Getting fabulous creative work from your marketing agency depends on the brand team giving the best possible brief to set up the work. Writing down what you want from your campaign and collaborating with the agency to agree the full terms of reference for the work you are commissioning is of the utmost importance.
You may be finding a new marketing agency to work with or briefing in new campaigns for your existing agency.
Both require communication of the utmost clarity.
And so whether you are a brand who uses agencies; a brand who has an internal marketing department or an agency wanting to use best practice with your brand clients, here are two slide decks and a blog post which will help you to write the best possible creative brief.
Thanks to Dare who created this slide deck as a training event for their internal staff.
Putting pen to paper and getting the desired outcomes by describing accurately what you want to happen from the campaign is where this second slide deck is useful.It starts with a template form which requires answers to these statements and questions
Brand Proposition – what is it?
What do we want to achieve?
What is the one key insight?
What do we want people to do?
How should we tell them?
Why would they?
In the deck the authors show good, mediocre and poor ways
Why is Business to business marketing different from business to consumer? Well the main reason is that although a business is staffed by people (who may be consumers) the language and method of selling by one business to another is not the same.
And so we have found you a B2B example of how to write a brief. Make sure you read the comments below the post as they are also informative.
Interviews are always a nervous ordeal but more often than not a well-prepared candidate will always rise above the rest of the pack and successfully take the job. That said, many candidates make the mistake of preparing for a video conference interview in the same way as a face to face interview which can leave an interviewer unimpressed. Here are my top 5 tips to help you beat a video conferencing interview:
1. Remove all distractions
If your video conferencing interview is taking place at your home then make sure you deal with any possible interruptions before the interview. If Fido has a tendency to barge into the room every now and again, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind playing in the garage for a while until the interview is over. Similarly, if you have kids who tend to be quite loud, it will make you and your interviewer lose concentration as well as making you look much less professional. Get hold of a babysitter or have them spend the day at your parents or friends. Whatever you do, just try to be alone when the interview takes place.
2. Look at the camera
Just about every interview guru will tell you to make regular eye contact with your interview and a video conferencing interview is no different. This can catch out many interviewees since it is a common habit to look at the computer monitor instead of the actual camera. The camera is transmitting the picture and therefore if you don’t look at the camera it will look like you are looking away from the interviewer thus giving the impression that you are not interested in the interview. If you find this particularly difficult to do then try putting a picture behind your camera which will make it feel like you are talking to an actual person when you are looking at the camera.
3. Proper grooming
When doing a video conferencing interview it is easy to forget that you are being interviewed for a potential job offer. You may be at home but that does not mean that you can take part in the interview in your favorite carrot fit jeans with a T-shirt that has some a funny comment on it. Make sure you dress like you would if you were participating in a face to face interview as it will make you look more professional as well as making you feel more confident.
4. Set the scene
When carrying out a face to face interview, you go to the interviewer which means that the interviewer will make his decision based on you and you alone but on a video conferencing interview, the interviewer will be able to see you and your room, therefore, your room should also give a professional feel. I am not saying that you should completely redecorate but make sure all dirt has been cleaned and the room looks well organised. In addition to this, temporarily remove any posters which may embarrass you during the interview although sensible pictures and paintings can help create a more sophisticated atmosphere. This will help to give a positive first impression and will start the interview on a good note.
5. Practice makes perfect
Rehearsing your answers to popular interview questions as well as general interview techniques is essential for a successful interview but a video conferencing interview brings with it its own challenges and therefore more factors need to be added to the mix when rehearsing. You will need to get into the habit of talking out loud when nobody else is in the room so set up your own video conference system prior to the interview and ask your friend to interview you. After the interview ask your friend to give you some feedback.
No related posts.
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Video-Conference.png8701280Rob Lanehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRob Lane2011-05-13 12:03:522022-12-19 11:56:555 Tips On How To Beat A Video Conference Interview
Taking your website offline is rarely welcomed by the marcomms team. sometimes you have go do it.
