BEING CREATIVE IS STRAIGHTFORWARD IF YOU FOLLOW THESE STEPS
I want to start by stating something that I think most of you will, at first, be wary of. You will never be successful at marketing until you can become creative. I realize this may be a daunting task to some if not all of us, but it is true that being creative will add value to what you are currently doing.
Being creative involves a lot of stuff, whether its developing slick ads, using pictures, graphs, content or writing a killer headline. Problem is picture in your mind a playground there is a seesaw there with you as a little kid way high up, about ten feet up (or at least it seems like it). And on the other end is the 200 pound bully, grinning and laughing at you squirming up there. Because he knows if you try and jump, he just gets off and you get hurt. He also knows you cant get down until he lets you. You are in a huge elementary school catch-22.
Our lives as marketers are kind of like that. On the one hand, we have this (very healthy) obsessive focus on content, information, and the words we say. And there is nothing wrong in that; Caples says that the right approach wins all. But that does not mean we should forget and shove aside all other demands.
I want to protect you from that. Just to further nail the point home, you want to create advertising that brings results. To ignore a portion of that the visual aspects of the ad well, that is ignorance of the higher order. If you think the text and content you create is so great, why not give it a pleasing visage too? Why not double up on the power and effectiveness of the ad? Why not get all you can out of an ad? Demand greatness in everything you do!!!
Now that being said, most of us are creative plonks. I could not draw a horse if my life depended on it. In fact, my 12 year old nephew is a better artist than I am. But that is okay. I know how to be imaginative, I have an inherent aesthetic sense and can be pleased by a good-looking painting, ad, or movie.
Which brings up a marvelous point, being creative requires demands that you be disciplined. A few of the exercises I will give you later are going to take some time or the sacrifice of time. And that takes discipline.
So lets look at the cycle of creativity. There are eight steps, or eight processes, eight actions that one must go through. These are broken down into four rough categories. Let me give you those categories first:
Preparation
Imagination
Development
Action
I'll continue on this subject tomorrow.
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How To Be Creative When Marketing - Adult B2B Marketing Tip
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