You’ve seen them. You’ve SEARCHED for them!
- 10 Great Copywriting Ideas that Sell
- 14 Qualities of Excellent Advertising
- How To Create a Website in 6 Super Easy steps
Even I have a few of these articles. They are great for my SEO.
But you can’t create advertising that works with a formula. Any more than you can write a novel from a listicle of “What makes a good novel.”
You need that BIG IDEA!
When you’re selling a fire extinguisher, you open with a roaring fire.
NOT “A fire extinguisher is vital for #homesafety. 😃” (AI’s suggestion)
What makes advertising boring?
Risk Aversion
The first thing the marketing company does, is look at what industry competitors is doing. That research HAS to influence all creative concepts. The client can end up with a mashup of what the others in the industry are doing.
Data-driven approach
Web development is over-reliant on data. Data shows what has worked in the past, and corporate accountants are in their comfort zone with this approach. Therefore it’s not surprising that the new website is based on similar sales messages and approaches as the old one.
Lack of marketing instinct
Most web developers are tech engineers, not creatives. They can’t wait to incorporate the latest tech trends in their project. Their focus is on fast load times, mobile-friendly template blocks and a checklist of UX-approved options. They create an amazing, functional working shell ready for text, videos, product galleries, case-studies and support articles.
Then they ask the client for the content.
The client team was always expected to provide THE BIG IDEA in terms of marketing strategy.
(See next)
Targeting the Masses
During the design phase, generic tropes are used to fill the spaces – green trees, happy families, loving couples, a pretty “girl on the phone”. Oh, and the SUV driving up the mountain. Good photos make the design look good.
The web team intended to swap out these when someone had THE BIG IDEA. Then time and budget ran out, so the website was published with these generic graphics, along with text transferred from the old website. (The website that was being redeveloped because it didn’t work 🤨 ?)
Budget Constraints
A limited budget CAN lead to creativity, but mostly it leads to default free templates offered by Canva, Elementor and Figma. It looks amazing – just like everyone else.
The BIG IDEA🎇 is what makes a website that works!
I started my career in advertising. Each creative team is made up of:
Art Director: good with drawing pictures 🎨
Copywriter: good with writing words 🖋
Creative Director: idea generator 🎇
You don’t start “designing” until someone generates THE BIG IDEA 🎇 .
- The big idea SELLS
- The big idea makes people FEEL
- The big idea makes people WANT
I put “web design” and “web development” and “technical writing” in my SEO because I’m trying to say …
“If you come to me, you end up with an actual website, not a mood board and competitive analysis report”.
The unspoken part of my job, is to create a first impression, that makes the right prospect stop, backtrack and take a second look.