Brand Glue did a great job of making a strong message come through their holding page.
In fact, since I took this screen shot, the timer doesn’t seem to have ‘counted down’ any more…. wonder if it’s really a permanent thing. Tho they have added an article below it about their newsfeed optimization service.
in any event, don’t allow a 404 redirect to show up if you can avoid it.
Plus, having a ‘timer’ on the page keeps the focus pressure on the team building the new website.
Which’ll probably be late.
That’s life.
No related posts.
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpg00Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2011-01-14 08:22:552011-01-14 06:36:02Website holding page - how to use for marketing gain
Corporate greeting cards can be used in many ways to promote your business and to show appreciation to supportive clients; some traditional and some a bit more creative. However, there are some rules and tips you should keep in mind to get the best return on your investment of sending out a Business Christmas card:
1. Procedure/mailing list
Make sure you keep your company contact information up-to-date on a regular basis and take your time to add new contacts you gain throughout the year.
A good way to control if your contact details are up to date is by including your return address so that the post office will return the card if the address is no longer valid. It will also serve a dual purpose by providing your contact information to your recipients.
2. Timing is everything
Don’t send your cards late, set yourself a deadline. December 15th is a convenient cut-off date for having your cards in the mail. If you’re sending business Christmas cards internationally, they’ll have to be in the mail much sooner. Here are some helpful links for recommended Christmas mailing deadlines: NZ Post, AUS Post, Royal Mail, USPS, Canada Post. If your Christmas card arrives after the holidays, you have just sent the wrong message to your customers. Read more
No related posts.
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpg00rebeccahttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgrebecca2010-12-04 08:46:452020-01-24 01:44:13Marketing using Business Christmas Cards
Want to use cold emails as part of your customer acquisition? We get dozens of approaches by digital media agencies usually picked up by our clients’ spam filters.
Today we’re publishing one of the better ones as a crib for you to copy for your own use if you want to buy email lists and try to start working cold call emails for your B2B brand.
Here’s the copy
Subject: Oneupweb would like to work with you
Cold Email example text
What do you think?
A short, neat message. Starts with reassurance – do what you’ve always done. But we all know how that sentence ends…. “and you’ll get what you’ve always got.”
Nice use of the word “earn” in the second sentence – they are going to work for you to gain trust. I like that.
The words for the services list are all hotlinks with custom tracking codes – good practice to see where your campaign is working. I clicked on the link and it took me to a standard page… no special landing site after the page had rendered using the tracking code.
Bullet points
A neat filtering tool is used here. By quoting fees or likely media costs for services, they filter out any brands who can’t afford to pay $2,000 per month for Search Marketing or $15k for social media campaigns.
Be attracted by the big names they’ve worked for but be put off by the fees = you are not my target customer.
Interesting that it came in to my private email address. It’s a dot com so maybe the list buyer figured I must be in USA and it’s a long-registered domain (2001 approx) and short so again, it maybe didn’t filter me out for being a person not a business.
Call to action
A question as a call to action is a subtle approach. Do I think next week is a good time to talk?
Enough time to get into my diary and a question that can be easily answered. Interestingly, no easy-call buttons for direct line phone numbers added here. Wonder why?
Footer has company contact information and the usual range of social media links plus an unsubscribe.
What happens next?
We sent a reply – will let you know what happens next.
We did a quick survey yesterday among brand managers to answer the question “What are the top three things you need to do to write a good brief for an agency pitch?”
Move the sales needle, Information integration, Content marketing (Josh Stailey)
What’s the problem, why is there a problem and media neutral so the idea leads the solution. (Mark Watkin)
Understanding, belief and passionate solution. (David Noble)
A fee for the pitch would be a good start. (Gabbi Cahane)
No related posts.
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpg00Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2010-10-26 21:50:332010-10-26 21:50:33Top 3 things for Writing a good brief for an agency pitch
I am researching for a new blog post about how brands brief agencies when they want to run a pitch.
