In the past, we have written about Creative Marketing - a way of creating unique, personalized digital media for businesses to increase brand awareness, which ultimately promotes higher sales. We are one of the very few agencies that offer Creative Marketing as a service. To us, creativity means two things:
- Creativity is something that makes people stop. It makes them pause and take notice. It makes them want to find out more.
- At the same time, creativity also means honesty and authenticity. The only way to break through the noise of social media and the online marketing world where there are thousands and millions of other small businesses trying to do the same thing as you do is to be yourself. Figure out what exactly your brand's identity and values are and stick to them. That's what will make your brand special.
This is why we think Creative Marketing is the future of marketing. There are too many businesses trying to do the same thing and expect customers will come to them. To stand out from the crowd, to attract attention, you have to be creative.
To be creative, you have to be different.
To be creative, you have to be different. You have to step out of the norms and do things in the way that nobody has done before. It will require out-of-the-box thinking and a willingness to invest time, energy and money into creating something that people will remember. That's our approach when working on a project.
Whenever we work on a project, we always ask ourselves:
- How can we be more creative?
- How can we do things differently?
- How can we represent our clients in the most authentic and engaging way possible?
This is the Creative Marketing approach that we have refined over the years and take great pride in (cause it works :)
1. Preparation
What exactly happens when we prepare? We sit down as a team and brainstorm ideas. We do research. We sketch. We take notes. We make a detailed plan of how to shoot each scene, what camera angle to shoot from that best showcase the product, which model(s) to hire, what equipments we will need, which setting is the most suitable, and more. Each decision we make depends on the specific characteristics of the product or service we try to promote. We also carefully take into consideration the brand's value and personality while balancing that with our creative vision.
Planning is a process that's often overlooked, but it can be the most crucial step. A well-thought-out plan makes production easier and faster, free up our time to think creatively on production day.
2. Production
Production days are always filled with lots of fun, laughter, and surprises. It's when all our team get together: there's an in-house photographer/ videographer, editors, writers, and team members to help out with the set - all are present to make sure that everything goes well. Team members also contribute new ideas and give real-time feedback on-set. After all, it's a collaborative effort - we're just a bunch of creatives who love working together (read more about our company culture here).
3. Editing
A lot of people dread the editing process but not us. Our editors are experienced and love what they do. Using state-of-the-art editing software, they work their magic to achieve the desired look and feel for the final content.
Creativity is something that makes people stop. It makes them pause and take notice. It makes them want to find out more.
Creativity also means honesty and authenticity.
4. Publishing
This is when we deliver. We help our clients publish the new content on their website, social media, and ad campaigns. We make sure to post during the best time to maximize reach and exposure for the clients we work with.
A blog post is also published on our influencer platform, thesocialista.ca - the products/ business is mentioned from a third-party point of view, furthering trust and authenticity for the brand.
You may think it's redundant to repeat these four steps again and again, but it's an absolute essential. It's the four steps that every project needs to have. Imagine if you head straight to production with poor planning, or publish unpolished content because of insufficient editing, how will that reflect on your brand and affect what you want to communicate to your customers? All steps are vital to the success of any marketing effort, so maybe it's time for you to adopt a Creative Marketing approach for your next campaign!
