Great marketers, PR pros, and content
creators have one thing in common—
they use both creativity and analytics
to develop their successful ideas.
Christine Perkett dubbed this type of
thinking as “Creatalitics” and gave an
excellent definition for the term:
“[Creatalitic thinkers] combine really
creative and innovative ideas—those
‘dreams and visions’ with data and
analysis—the ‘blazes of insight’ that
tell them if their creations go beyond
initial appeal and into the world of
actionable value to the company’s
bottom line.”
Creativity is an important aspect of our
jobs, but we should not neglect the
warning signs from the left side of our
brains pushing us to analyze our ideas.
Here are six ways to put your creative
ideas to the test to make sure they are
worth your client’s investment.
1. Google it.
This simple test of researching your
creative idea will tell you a lot about its
future success. Has the idea already
been done? Can you do it better or
make it unique to your brand? If it has
been done, what value did it add to that
company? Can those results be
replicated for your brand?
2. Like-improve analysis.
The like-improve analysis is one of the
most helpful ways of analyzing your
creative ideas before they are
implemented. Take a sheet of paper, and
draw a line down the middle; on the left
side write “Like” and on the right side
write “Improve.” Under “Improve,”
reference everything that doesn’t work
about the idea or areas that should be
improved. On the left side, write
everything that you like about the idea
and would bring value to the company.
Next, figure out how you can change
those areas under “Improve” to work
for your creative idea or whether the
idea is still worth pursuing.
3. Answer the hard questions.
Take time to think through or even write
down your responses to those hard
questions your client or boss will ask so
you can be ready to defend your
creative idea. How will this increase the
bottom line? Does this line up with our
goals and objectives? What will be the
ROI? How will you track the results?
4. Talk it out.
Humans are social beings; we produce
the best ideas together . As autonomous
thinkers we each contribute differing
opinions and constructive criticisms that
will strengthen the creative idea. After
you have done all you can to flesh out
and analyze the idea, don’t neglect to
collaborate with your peers.
5. Test your idea.
Even after the creative idea has been
turned into action, you should continue
to improve it. What seems like a solid Web
graphic or campaign in the presentation
room may fall short when implemented.
Testing your idea through focus groups,
A/B testing or other means is often
neglected and forgotten by busy
professionals. But if you are serious
about producing the best, you have to
test your ideas.
[RELATED: Find out how to craft
the perfect pitch at our April PR
& Media Relations event in NYC.
]
6. Learn from your successes and
failures.
Experience is a valuable factor in the
communications field because
professionals have learned from years
of mistakes and successes. After you run
a campaign, take time to analyze it once
more to see what really did work or
didn’t and then apply that knowledge to
your next creative idea.
Alicia Lawrence is an online PR specialist
for WebpageFX and blogs in her free
time at MarCom Land . Her work has
been published by the Association for
Business Communication, Get In Front
Communications, and Spin Sucks.
creators have one thing in common—
they use both creativity and analytics
to develop their successful ideas.
Christine Perkett dubbed this type of
thinking as “Creatalitics” and gave an
excellent definition for the term:
“[Creatalitic thinkers] combine really
creative and innovative ideas—those
‘dreams and visions’ with data and
analysis—the ‘blazes of insight’ that
tell them if their creations go beyond
initial appeal and into the world of
actionable value to the company’s
bottom line.”
Creativity is an important aspect of our
jobs, but we should not neglect the
warning signs from the left side of our
brains pushing us to analyze our ideas.
Here are six ways to put your creative
ideas to the test to make sure they are
worth your client’s investment.
1. Google it.
This simple test of researching your
creative idea will tell you a lot about its
future success. Has the idea already
been done? Can you do it better or
make it unique to your brand? If it has
been done, what value did it add to that
company? Can those results be
replicated for your brand?
2. Like-improve analysis.
The like-improve analysis is one of the
most helpful ways of analyzing your
creative ideas before they are
implemented. Take a sheet of paper, and
draw a line down the middle; on the left
side write “Like” and on the right side
write “Improve.” Under “Improve,”
reference everything that doesn’t work
about the idea or areas that should be
improved. On the left side, write
everything that you like about the idea
and would bring value to the company.
Next, figure out how you can change
those areas under “Improve” to work
for your creative idea or whether the
idea is still worth pursuing.
3. Answer the hard questions.
Take time to think through or even write
down your responses to those hard
questions your client or boss will ask so
you can be ready to defend your
creative idea. How will this increase the
bottom line? Does this line up with our
goals and objectives? What will be the
ROI? How will you track the results?
4. Talk it out.
Humans are social beings; we produce
the best ideas together . As autonomous
thinkers we each contribute differing
opinions and constructive criticisms that
will strengthen the creative idea. After
you have done all you can to flesh out
and analyze the idea, don’t neglect to
collaborate with your peers.
5. Test your idea.
Even after the creative idea has been
turned into action, you should continue
to improve it. What seems like a solid Web
graphic or campaign in the presentation
room may fall short when implemented.
Testing your idea through focus groups,
A/B testing or other means is often
neglected and forgotten by busy
professionals. But if you are serious
about producing the best, you have to
test your ideas.
[RELATED: Find out how to craft
the perfect pitch at our April PR
& Media Relations event in NYC.
]
6. Learn from your successes and
failures.
Experience is a valuable factor in the
communications field because
professionals have learned from years
of mistakes and successes. After you run
a campaign, take time to analyze it once
more to see what really did work or
didn’t and then apply that knowledge to
your next creative idea.
Alicia Lawrence is an online PR specialist
for WebpageFX and blogs in her free
time at MarCom Land . Her work has
been published by the Association for
Business Communication, Get In Front
Communications, and Spin Sucks.
posted from Bloggeroid
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