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In today’s digital era, it is very important to know how to strategize for everything you have in work. Sure, trends do matter, but that doesn’t mean that marketers should mistake trend-watching for strategy. Great creative strategists know that trends come and go. All while human behavior remains consistent to a certain extent. People still crave the feeling of belonging, status, entertainment, and emotional connection. The next viral audio or platform that may get an update might grab the attention of audiences for a week or something. However, it’s the understanding of why people engage in the first place that creates a campaign that lasts in people’s minds even after it ends.
Data Is Your Best Friend
Being creative without data is just one of those guess games you play. One of the biggest differences between a creative thinker and a creative strategist is the ability to validate ideas with insights for backup. Why? Because metrics tend to reveal what audiences prefer. Moreover, it shows what content performs, customer needs or pain points, and even opportunities that are available to seize in the market. This is the strength of data. It could either confirm you’re a genius who came up with a great idea or highlight the fact that the idea may have sounded better in your head. Either way, listening to what the numbers have to say is what differentiates a strategic thinker from someone who gambles away their creativity.
Learn to Speak the Language of Every Department
Language of every department. Three words and one article that are very important to keep in mind. That is, because marketing is like cutting a piece of cake. It’s easy when excuted correctly but there are many layers you pass by on your way to a successful clean cut. The strongest creative strategists are the ones who know how to speak in sales, how to understand product developers, how to reach out to customers through customer service, and even how to add up some numbers in the finance section when it comes to brand decisions. Being the person who can translate creative ideas into business outcomes instantly makes you more valuable in any organization. And adds to your creative mind the strategic way of reaching out and talking with every single employee working with or for you.
Build a Habit of Staying Constantly Curious
I know I am using the word “strategic” a lot; however, the element of curiosity here is all about your definition of that word in the field of marketing. Your best ideas don’t come from staring at a blank document waiting for Zeus to strike you with an inspirational lightning storm. Inspiration comes from paying attention to whatever you observe in the world around you. If you want to be a great strategist, start analyzing ads around you. Go behind the meanings of social media conversations.
See what the debate is about and what led to a controversy. Understand consumer reviews and why the same product made someone’s day and ruined another’s. Ask questions that others tend to ignore. This is what will allow you to connect the dots others never seemed to notice. And this, my dear reader, is how curiosity is defined in marketing. It’s not a trait, as people think. It’s, as a matter of fact, a competitive advantage you get to gain when you get correctly “curious.”
Your Creative Strategist Checklist
If you would like to keep things simple, here’s a quick checklist:
- Study audience psychology on a regular basis.
- Analyze campaign performance beyond all those vanity metrics.
- Follow industries outside your own. Being everywhere gives you a whole new creative edge.
- Test ideas before fully committing to them. Sometimes they sound better (or worse) in your head and when it comes to execution, a circus becomes in town.
- Balance creative instincts with business objectives.
- Stay curious about culture, technology, and consumer behavior. Curiosity has always been one of the keys to success.
The Truth of It All
The truth is that becoming a great creative strategist isn’t just about having one of the loudest ideas out there. It is more about knowing which ideas deserve to be out to the world in the first place. The most successful strategists are the ones who blend creativity, analysis, empathy, and business thinking into one skill set.
