“Creativity is not the substitute for the real work. It is the real work!” -Jay

Creativity is the work

In a world where change is the new normal Jay Acunzo reminds us all that “Creativity is the work in today’s world of marketing.” A proponent of changing things up and finding out what works for you in marketing, Jay helps people determine if building shows is a good marketing avenue for you. In today’s post we’ll be exploring some key takeaways from his Creating Connections interview with Vidyard.

When to change it up

Jay emphasizes with change happening around us all the time, the time to change things up is before you need to. Too often, companies and brands wait until things break to begin exploring new avenues for growth, but what if they were always doing it?

5 Simple changes for re-invention

Saying you should always be changing is easy, but doing it can be a challenge. Thankfully there are a number of easy ways to think about evolving the work you are already doing.

• Re-use something that is already working. Did a video perform well? Do you have a piece of content that converts? Share it again in a new context.

• Repurpose something from one project to another. Transcribe a video into a blog post. Turn your follow-up emails into an FAQ.

• Re-mix your content. Maybe it’s time to add some new refreshing elements to things you’ve already created. Re-edit that video from last year with some updates. Add some new images or tables to a blog post.

• Replace. Sometimes it’s just time to retire old content. Swap out the images in your banners, re-write your homepage copy, update your social media descriptions. (This is our favorite part of the process here at Visten!)

• Refine your marketing. Look through the work that you have published, are there parts you can remove? Are there places where you could improve processes?

Lead with Simplicity

 “A leader is in the business of making complexity seem simple and attainable” - Jay

Thought leadership is a key component of any marketing strategy today, but becoming a leader can be a lot of work. Industry leaders are faced with taking big concepts and making them concrete for others. They are challenged with defining what innovation means in their industry and making it something attainable by others. By making “complexity seem simple and attainable” leaders rise above others in their category.

Build for your Context

One challenge that Jay has for marketers is to avoid building marketing strategies just around what he calls the “‘best practices’ shortcut.” Many times people want to skip the harder work of learning about their audiences and what makes them different. While best practices can be helpful in building up a marketing strategy, you need to also take from them what is useful to you and adapt it to your context.

What is your context?

Context includes a wide range of variables including who you are (your brand), who your target customer is, and what your resources are. A strategy designed for a fortune 100 company is probably not affordable for a mom and pop shop. Conversely one-on-one in-person marketing is probably no longer a viable option for a large company.

Ask Good Questions

Building for your context often means asking “What are the best questions we can ask?” Jay challenges us to stop thinking like the experts in a field and start thinking like investigators. By asking the right questions and providing answers to them, rather than always searching for everyone elses’ answers, we can strengthen our position as thought leaders.

Set Aspirational Goals

Setting goals can help to guide your marketing efforts across channels and departments. During his interview Jay provided a great template for what he calls “Aspirational Anchors” for goal setting. These anchors layout a road map for what each piece of content, marketing effort, and audience relationship should build towards. 

The Aspirational Goal Template

The template for an aspirational goal looks like this: “Let’s create the most X for Y [the target audience] about Z”. By using this template you can help focus what you do and who you are doing it for down to a simple sentence. Here at Visten Creative our aspirational anchor looks like this: Visten Creative curates the most relevant content & resources for brand builders about how to grow their brand’s impact.

Why Should I Set Aspirational Goals?

Aspirational goals help your organization improve on audience dissatisfaction in order to change behaviors by providing a specific solution that a target audience needs. They can also force your organization to think about showing the world who you are and what you do rather than limiting your perspective to “let’s grow on twitter.” The end goal of an aspirational goal is to provide a platform around which audiences can build affinity and trust. They are not intended as just another marketing stunt, but rather as concrete, attainable, and authentic motivations that your brand, team, and audience can get behind.

About Jay Acunzo

Interested in learning more about Jay Acunzo? Check out his book Break the Wheel on Amazon, his podcast Unthinkable and his new site: MarketingShowrunners.com

We haven’t had a chance to read and review Breaking the Wheel yet, but we’ll be sure to let you know what we think when we do!

Connect with Visten Creative

Looking for ways to change up how you market yourself? Want help making the branding process simpler? Just need someone to help ask a few good, context-specific questions? Reach out to discuss creating a show, launching a new brand, and other creative consulting needs.