2. Wacarra Yeomans Chris Baggott
Director, Creative Services Title
Responsys Compendium
@wac_intosh cbaggott@compendium.com
wyeomans@responsys.com
3. Agenda
• What makes great creative
• How to create great content
• What makes a great creative brief
• How to use a brief to evaluate creative
• Tips for giving creative feedback
14. Personas
Jill Brown Behaviors & Culture Fears
Single Working Mom • Slightly unorganized • Feeling unaccomplished
• Very practical but easily flustered • Something bad happening
• Honest and sincere to her son
“There is always something • Passionate • Getting off task
to be done. I need tasks to
be simple and easy so I can Challenges Motivations
focus on the more important • Managing multiple tasks at once • Checking things off her
things in life, like my son • Coping when “life” happens and “to-do” list
goes against her “plan” •
Brady.” Quality time with her son
• Feeling accomplished
Known Information:
User Category: New Apartment
Tenant Sample Search Queries Needs & Expectations
• Apartments in safe • Simplicity
Age: 38
neighborhoods • Affordable housing options
Race: White • Affordable apartments in • Products and services that are
Education: Associate Degree St. Louis easy to understand and choose
• How to downsize living space • Anything that is in the best
Employment: Full time
interest of her son
Household Income: $40,000
Family: Divorced, Single mother
15. Customer Engagement Cycle
Stage Questions Asked
Awareness How can I find/fix/help __________?
Consideration What do I need to consider when purchasing
__________?
Inquiry What options/solutions does this company offer?
Purchase Why is it better to purchase from this company over
another?
Retention What would make me purchase from this company
again?
24. Repurposed
Existing Content Repurpose Existing Content As:
News Releases • Rewrite in conversational tone and post on content hub
Video of CEO Annual • Post video on YouTube
Meeting • Convert audio to MP3 for downloadable or streaming podcast
• Transcribe speech and post on blog
Customer case studies • Create PowerPoint and post on SlideShare
• Record PowerPoint with voiceover as video and post on YouTube
• Post video (YouTube embed code) on content hub
Self-published articles • Rewrite in conversational tone and post as a month long blog series
• Combine similar articles into an eBook and write a post promoting it’s
download
Evergreen Content • Find content that has performed well before and link to it from a new piece
of content or promote it through social
31. Why briefs?
• Think about briefing as a process
and not just a document
• What are you trying to achieve?
• How does this project fit into your marketing
strategy?
• How can you ensure all parties are on the same
page?
– Nail down the strategy before someone even
opens photoshop or word
– Someone is designing, someone is doing copy, need to
break down silos
32. Why briefs?
• The Brief is the primary indicator that a goal
has become an actual project
• A way to document the project goals
• A document that can be referenced along the way
• There’s a lot of assumptions that someone
understands the nuance and detail that you’re not
communicating
33. 2 kinds of projects
1. Production: Campaigns that use the same
framework or template
• Briefs can be prescriptive
• Sometimes all that is needed is the new image and
messaging direction
35. 2 kinds of projects
2. AdHoc/New Program: A new program or
project that doesn’t follow an existing template
• Absolutely make recommendations and references
• Frame the ask as a visual problem to solve
36.
37.
38. Time to sketch
• Break into teams
• Review your assigned brief
• In your group, agree on a sketch or
wireframe of how you think this message
will look
• Be prepared to answer questions
39. Exercise
• What kind of project was this? Production
or Adhoc?
• Was this brief effective in communicating
what you needed to sketch out the
campaign?
• What was missing?
• What was helpful?
40. Briefing a new Adhoc Project
Objective Context Direction
• How will we • Marketing • Identify the
know Strategy problem you
success? • Segmentation want solved
• Brand • Let your team
Guidelines decide the
• Reference “how”
The Briefing Document
41. Objective
Which of these is more clear?
• Drive conversions?
• We need to upsell hotels to people who
have purchased airlines.
• Currently 5% of our customers who
purchase flights also purchase hotels. We’d
like to see 10% by the end of this
campaign.
42. Objective
Objectives should include a measurable metric
– This clearly outlines expectations for the
projects
– Objectively enables you to determine if the
project was successful
– Gives the team a common goal to work toward
and guide their decisions.
43. Context
Sum up the overarching marketing strategy
• How does this project fit into the way we’re
talking to our customers in other programs?
• Are there materials that have already been
created that we should reference?
• Do we have previous performance metrics
we can refer to?
44. Context
Brand Guidelines
– Brand guides are like giving the creative team
a map to your organization
– Good brand guides should include:
• Messaging/Tone
• Color palette
• Font sizes/weights
45. Context
Examples/Reference
– Are there programs that your company has
already done that we should refer to?
– Do you have an example of a brand who has
accomplished your same goal?
46. Context
Segmentation
– With the proper marketing information
(demographics, etc..) your creative team can
craft a message to the appropriate segments.
47. Direction
• True direction requires trust
– It’s important to identify what problem this
project will solve and let your creative team
come up with the solution
• You can contribute Why and What, but you
have to let your team decide how
• If you can explain why your subscriber
should care, your creative team can tell that
story visually
48. 4 Components of a great brief
Objective Context Direction
• How will we • Marketing • Identify the
know Strategy problem you
success? • Segmentation want solved
• Brand • Let your team
Guidelines decide the
• Reference “how”
The Briefing Document
49.
