Secret to Successful Marketing Campaigns


The Secret to Successful Marketing Campaigns Every Time - Guaranteed! By copywriter and marketing coach Chris Marlow Advertising agencies insist on using a Creative Brief for a very good reason — because they work! More importantly, these businesses have learned that forgoing the Creative Brief for any project — especially for any advertising or sales initiative — will lose money for both the client and the agency. Results of not using a Creative Brief for every significant writing project include: • An end product that is very different from what the client expected • A promotion that brings in poor response • Heavy (and costly) revisions What, exactly, is a Creative Brief? Creative Briefs are as individual as the companies that use them, but all Creative Briefs have points in common. Their goal is to define the project, clearly state the objectives, and provide critical information to the creative team. For instance, a typical Creative Brief for a marketing-oriented writing job will define the audience. It will discuss potential objections of the audience, state the offer the company wants to make to its audience, and clearly present product or service benefits. A good Creative Brief will always contain a Unique Selling Proposition (positioning statement), and discuss the competition. The benefits of using a Creative Brief for every significant writing project have proven themselves time and again with successful results. In fact, smart project managers won’t proceed without one, knowing that to do so will likely result in poor results, and for sales-oriented materials, a potential traceable direct loss if the writing doesn’t generate expected results. Using a Creative Brief increases a promotion’s chances for success dramatically because both parties have crafted a creative plan that has considered all of the important elements for success. With a well-thought-out Creative Brief in hand, a writer can assess the project’s strengths and weaknesses, and work to refine the creative plan, optimizing it for success before any writing begins. For instance, for a direct mail project, the writer may feel the offer needs to be strengthened based on information about the audience, the competition, and past mailings. With every important aspect of the mailing considered by both the marketer and the writer, and agreed upon before work begins, it’s almost 100% certain that the writer will turn in work that generates results and fulfills the marketer’s expectations as well. It’s been proven many times that moving forward without a Creative Brief is foolish from both a time and money standpoint. Not only does it take longer to write a promotion without a Creative Brief, but it almost ensures extra time (and sometimes a great deal of extra time), in revisions. And there’s the possibility that the marketer will reject the concepts and/or copy outright, and kill the project. Now the marketer has lost valuable time and money. Of course, there are many business-oriented writing projects that are executed without the benefit of a Creative Brief. Some bring in poor results or fail miserably. Others do very well in spite of the fact. And there are undoubtedly those that deliver “acceptable” results. But knowing that a Creative Brief will — at the very least — dramatically decrease your odds for failure…and at the most, take significant credit for spectacular results…doesn’t it make sense to spend a few hours to develop a strong Creative Brief and vastly improve your chances of a successful marketing campaign? A quick search on the Internet will turn up sample Creative Briefs. Or you can purchase a powerful, proven Creative Brief perfected over my 20+ years as a copywriter. Simply send $10 to Chris Marlow at PO Box 1134, Palm Desert, CA, 92261, send $10 via paypal at chris@chrismarlow.com, or call 760-340-2045 to use a credit card; all orders will be fulfilled via email, so be sure to leave your email address. © Chris Marlow, all rights reserved * * * * * Dear Reader: You have permission to publish this article wherever you wish as long as this resource box stays intact: Chris Marlow shows copywriters and other freelancers how to land the high-value, high-quality clients through her popular Coaching Program and Get Great Clients ezine. Sign up for your free subscription and get instant downloads of four timely articles on how the right clients can help you build your most profitable business! Visit http://www.GetGreatClients.com/signup

The Secret to Successful Marketing Campaigns Every Time - Guaranteed!

By copywriter and marketing coach Chris Marlow

Advertising agencies insist on using a Creative Brief for a very good reason — because they work!

More importantly, these businesses have learned that forgoing the Creative Brief for any project — especially for any advertising or sales initiative — will lose money for both the client and the agency.

Results of not using a Creative Brief for every significant writing project include:

• An end product that is very different from what the client expected

• A promotion that brings in poor response

• Heavy (and costly) revisions

What, exactly, is a Creative Brief? Creative Briefs are as individual as the companies that use them, but all Creative Briefs have points in common. Their goal is to define the project, clearly state the objectives, and provide critical information to the creative team.

For instance, a typical Creative Brief for a marketing-oriented writing job will define the audience. It will discuss potential objections of the audience, state the offer the company wants to make to its audience, and clearly present product or service benefits. A good Creative Brief will always contain a Unique Selling Proposition (positioning statement), and discuss the competition.

The benefits of using a Creative Brief for every significant writing project have proven themselves time and again with successful results. In fact, smart project managers won’t proceed without one, knowing that to do so will likely result in poor results, and for sales-oriented materials, a potential traceable direct loss if the writing doesn’t generate expected results.

Using a Creative Brief increases a promotion’s chances for success dramatically because both parties have crafted a creative plan that has considered all of the important elements for success. With a well-thought-out Creative Brief in hand, a writer can assess the project’s strengths and weaknesses, and work to refine the creative plan, optimizing it for success before any writing begins.

For instance, for a direct mail project, the writer may feel the offer needs to be strengthened based on information about the audience, the competition, and past mailings. With every important aspect of the mailing considered by both the marketer and the writer, and agreed upon before work begins, it’s almost 100% certain that the writer will turn in work that generates results and fulfills the marketer’s expectations as well.

It’s been proven many times that moving forward without a Creative Brief is foolish from both a time and money standpoint. Not only does it take longer to write a promotion without a Creative Brief, but it almost ensures extra time (and sometimes a great deal of extra time), in revisions.

And there’s the possibility that the marketer will reject the concepts and/or copy outright, and kill the project. Now the marketer has lost valuable time and money.

Of course, there are many business-oriented writing projects that are executed without the benefit of a Creative Brief. Some bring in poor results or fail miserably. Others do very well in spite of the fact. And there are undoubtedly those that deliver “acceptable” results.

But knowing that a Creative Brief will — at the very least — dramatically decrease your odds for failure…and at the most, take significant credit for spectacular results…doesn’t it make sense to spend a few hours to develop a strong Creative Brief and vastly improve your chances of a successful marketing campaign?

A quick search on the Internet will turn up sample Creative Briefs. Or you can purchase a powerful, proven Creative Brief perfected over my 20+ years as a copywriter. Simply send $10 to Chris Marlow at PO Box 1134, Palm Desert, CA, 92261, send $10 via paypal at chris@chrismarlow.com, or call 760-340-2045 to use a credit card; all orders will be fulfilled via email, so be sure to leave your email address.

© Chris Marlow, all rights reserved

* * * * *

Dear Reader: You have permission to publish this article wherever you wish as long as this resource box stays intact:

Chris Marlow shows copywriters and other freelancers how to land the high-value, high-quality clients through her popular Coaching Program and Get Great Clients ezine. Sign up for your free subscription and get instant downloads of four timely articles on how the right clients can help you build your most profitable business! Visit http://www.GetGreatClients.com/signup