Creativity in your ads matter. It’s the meat to an ad’s bones, the “wow” factor, and the secret to an impression that sears itself into memory. Without creativity, there is little room to try something new nor the opportunity to tailor your ads to your audience.
Before you think “personalise and optimise”, you must embrace creative.
Statistics1 show:
- You have 7 seconds to engage a user on a social platform.
- Facebook users click on 12 ads every 30 days.
- Only 16% of advertising is both recalled and correctly attributed to the brand.2
A creatively strong ad is 27% more effective than a weak one. How so?2
- Compelling ads deliver 11x higher ROI than non-creative campaigns.
People believe a brand is high-quality and worth their attention because they’re impressed by the effort that went into producing a creative ad.2 - Creative ads make a brand more competitive.
The advent of social media upped the need for constant content. This churn in a bid for relevance means simply being present isn’t enough. The brand must stand out. - Creative ads reach more people (and save on media spend).
Ads that elicit a “wow” or some kind of visceral reaction are more likely to be shared organically, especially on social media.
Why creativity impacts the consumer response
What is it about creativity that inspires people to buy product more than its catalogue of attributes and benefits? Harvard wondered that exact same thing. Better still, they conducted a study. In that study, they took apart the elements of creativity and examined which ones linked directly to sales and consumer response.3
More interestingly, of the five elements of creativity examined, the top two forms that drove sales were called elaboration and artistic value.3
- Elaboration
An unexpected twist, detail, or extension of a simple idea. - Artistic value
Where an ad is viewed as a piece of art rather than a blatant sales pitch.
If you read only one sentence today, let it be this: the Harvard study found that highly creative ad campaigns, on average, nearly double the sales impact of a euro spent on a non-creative campaign.3
Creativity is more than visual, it’s also copy
Often, we perceive creativity as visual and forget the other stuff. Yet, the underrated hero in any ad campaign is copy. Whether in branding or lead generation, the words you write matter. From the way copy shapes brand identity to the subtle recognition it offers your ads through consistency, copy matters.
A unique brand voice differentiates your brand from the competition; persuasive language incites urgency and emotion. Good, creative copy not only raises a brow, it speaks to your audience. Makes them feel valued, seen, and heard.
To fully leverage the returns creativity offers, tailor both your visuals and copywriting to your target audience.
What is the next step for marketers?
- Embrace that creativity and digital go hand in hand. Focus on authenticity and what resonates with your audience.4
- Build for each channel.4 Don’t simply repurpose. Make sure creative is native to the platforms (or even unique).
- Use analytics to understand what your audience is seeking and how they react to those ads.
- Test your ad elements one at a time (like a CTA) and don’t be afraid to experiment with different ad versions across platforms. Who knows? Maybe your audience prefers video to static, or comparison to carousel.
Conclusion
Digitisation has made reaching your audience easy, and yet tough, because every brand has gone digital. The key to leveraging digital and differentiating oneself is through embracing creativity. Hook your audience with creativity that sparks, better understand them through the data you collect, personalise your creative assets, and repeat. You’ll get better engagement, better performance, and improved brand recognition. Over time, this could reflect in improved ROI.
Looking for help with personalising your ads? Or to take your creative storytelling to the next level?