Can you help me?
Top 3 things for writing a good brief for an agency pitch
Worst 3 things for writing a good brief for an agency pitch
Add your answers to comments below, please.
No related posts.
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpg00Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2010-08-17 07:51:592020-01-24 01:44:13Writing a good brief for an agency pitch
There have been a few good quesitons around recently with Public Relations agencies in particular seeking ideas for competitions that can run on Twitter.
Running a competition is a good way of building new followers for social media communication channels – it also helps for brand awareness. A contest doesn’t need to be expensive, or complex but the prize must fit the audience and be desirable.
Here are a few suggestions for Twitter contests:
Short story – include an opening, middle and end in 140 characters
Announce a photo theme and get uploaded photos on the theme
Trivia question – allow funny, serious and absurd answers
Buy a product and announce the invoice number on Twitter to enter a contest for a free prize
Threadless tweet submisssion for printing on a t-shirt
Collaborative songwriting / include your phrase or name in a song
Joke sharing like the #bandfoodpuns on May 17th
Munich beer contest to promote an expo – visit site and when the beer glass is empty the last person to RT the URL wins
Some marketing management suggestions
Hashtag# the contest so you can track entrants
Unique phrase with retweeting gets topics trending
Contest entry added to follower request builds a following/community
Use the contest to relaunch your twitter identity
Frequent $100 prizes beat a big $500 prize
Short deadline contests create urgency
Twitter competition prize ideas
money
music album downloads
free product from your company
a digital gadget – camera, phone, MP3 etc
gift card from a recognised store
a free service from your company
a trip
pay for a service for them from the winner’s favourite supplier (massage, haircut, car wash, online data backup, membership of a group / team fanclub)
Music prizes – albums, concert tickets,
An example of a current twitter competition
Take a look a the Social Media Experiment at Glastonbury 2010 running now which I learnt about from the Chinwag group on LinkedIn.
The Social Media Experiment will take place on Friday the 25th June between 1pm & Midnight, and will feature a number of comedians, musicians, performance artists and live shows incorporating social media and interactive web technologies. the prize is the chance to perform live on stage at Glastonbury
In order to win, visitors to the site are asked to join the competition group on Facebook and post a link to prove that they are a in a band, an artists etc. The winning act will then be chosen from the group at random in this ‘flash mob’ style competition.
Thanks to these people for providing me with ideas for the list above Trey Ratcliff,Alexandra Samuel, Internet marketing, Bob Baker, James Norris
How to write an awesome creative brief
/214 Comments/in B2B, B2C, Pitching, Sales /by Rebecca CaroeGetting fabulous creative work from your marketing agency depends on the brand team giving the best possible brief to set up the work. Writing down what you want from your campaign and collaborating with the agency to agree the full terms of reference for the work you are commissioning is of the utmost importance.
You may be finding a new marketing agency to work with or briefing in new campaigns for your existing agency.
Both require communication of the utmost clarity.
And so whether you are a brand who uses agencies; a brand who has an internal marketing department or an agency wanting to use best practice with your brand clients, here are two slide decks and a blog post which will help you to write the best possible creative brief.
Thanks to Dare who created this slide deck as a training event for their internal staff.
Creative Brief Workshop
How to write the brief
In the deck the authors show good, mediocre and poor ways
How To Write A Creative Brief, by True Digital
B2B marketing briefing rules are different
Read our recommended briefing template and download the word document for you to use.
No related posts.
5 Tips On How To Beat A Video Conference Interview
/8 Comments/in Conferences / Exhibitions /by Rob LaneInterviews are always a nervous ordeal but more often than not a well-prepared candidate will always rise above the rest of the pack and successfully take the job. That said, many candidates make the mistake of preparing for a video conference interview in the same way as a face to face interview which can leave an interviewer unimpressed. Here are my top 5 tips to help you beat a video conferencing interview:
1. Remove all distractions
If your video conferencing interview is taking place at your home then make sure you deal with any possible interruptions before the interview. If Fido has a tendency to barge into the room every now and again, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind playing in the garage for a while until the interview is over. Similarly, if you have kids who tend to be quite loud, it will make you and your interviewer lose concentration as well as making you look much less professional. Get hold of a babysitter or have them spend the day at your parents or friends. Whatever you do, just try to be alone when the interview takes place.
