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Creative Audit Essential to Best-In-Class Results
This entry was posted on 12/24/2007 1:14 PM and is filed under Direct Mail.
“To
maximize your effectiveness with direct mail, you’ve got to look beyond
response rates and audit your creative,” recommends Harte Hanks Executive
Creative Director, David Nichols.
Nichols
joined Harte Hanks Channel Optimization Strategist, David Funsten, for a December 20,
2007 Webcast entitled, Optimizing
Incremental Results for Deposit/Loan Acquisition and Cross-Sell Programs,
hosted by OnsiteConference, Inc. a privately held research marketing firm
located in Tampa, Florida.
“There
are four keys to developing best-in-class
creative campaigns,” offered Nichols.
“To begin with, you’ve got to understand your customer. Have you made the most of your customer
intelligence data to profile and segment?
Can you create one-to-one communications?”
“Second,”
continued Nichols, “Develop customer strategies that appropriately reflect your
business and marketing objectives. Third, implement those customer strategies
so that you’re able to position your product properly and at the right time.”
“Finally,
your creative must clearly communicate the benefits for the consumer,” he
added.
To determine whether your creative measures up to
the four keys, a creative audit is essential.
“The creative audit is a process of questioning,” stated Nichols. “You are looking for weaknesses that can keep
a creative piece from reaching its full potential.”
Nichols
recommends starting by reviewing past successes and failures. Next, review for appropriate channel
integration. Ask, “Is the communication
appropriate for direct mail, e-mail, and your landing pages?”
When
considering particular content, design and layout, your audit goals certainly involve
how to increase response. “You also need
to consider whether you can validate your direct mail strategies, and ensure
legal and best practice compliance,” offered Nichols.
Nichols
listed several examples of questions to ask during a creative audit, including:
· Is the message relevant to
the targeted segment?
· Does it deliver the message
clearly? Does the design lead the eye to the priority elements?
· Communicate quickly?
· Project credibility?
· Is it personal?
· Strike an emotional chord?
· Motivate the respondent?
· Is there a clear call to
action?
· Create a strong “user”
loyalty?
· Is the piece appropriate
for the audience?
· Does the content reinforce
the call to action?
For auditing email create, the questions are
similar:
· Is the message clean and
direct / above fold?
· Does it give the customer
high value?
· Is there a compelling
subject line?
· Do we make immediate
offers?
· Do we ensure it’s very easy
to act?
· How many URLs?
· Is there a clear opt-out
option?
“Bottom
line,” added Nichols, “Your creative piece has got be answer in the consumer’s
mind, ‘What’s in it for me?’”
He
concluded by saying, “the audit is all about evaluating how you tell your
story, and how you present your value proposition.”
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