50. Creative Brief Checklist
Dated title of email contact
Target Audience Summary of deliverables required
Audience Profile where appropriate Count of files
Segmentation and Versioning, where appropriate Description of files/format
Subject Line Direction Personalization Elements, where appropriate
Primary Message Objectives Objective
Primary content objective: what do we want the Simple
subscriber to do? Field names and application
Specific outcomes desired, when appropriate Dynamic
Traffic/Engagement to Online Experience X Content Segment(s) names and application
Traffic/Engagement to Retail Store Experience X Field names and application
Creative Input Testing Elements, where appropriate
Summary: Objective
Primary Assets required for execution
Secondary, where appropriate Landing Experience(s):
Tertiary, where appropriate CTAs required, recommended, prohibited
Promotional, where appropriate Description of Landing Page requirements expected
Preview, where appropriate from Online team
Social, where appropriate Product(s) recommendations and/or count
Template considerations, (optional) Category recommendations and/or count
required, recommended, prohibited Seasonal Landing Page recommendation
Images: (optional) required, recommended, prohibited Email Specific Landing Page recommendation
Agency-Generated Landing Page
Copy: (optional) required, recommended, prohibited Creative Direction (aligned with Email
Disclaimers, where appropriate specifics, above + Landing Page requirements from
Online Team
Recommended Product
Individual product and/or product categories Analytics Requirements
supporting messages
51.
52. Time to sketch
• Break into teams
• Between yourselves come up with an
upcoming project that needs a brief
• What’s your objective?
• What context would you need to provide?
• How would you write direction for your
team?
• Be sure to keep the brief you write
53. 4 Components of a great brief
Objective Context Direction
• How will we • Marketing • Identify the
measure Strategy problem you
success? • Segmentation want solved
• Brand • Let your team
Guidelines decide the
• Reference “how”
The Briefing Document
54. Creative Brief Checklist
Dated title of email contact
Target Audience Summary of deliverables required
Audience Profile where appropriate Count of files
Segmentation and Versioning, where appropriate Description of files/format
Subject Line Direction Personalization Elements, where appropriate
Primary Message Objectives Objective
Primary content objective: what do we want the Simple
subscriber to do? Field names and application
Specific outcomes desired, when appropriate Dynamic
Traffic/Engagement to Online Experience X Content Segment(s) names and application
Traffic/Engagement to Retail Store Experience X Field names and application
Creative Input Testing Elements, where appropriate
Summary: Objective
Primary Assets required for execution
Secondary, where appropriate Landing Experience(s):
Tertiary, where appropriate CTAs required, recommended, prohibited
Promotional, where appropriate Description of Landing Page requirements expected
Preview, where appropriate from Online team
Social, where appropriate Product(s) recommendations and/or count
Template considerations, (optional) required, Category recommendations and/or count
recommended, prohibited Seasonal Landing Page recommendation
Images: (optional) required, recommended, prohibited Email Specific Landing Page recommendation
Agency-Generated Landing Page
Copy: (optional) required, recommended, prohibited Creative Direction (aligned with Email specifics,
Disclaimers, where appropriate above + Landing Page requirements from Online
Team
Recommended Product
Individual product and/or product categories Analytics Requirements
supporting messages
55.
56. Tips for evaluating creative
Objective Context Direction
• Will the creative • Does this solution • Does it fit your
solutions lead to make sense with “what” and “when”
us meeting our the rest of my criteria?
goal? consumer • Is there a solution
communications? to the problem we
identified?
57. Tips for evaluating creative
Use the 7 principles of user experience
• Hierarchy
• Utility
• Usability
• Aesthetics
• Identification
• Stimulation
• Value
58. 7 principles of user experience
Hierarchy
• Is the first element I see the most important
part of the message?
59. 7 principles of user experience
Utility
• Is this the right channel or delivery method
for this message?
60. 7 principles of user experience
Usability
• Does this email function like I would
expect?
61. 7 principles of user experience
Aesthetics
• Does this represent our brand?
62. 7 principles of user experience
Identification
• Can I identify myself with the product or
message?
Does it fit into my daily activities?
63. 7 principles of user experience
Stimulation
• Does the message give me inspiration?
Or wow experiences?
64. 7 principles of user experience
Value
• What’s in it for me?
65.
66. HIERARCHY
On a scale of 1-10,
is the first element I see,
the most important one?
67. UTILITY
On a scale of 1-10,
is this the right
channel or delivery
method for this
message?
78. Giving Feedback: Copy & Design
• Assume every word, punctuation mark, color, font and
pixel are there for a reason before giving direction
• Let the team explain creative decisions
• The writer and designer are counting on you to make
sure the work meets business objectives
• Try to differentiate client direction from your personal
preferences (Both are valid! But in different ways)
• Ask questions and make suggestions, so the writer and
designer have a choice and trust your team
• Be specific about what isn’t working
• If there are more than a couple stickies or emails, TALK
79. Giving Feedback: Copy
• It looks easy, but it’s not
• Give direction rather than rewriting
• Ask questions about word choice
• Keep the editing within the
copy discipline
– When typos happen,
it’s a reflection on the writer
• Include examples so the
writer can easily understand
what you’re looking for
80. Giving Feedback: Design
• At first glance, what are you immediately drawn to?
– In two seconds can you tell what this email is about?
– Do you look at the primary message first?
– Is a secondary message bolder and
carrying more visual weight?
• Be specific about what isn’t working
• Keep the end user in mind
– How will a subscriber interact
with this message?
• Decide whether your responses
are personal preference or
business objectives
81. Do’s and Don’ts
DON’Ts
• Say “I don’t like that”
• Stand over someone while they make changes,
unless you are invited
DO’s
• Keep the objective in mind – is this meeting the
objective?
• Think about your word choice when giving
feedback
• Be specific about what you’re looking for
87. Exercise!
• Find your team’s original brief
• Share it with the team next to you
• As a group, you have 7 minutes to come up
with a wireframe for the project
88. Exercise!
• Now use the 7 principles of user
experience to evaluate the wireframes