2. Look at the camera
Just about every interview guru will tell you to make regular eye contact with your interview and a video conferencing interview is no different. This can catch out many interviewees since it is a common habit to look at the computer monitor instead of the actual camera. The camera is transmitting the picture and therefore if you don’t look at the camera it will look like you are looking away from the interviewer thus giving the impression that you are not interested in the interview. If you find this particularly difficult to do then try putting a picture behind your camera which will make it feel like you are talking to an actual person when you are looking at the camera.
3. Proper grooming
When doing a video conferencing interview it is easy to forget that you are being interviewed for a potential job offer. You may be at home but that does not mean that you can take part in the interview in your favorite carrot fit jeans with a T-shirt that has some a funny comment on it. Make sure you dress like you would if you were participating in a face to face interview as it will make you look more professional as well as making you feel more confident.
4. Set the scene
When carrying out a face to face interview, you go to the interviewer which means that the interviewer will make his decision based on you and you alone but on a video conferencing interview, the interviewer will be able to see you and your room, therefore, your room should also give a professional feel. I am not saying that you should completely redecorate but make sure all dirt has been cleaned and the room looks well organised. In addition to this, temporarily remove any posters which may embarrass you during the interview although sensible pictures and paintings can help create a more sophisticated atmosphere. This will help to give a positive first impression and will start the interview on a good note.
5. Practice makes perfect
Rehearsing your answers to popular interview questions as well as general interview techniques is essential for a successful interview but a video conferencing interview brings with it its own challenges and therefore more factors need to be added to the mix when rehearsing. You will need to get into the habit of talking out loud when nobody else is in the room so set up your own video conference system prior to the interview and ask your friend to interview you. After the interview ask your friend to give you some feedback.
No related posts.
Website holding page – how to use for marketing gain
/2 Comments/in Branding /by Rebecca CaroeTaking your website offline is rarely welcomed by the marcomms team. sometimes you have go do it.
Brand Glue did a great job of making a strong message come through their holding page.
In fact, since I took this screen shot, the timer doesn’t seem to have ‘counted down’ any more…. wonder if it’s really a permanent thing. Tho they have added an article below it about their newsfeed optimization service.
in any event, don’t allow a 404 redirect to show up if you can avoid it.
Plus, having a ‘timer’ on the page keeps the focus pressure on the team building the new website.
Which’ll probably be late.
That’s life.
No related posts.
Good practice: A website holding page
/1 Comment/in Marketing ideas /by Rebecca CaroeFollowing on from yesterday’s post about delays publishing a new company website – take a look at this one:
What I like about it is
Does your brand demand a launch date that can’t be changed?
Website holding page for BrandGlue
No related posts.
Marketing using Business Christmas Cards
/2 Comments/in B2B, B2C, Direct Marketing /by rebeccaCorporate greeting cards can be used in many ways to promote your business and to show appreciation to supportive clients; some traditional and some a bit more creative. However, there are some rules and tips you should keep in mind to get the best return on your investment of sending out a Business Christmas card:
1. Procedure/mailing list
Make sure you keep your company contact information up-to-date on a regular basis and take your time to add new contacts you gain throughout the year.
A good way to control if your contact details are up to date is by including your return address so that the post office will return the card if the address is no longer valid. It will also serve a dual purpose by providing your contact information to your recipients.
