Every designer and copywriter engages in creative marketing strategy whether they realize it or not (and regardless of whether the business they work in has dedicated planners). At each stage of creative development, they find themselves thinking about how color, image, and word choices will impact audiences’ desire to purchase, or make them feel about a brand.That said, not every organization documents that strategy (that’ll happen when you don’t have dedicated strategists/planners). And if it’s not getting documented in the early stages of a creative campaign, it could be a sign of problems to come as your team—or your agency—works to bring your creative marketing to life.

The creative marketing strategy is your team’s roadmap they can follow to begin creating successful ads.

What a Creative Marketing Strategy Is, and Why It Matters

Simply put, a creative marketing strategy is the roadmap your internal teams or strategic advertising agencies use to figure out how to accomplish your marketing goals.

As for why it matters, let’s revisit the top of this article. The creatives on your project might be asking themselves those important questions, but they’re only asking themselves. If they don’t communicate with each other—or if they’re not operating on the same understanding of the project—that approach can create unintentional errors and lengthy, frustrating approvals processes.

Documenting a creative marketing strategy helps you preemptively avoid those delays and friction and helps everyone remember the central message of your marketing efforts, any innovative advertising solutions you want to include, and more.

Here’s how you get yours started:

Step 1. Build a Big Idea

It all starts with a big idea, and there’s no one perfect way to come up with those. However, all good creative marketing ideas/campaign concepts begin with an insight.

If you’re a well-established brand, what is something about your legacy that audiences’ love? If you’re a luxury brand, what is something that only you can offer them? What is a source of frustration that your audience feels, which you can connect to your brand’s story? Asking these questions and doing some research can help the creatives on your team, or those at good strategic advertising agencies, arrive at an epiphany that can be game-changing for your ads.

Step 2. Support Creative Genius by Documenting Strategy

You can’t just use the idea straight out of your head, though. You need to flesh out your big concept with strategic creative development—because sound strategy is essential to making beautiful, touching, funny, unhinged, serious creative work that works.

But what does a strategy look like when it’s for creative work? The first thoughts that come to mind might be endless slide decks with text, numbers, charts, and graphs showing why creative should be in this voice, or drawing from that style.

A creative marketing strategy, however, can be much more interesting, and extremely visual (making it easier for audiences to get excited about it). One of these deliverables could include:

• Mood Boards: This assembly of inspiration images, color palettes, copywriting phrases, and even video clips can give creatives an idea of the look and feel (or “mood”) they need to aim for in their work. It can also be great for clueing project stakeholders into the thought process without having to scramble.
• Mockups: How will the big idea look in action? Providing sample paid social posts, banner ads, or billboards can help your creative team and others envision how the concept will come to life.
• Video pitch: Showing your campaign in action with a video can wow the folks you need approval from. Creative development for video can be time intensive, though. If you don’t have time for a finished product, a storyboard for a video ad, or an animatic may work for your needs, too.
• Competitor Analysis Collage: What are your competitors up to? By showing your teams how the competition positions themselves in their own marketing, you can show how your big idea—and your plans to execute it—differentiate your organization and create standout creative advertising.
• Audience Personas: Researching and visualizing who ads should speak to can help creatives understand who needs to respond emotionally (and in action) to the ads they create. When presenting the strategy to all your organization’s decision makers, these personas are also something you can refer to to show how advertising addresses their needs, thoughts, media consumption habits, etc.

This mockup is one example of how you could visualize a mood board in your creative marketing strategy.

Step 3. Innovate—or Renovate—Your Advertising Tactics

As you document these different parts of your creative strategy, they might help you identify innovative advertising solutions that fit with your idea’s goals.

This doesn’t mean you have to create new technology, though. If your in-house team is looking to try something different, explore the diverse content formats that social platforms provide (like that Meta Creative Suite’s vertical video ads or instant experiences). If you want to be as adventurous as possible, though, explore strategic advertising agencies that can help you achieve VR, AR, experiential, or other contemporary, dazzling activations.

Whatever you do, remember that you should always be able to look at your tactic and explain specifically how it serves the overarching goal of your creative marketing strategy, or speaks to an audience need.

Find a Marketing Partner to Deliver Winning Creative Strategy

If strategy is something you need help with, or if your external marketing partners aren’t putting this kind of robust thought into your creative development, then look for a change and reach out to Mascola Group.

Among strategic advertising agencies, Mascola stands out as a firm with relationships lasting decades precisely because consistently produce creative based in research and an understanding of our clients’ core users. With that information, we push brands forward with new platforms, innovative advertising solutions, and messaging that is unforgettable, leading to results that perpetually exceed business goals.

If that sounds like the create you want for your brand, contact us, and begin a relationship with the agency that is Marketing with Integrity.