Over that last five to ten years, Marketing has been placing a strong emphasis on creating personalized experiences but, in doing so, might have overlooked the overall picture of delivering tangible results – being instead increasingly focused on the latest tools and technologies. It may be an opportune moment for marketing teams to step back from this hyper focused state to fall back on core principles for achieving meaningful outcomes.
Organizations focused heavily on capabilities investment often develop a bias towards complexity, sometimes without even taking advantage of the new capabilities – much less making the most of tools they already have. In attempting to create these comprehensive, personalized experiences, greater demand to create content for these increasingly complex consumer journeys and has now overwhelmed creative teams managing content across the various touchpoints. Refocusing on primary objectives and what truly matters – meeting consumer needs – can prioritize creative teams’ efforts and marketing teams’ use of existing capabilities to ensure marketing effectiveness and driving real results.
To stay on track with their goals, marketers need a clear plan and direction.
In striving to create top-notch content that truly connects with different consumer segments at every stage of their journey, brands are faced with the challenge of making sure each piece of content not only reaches the right spot but also fits what the consumer currently needs and wants. Creative teams are running as fast as they can to create good content in enough volume to keep up with many steps consumers take. The big question for brands is whether they can produce all the creative content needed for these complex paths.
Moving from one-size-fits-all to person-based marketing has been a challenge.
A 2022 Forrester Consulting Report commissioned by Adobe found that 59% of marketers struggle to deliver personalized content and experiences effectively, highlighting a significant gap between strategy and execution.
This highlights the necessity for brands to align their creative strategies with clear consumer insights and business goals.
Creative content should be clear and targeted. For example, if data shows a consumer is close to making a decision, the content should clearly address their main concerns and highlight key benefits. This method requires a clear strategy that focuses on what’s most important, rather than trying to cover every detail of the consumer’s journey through different stages and channels.
Another way to approach this is by using the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle. Instead of spreading marketing efforts across many channels, focusing on just one, high-impact channel can be more effective. For instance, putting all your effort into a platform like Instagram could bring better results with less work compared to using multiple channels at once.
Newer brands often face the challenge of limited marketing resources, making it difficult to implement complex multi-channel strategies. By focusing on the most popular and impactful platforms, these brands can simplify their approach. This concentrated use of creative assets and resources ensures alignment with key objectives, often leading to more effective marketing efforts and higher returns on investment.
- Refocus on Objectives – Align creative efforts with core marketing goals to validate creative’s contributions to overall marketing success.
- Master the Basics – Emphasize fundamental marketing practices, focusing on strengths and ensuring that content aligns with your brand’s goals and audience needs.
- Maximize Existing Capabilities – Make full use of the tools and resources currently available, instead of constantly seeking new solutions, to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
- Evaluate Creative Performance – Implement strong measurement strategies to track and assess the effectiveness of creative assets, focused on a manageable set of priority assets by which performance can be analyzed and optimized.
- Simplify Strategies – Consider the KISS principle – focusing your efforts on a single high-impact channel or strategy – drive the greatest results with the lowest level of effort compared to a broad, multi-channel strategy.
Could a simpler approach focused on generating and measuring higher-quality content lead to better consumer experiences with fewer resources?
