4 Things you Need From Your Creatives Right Now

[Or as Creatives You need to be Providing Your Clients]

As a business you spent the last twenty years getting used to notions of Perpetual Disruption, Business Unusual and The Future of Work and then EVERYTHING changed for EVERYONE. This is not only true for Blue Chip companies; it also applies to smaller businesses with fewer resources in their marketing department.

As a marketer, salesperson or corporate communicator you used to rely on face-to-face connections at trade shows, launches, conferences and meetings to engage, inform, deepen relationships, effect change and make sales. Now what?

You need new ways to reach out, fresh ways of marketing and alternative sales techniques, because no business can survive without internal alignment and external income.

Digital marketing and distance engagements have been an important part of the marketing mix for years; now with the shattering of face-to-face marketing it has become vital to your success.

That's where great creative strategy and copywriting comes to your aid.

A great creative partner is a resource you can turn to help guide you through these crazy times. They can help you find better alternatives to what you’ve been doing in the past and develop new ways to communicate what you need to be saying soon.

When they get this right, they will not only help you ride this corona rollercoaster, they’ll also be there to help you move forward once this crisis has passed.

They will give you a steady stream of consistent, creative, meaningful and memorable communications that will help keep you and your business top of mind, while strengthening the bond you have with your customers during this time of social distancing.

Here are four things you need from your creative partner right now.

1. Be super-clear and creative around Covid-19.

Many businesses are cluttering people’s inboxes with mailers, but how many are read, or respected? Too many are rushed, cobbled together bits of yesterday’s clichés with little or no relation to you or your brand promise.

Your current client relationships, your brand and your distinct personality are three of the most powerful things you have in your arsenal to fight the negative impacts of Covid-19.

You need to be communicating constantly, consistently and creatively with well-written emails that provide relevant information, personal inspiration and specific, actionable offers.

You need to be communicating about changes in business hours or operations, how you are protecting your employees and customers, and what you are doing for your extended communities.

Your social media posts need to contain key updates, or positive, confidence-building communications that help build your client community.

You need to be communicating in a way that reflects you and your brand promise.

2. Update Your Core Offerings.

Your business environment has changed. Most if not all the sales materials and brand collateral you planned to use over the next few weeks and months have become irrelevant.

A great creative partner will help you review and revise your marketing plans. Work together to make sure they reflect current realities for your product or service, and for your customer or client needs.

Great creative partners are agile for a living; the best of them can help you pivot a product, a promise or a positioning to avoid sending out embarrassing or inappropriate sales and marketing messaging, and they can help keep income flowing into your business.

3. Create new Offerings.

Every successful business satisfies a want or a need with a service or a product. A great creative partner will look at ways to develop new angles, special offers, or new ways to use what you offer.

Everyone is experiencing some stress, anxiety or pain point around Covid-19 right now. It could be delays in delivery, store closures, lack of access, lower levels of service, or just the endemic challenges of being self-isolated with bored kids, or stir-crazy spouses.

Whatever your product or service, a great creative partner can help you align your product or service to the needs of your audience in ways that are useful, helpful, fresh and even fun.

4. Get a Future Perspective.

The Covid-19 crisis will end. It might take longer than we hope; it may leave social, emotional and economic scars that make everyday life difficult – but there will be a future, and you need to be a business that has survived, and is ready to thrive.

A great creative partner can help you prepare for that future by thinking about whom you would like to be, and what you would like to be doing in your market when this is over.

These are thoughts and ideas that you might want to share with your clients and customers in the meantime, too. Everybody needs a future perspective, and your market may relish the opportunity to share in your future vision. They may also have ideas and directions that could help you serve them even better than you did before.

With a future perspective, you and a great creative partner can start developing, scripting and designing marketing materials that could be ready to go the moment the lockdown ends, or the crisis has passed.

That’s it.

Profitable businesses of every kind and size, in every industry and sector, have always had successful relationships with great creative partners. Today, those relationships may be more intense than yesterday, but they will be even more important when tomorrow comes.

Keep safe, and build your brand with a great creative partner,

Nick

P.S. If you ever feel you could use some Creative Clarity in your communications, please contact me at nick@creativeclarity.co.za or on +27 82 887 1413, or visit us at www.creativeclarity.co.za