2. Timing is everything
Don’t send your cards late, set yourself a deadline. December 15th is a convenient cut-off date for having your cards in the mail. If you’re sending business Christmas cards internationally, they’ll have to be in the mail much sooner. Here are some helpful links for recommended Christmas mailing deadlines: NZ Post, AUS Post, Royal Mail, USPS, Canada Post. If your Christmas card arrives after the holidays, you have just sent the wrong message to your customers. Read more
No related posts.
Cold email introduction – copy this campaign
/11 Comments/in Direct Marketing, Marketing ideas /by Rebecca CaroeWant to use cold emails as part of your customer acquisition? We get dozens of approaches by digital media agencies usually picked up by our clients’ spam filters.
Today we’re publishing one of the better ones as a crib for you to copy for your own use if you want to buy email lists and try to start working cold call emails for your B2B brand.
Here’s the copy
What do you think?
A short, neat message. Starts with reassurance – do what you’ve always done. But we all know how that sentence ends…. “and you’ll get what you’ve always got.”
Nice use of the word “earn” in the second sentence – they are going to work for you to gain trust. I like that.
The words for the services list are all hotlinks with custom tracking codes – good practice to see where your campaign is working. I clicked on the link and it took me to a standard page… no special landing site after the page had rendered using the tracking code.
Bullet points
A neat filtering tool is used here. By quoting fees or likely media costs for services, they filter out any brands who can’t afford to pay $2,000 per month for Search Marketing or $15k for social media campaigns.
Be attracted by the big names they’ve worked for but be put off by the fees = you are not my target customer.
Interesting that it came in to my private email address. It’s a dot com so maybe the list buyer figured I must be in USA and it’s a long-registered domain (2001 approx) and short so again, it maybe didn’t filter me out for being a person not a business.
Call to action
A question as a call to action is a subtle approach. Do I think next week is a good time to talk?
Enough time to get into my diary and a question that can be easily answered. Interestingly, no easy-call buttons for direct line phone numbers added here. Wonder why?
Footer has company contact information and the usual range of social media links plus an unsubscribe.
What happens next?
We sent a reply – will let you know what happens next.
No related posts.
Top 3 things for Writing a good brief for an agency pitch
/1 Comment/in Marketing /by Rebecca CaroeWe did a quick survey yesterday among brand managers to answer the question “What are the top three things you need to do to write a good brief for an agency pitch?”
Move the sales needle, Information integration, Content marketing (Josh Stailey)
What’s the problem, why is there a problem and media neutral so the idea leads the solution. (Mark Watkin)
Understanding, belief and passionate solution. (David Noble)
A fee for the pitch would be a good start. (Gabbi Cahane)
No related posts.
Writing a good brief for an agency pitch
/2 Comments/in Pitching /by Rebecca CaroeI am researching for a new blog post about how brands brief agencies when they want to run a pitch.
Can you help me?
Top 3 things for writing a good brief for an agency pitch
Worst 3 things for writing a good brief for an agency pitch
Add your answers to comments below, please.
No related posts.
Twitter competition ideas
/2 Comments/in Social Media /by Rebecca CaroeThere have been a few good quesitons around recently with Public Relations agencies in particular seeking ideas for competitions that can run on Twitter.
Running a competition is a good way of building new followers for social media communication channels – it also helps for brand awareness. A contest doesn’t need to be expensive, or complex but the prize must fit the audience and be desirable.
Here are a few suggestions for Twitter contests:
Some marketing management suggestions
Twitter competition prize ideas
An example of a current twitter competition
Take a look a the Social Media Experiment at Glastonbury 2010 running now which I learnt about from the Chinwag group on LinkedIn.
The Social Media Experiment will take place on Friday the 25th June between 1pm & Midnight, and will feature a number of comedians, musicians, performance artists and live shows incorporating social media and interactive web technologies. the prize is the chance to perform live on stage at Glastonbury
In order to win, visitors to the site are asked to join the competition group on Facebook and post a link to prove that they are a in a band, an artists etc. The winning act will then be chosen from the group at random in this ‘flash mob’ style competition.
No related posts.