies – think on-going processes as well as short-term campaigns.

With this exercise, you now have 27 of the most impactful tactics, prioritized, to meet your bank or credit union’s key objectives.  That averages 2.25 tactics per month and should definitely help you to maximize your time and monetary resources.  If you can’t get to all 27, use your prioritization to identify what to do now and what to put in next year’s plan (or simply partner with someone like me).

Now that we have YOURresponsibilities identified, lets apply the “Power of 3” to those who approve your work.

If we can assume that your department is the expert and is focused on Acquisition, Retention and Penetration.  And if we also assume that, as marketers, you are the most qualified person in your institution to understand customer segmentation/needs and competitive messaging/differentiation – then we can make creative approval easy!

The only 3 things that anyone approving your work needs be concerned with are:

1. Is the information accurate and compliant?
2. Does the offer address a strategic need of the institution?
3. Does the message fit the bank or credit union brand?

I've been on your side of the desk and, yes, I know that Ron and I have over-simplified life quite a bit.  But, have we really?  I truly believe that aside from your top strategies & tactics and the above 3 approval requirements, everything else is a distraction.  That's not to say that other tactics don't need to get done, but they are certainly "back-burner" items.

Hopefully I've struck a nerve or two and lit a few fires.  Share your thoughts below.

With nearly 110,000 visitors worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues.  Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs.  

We bring these marketing philosophies to community banks and credit unions nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too.  Contact us to see how.

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker.  Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

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MarketMatch is a full-service marketing firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community.  We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the right story that will generate the greatest  MOMENTUM and prove the best RESULTS with our written ROI Guarantee.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

Lessons From The Cheshire Cat

“One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. 
‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. ‘Where do you want to go?’ was his response.
 ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.’”

~Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

By now, you no doubt have your 2012 plan complete.  And that plan, no doubt contains annual objectives with month-by-month plans on how to achieve them.

Like Alice, you will encounter forks in the road on your way to December 31, 2012.  Setting smaller, periodic goals will help you to know where you want to go at each fork.

“The uninformed must improve their deficit, or die.”

~ Cheshire cat

You don’t need to drown in information, but each month and each quarter, what is the data that will help you best track your progress towards your annual institution goals?  The answers are as varied as the goals themselves and the means to access data.

Are you looking to drive awareness?  Quarterly, conduct a quick 100 blind phone survey exercise asking responders to name the first 3 financial institutions that come to mind.  Is your institution coming up more each quarter?  Is it showing up as number 1 more often?

Product and balance growth are as easy as a core report, but were is the balance growth coming from?  If it’s loans, are they favorable, or at least variable, rates?  If it’s deposits, are the core deposits?  How much are you paying for them?

Customer/Member growth is also as easy as a core report, but what is your product penetration with new customers?  What products are bringing them in?  Are you getting them into checking and at least 2 access products?

By collecting and regularly analyzing the right data, you will know which road to take when you reach the fork.  Then you can ignore the Cheshire cat and his mischievous grin.

MarketMatch is a full-service marketing consulting firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community.  We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the efforts that will generate MOMENTUM and yield the greatest RESULTS for your bottom line.

Learn more here.


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