Why Too Much Input Typically Leads to Marketing Creative Gone Bad

When many businesses get to the stage of developing their marketing creative, it’s common to start pulling in a variety of team members during the process so that they can get a mix of input and opinions. There are people on your leadership team, marketing team, and maybe even sales team that you might want to be a part of this process and for good reason. However, we’re here to tell you that their input, and sometimes even yours, can actually be detrimental to the creative process and your overall marketing results. Let’s look at why…

Overthinking

With any big decision, it can be easy to overthink your creative, especially when you know it will have an impact on your hard-earned money. But when you overthink something and find yourself continuously sending revision after revision back to your creative developers, it’s easy to lose sight of your goals, strategy, and creative best practices. Then, when you add multiple people who might overthink the creative, you start to get yourself into deeper trouble trying to please everyone and solve problems that may not actually exist.

Biased Thinking

Another issue businesses face when making decisions about their marketing creative is letting their personal preferences get in the way. Or not letting their decisions be guided by actual research, proven best practices for that medium, or knowledge of how previous campaigns have performed. This kind of biased thinking is what we like to call a “focus group of one” and it’s quite common. We all have personal opinions that can be relevant, but just because you don’t personally like something doesn’t mean your target audience won’t. This is a fine line that you’ll want to be aware of when making creative decisions.

Inexperience

You are an expert at what you do, we know that. Whether it’s selling high-end cars or replacing air conditioners, you likely have extensive experience in your line of work and field. The same is true for those that work in the creative service departments for media companies. They create advertising commercials day in and day out. They know what works and what doesn’t, they know their unique audience that you are hoping to gain the attention of, and they know how to turn your marketing messaging into a compelling commercial for their format type (whether it be digital, radio, TV, or print).

This does not mean your input and opinion doesn’t matter. It just means you should work with companies that you trust and let the experts guide you toward the best decisions for your business. It’s okay to ask questions or want to better understand their creative decisions, but also rely on them to do what’s best.

In Conclusion

When it comes to crafting the perfect marketing creative, avoid the common pitfalls discussed above. It can be easy to be influenced by friends, family, and business colleagues—remember they may have an opinion (and one that is valid) but they are likely not experts in Chicago marketing. Rely on partners who have a depth of knowledge and experience in developing marketing creative that gets results.