There’s no longer much distinction between “content marketing” and “marketing” but many organizations still struggle to maximize their content’s value. Look in the mirror: The answer may be staring right back at you.

In the marketing gallery, art and creative often hang side by side, but they should not [immediately] be considered the same.

Art is a subjective splash of color; it manifests something personal from an artist and similarly, speaks to personal tastes and unique emotions in a viewer. Consider the charm of a child’s drawing—it may capture the heart of a parent, but it rarely beguiles a stranger.

Creative, on the other hand, is the act of persuasion. It’s the carefully crafted word/image/ad that not only catches the eye but compels the viewer to act. It’s quintessentially objective; with success measurable by its ability to fulfill a specific objective. Creative isn’t self-expression. It is a strategic output.

Zoom out

Where content marketing initiatives can fall down is allowing personal tastes to overrule professional purpose. It’s a scenario played out daily, from ideation to review, in boardrooms and project rooms because of course, it’s nigh-on impossible to remove subjectivity… but you can learn to ignore it.

There’s no denying it’s a hard-learned skill, but it’s also critical.

As a client, whether you’re working with in-house marketing and creative teams or partnering with an agency, there is nothing that will define the success of your program more so than the brief against which the work must be assessed.

“Zoom out” should be a common refrain while you’re developing a brief. Focus on the 30,000 foot objectives, not the assumed or expected outputs.

Be the squeaky wheel

Similarly on the creative side, questions need to be asked. Often, they may seem pithy to the point of petulance, however “But why?” or “So that we can…?” can help needle a client just enough to reach a core objective.

This is not about obstruction. It’s a process of discovery, all in the pursuit of a refined, single objective that your creative will execute against.

Test and learn: Let the data guide you

Any tangible creative outputs will likely be a collaborative effort, but certainly for digital creative (paid search, digital ads, banners, copywriting etc.) there’s always the opportunity for data-driven refinement.

It requires little additional effort to run an A/B test email campaign, or launch a new paid program on a social channel with two assets in-market instead of one. What you do receive, however, is rapid quantitative measurements against creative that allows both the client and creative teams to measure performance.

Was the objective to sell tickets? Secure donations? Build a subscription list? You’ll know which asset met that fundamental most effectively, and can layer additional data sets (was it the hard-to-sell tickets or the bleachers? Were they recurring donations or one-offs? Are your subscribers within your target market?) over the top to build a more refined, holistic picture of performance.

Art and science

Recognizing the difference between individual artistic taste and effective marketing creative is crucial. The most effective creators will have opinions and a point of view but should know how to justify that vision. Likewise, clients will see the most progress and innovation when they provide guidance and objectives over tactical instruction.

Ultimately, the most compelling marketing campaigns should look and feel like great art—they should resonate, inspire and connect with people—but have the added dimension of objective measurements. That’s the secret sauce.

Get in touch to discover how Mission Brands Consulting can support your program development, creative execution or overarching marketing strategy.