It’s that awkward first date. You’re excited but nervous. They start talking about themself. And keeps talking about themself. And talks some more. The excitement fades. Your eyes roll. You are over it!
In the marketing profession, when talking about your work, you can quickly become that off-putting narcissist on a first date.Your role as a marketer ALWAYS starts with understanding your client and their business goals. All the marketing and advertising you do should support the fulfillment of those goals. Therefore, everything you create – from a business card or poster to a website and everything in between – is about business goals and the client.
Sure, aesthetics play a part. After all, branding is essential. But if the execution doesn’t support the business, then you are creating for creation’s sake and not for the best interest of the client.
An easy way to determine if your creative piece is on strategy is to ask yourself, “What problem are we trying to solve?” We have had to scrap some beautiful pieces of work because they didn’t answer the question of what we were trying to solve. In essence, these pieces were art – beautiful and fun to look at but not going to create action on the part of the consumer.
Another way to check if you are on strategy is to talk about your work with someone. If you go straight to the executed piece, maybe you missed the mark. But, if you first begin to explain what the client needed and how you were able to answer that need, you’ve hit the nail on the head!
Be a good date. Remember, it’s not about you. It’s always about the client!
