I invite you to participate in a quick creative marketing exercise that you can implement in your own business.
Goal: How can you show in a marketing campaign an understood benefit of doing business with you without words?
Showboat dropface@Flickr
Exercise:
1. Find a photo you like on iStock Photo or even Flickr Creative Commons.
2. Or use the photo I’ve randomly selected above for this creative exercise.
3. Brainstorm some of these creative kick start questions:
- How could your Unique Selling Proposition be depicted without words?
- How can the benefit be portrayed in this picture?
- How could a story be told by a simple picture?
- How can the benefit be communicated by comparing the product with something from a completely unrelated content?
How can this type of creative exercise help you as a small business owner?
Most small business owners don’t have a budget for creative advertising. Truthfully, most small business owners I work with don’t even consider themselves creative in marketing. Here’s the truth: most small business owners don’t need a marketing agency or consultants–you need better questions.
What if all you needed were questions prompting your creativity for you?
When we’re hired to be the answer, we begin with questions. Think about a situation where great questions unlocked your creativity and moved you closer to a solution. That’s what we do. Over the years, we’ve created, borrowed, and collected great marketing questions. It’s our “pre-flight checklist.”
Matthew, I’m not an advertising creative or a marketing strategist. Why do I need this exercise?
Yes, you are. You just don’t know it yet.
Matthew,
Brilliant post! Depending on the business type or the owners themselves, they might not be used to thinking this way. Look, I’m an attorney and CPA, but also a photographer. My photography helps keep the creative side of my brain “loose” which we all now know informs all of our business, not just our hobbies.
My favorite is “How could a story be told from a simple photo?”. I will certainly use this as both a blogging prompt and for my coaching clients.
Steve
@Steve You made my day! I’m with you-I think most small business owners are like us: photographers, writers, trade professionals, family taxi drivers. It’s time we bring our creativity to just one aspect of our work/life.