Successful Online Direct Response Creative Starts With The Creative Brief

Building online direct response ad units over the last 10 years has taught my team and I more than a few lessons. The first lesson is that all good creative development projects begin with the creative brief.

There is one simple goal of the creative brief: Ask the right questions in order to elicit the necessary client input needed to guide the production process.

These days many advertisers seem to rush through, or even skip this process completely. Most likely this is a direct result of the rushed timelines for media campaigns and lack of proper resources. The opportunity cost of neglecting this process can be high when the final product does not perform to full potential. In this article I will explore several key elements of the creative brief process that we have refined here at NETexponent. Below are several questions used in actual creative briefs and examples of appropriate answers. The names and answers have been changed to protect the innocent.

Company X = Financial Services Company looking for mortgage leads

OBJECTIVE

Q: What is happening in the marketplace to make our communication of interest to the consumers?

This question seeks to find the main metric that will be used to judge whether or not the ad units were successful. The answer provided should be as specific as possible and tied to a performance metric

A: To deliver qualified traffic to our order form that will result in at least a 10% conversion rate from click to completed mortgage lead generation form.

KEY FACT

Q: What do we want the advertising to accomplish?

By asking this question we try to learn about any relevant industry trends that could influence this ad campaign. This information helps provide some context to the advertiser's overall marketing efforts.

A: Interest rates are at an all time low and consumers are looking to buy homes or refinance their current mortgage. With the rise of the internet as a trusted informational resource, many consumers are searching for the best mortgage rate online. The web is being flooded by advertisers looking for mortgage leads so ad space is at a premium. We can offer consumers the best rates at well respected banks.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Q: Describe the customers we are targeting and what they come online to do (their mission). Please include relevant demographics.

Creating a target customer profile allows the creative team to customize the message and feel of the ad unit. The benefits of clearly identifying your audience should be obvious but many people overlook this element of the creative development process. Separating targets into buckets will allow for a more customized pitch and should result in higher click and conversion rates.

A: Primary Target = People who own a home or who are planning to make a major home purchase over the next 6-9 months.

Primary Demo Target =

men and women

single or married

ages 30 - 55

household income $90K+

Other targets can be listed as appropriate.

CUSTOMER INSIGHT/RESISTANCE

Q: What does the customer currently believe about our product/service? Include information about the target or the target's reaction to our product that can make our message more relevant.

This question seeks to gain insight into any preconceived notions the customer may have about the product/company being advertised. Ad unit selling points could be written to address these hurdles or hint at solutions and invite the user to click and learn more.

A: Many consumers believe that mortgage lead companies do not protect their information and filling out a form could open them up to SPAM or identity theft. Consumers may also perceive one mortgage company as good as the next and they may not be willing to fill out a lead form if they have done so recently for another company.

BRAND POSITIONING

Q: Please state what the brand stands for in as few words as possible.
This element of the brief plays a different role for direct response ad campaigns than it would for branding ad campaigns. Direct response ad units should be driven by performance elements while not negatively impacting the brand. Sometimes this means the ad units are not as aesthetically pleasing or "sexy" as branding focused ad units. There is nothing wrong with that since the effectiveness of the ad is the #1 priority, not how it looks.

A: Company X is a leading financial services institution. We have been successfully providing mortgage services to consumers for over 10 years. We are simply the most convenient, secure, and competitive solution for mortgage rates.

KEY CONSUMER MESSAGE

Q: What is the single most important benefit our consumer should understand after seeing our advertising?

What is company X's unique selling proposition for this product/service? If a consumer could only take away one message from the ad unit what would you want it to be?

A: Trust is our key message. Trust that we will deliver the best rates, trust that we will deliver the best banks, and trust that we will treat your data as we would want our own personal data treated.

SUPPORT FOR CONSUMER MESSAGE

Q: Please provide a simple bulleted list of points that provide a reason to believe the key benefit.

Providing backup points to the key consumer benefit allows the creative team to explore various ways to support this message.

A: 1. we have exclusive deals with the top banks 2. all banks have gone through rigorous evaluation criteria and we only approve a small percentage 3. our privacy policy states that we will not distribute your information to anyone but those banks you approve...etc

Combine these elements with past historical performance of Company X's ad campaigns and the media plan that will use these ad units. Using all of this information, a good creative team should be able to develop strong performing creative ad units. After the initial development process, this brief can be updated with testing and analytical data to refresh the campaign and optimize.