Here's a list from Worktank's VP/creative director of the crucial items a creative team should address before beginning any campaign.
As an integrated ad agency specializing in brand storytelling, Worktank is in a constant state of developing, launching and overseeing interactive campaigns for client brands. Here are some of the priorities our creative team thinks about before beginning each project, to help deliver a successful outcome for our clients.
1. Know your audience
Before you can begin to put together your online campaign, you need to know how your client's target audience interacts with technology and with the brand online. Think of it as a two-sided coin: You've got your audience on one side, and your brand on the other. For a successful outcome, the two must come together.
Questions you should be asking are: What level of technology experience does your client's audience bring to the online space? What kind of technologies do they use? What are the expectations of the people who will be consuming the campaign?
As an example, an audience composed primarily of men, ages 18 to 24, will have a specific set of technology skills, while male baby boomers will have different expectations; from technology requirements to knowledge of how to react to technology. These two groups will have a different experience with navigation systems, design systems, response styles, and even attention spans, and this will set a different requirement for how to convey information to them.
2. Understand your brand and how it lives
It is important to be clear about what the client's brand means in the online space and what it brings to that arena. Some things you should think about: Do you know exactly how the brand transfers across technologies? Is the brand forward-thinking? Does it lend itself more to clear navigation or unstructured exploration? If the audience is more conservative about how it receives technology, how does your brand reflect this attitude?
It's crucial to understand how the brand personality translates over to the use of technology. Using a certain technology simply to create something that's in vogue may miss the mark completely if it doesn't match the brand. Nike.com focuses on innovation and performance and therefore makes use of technology and design differently from, say, Keds.com. The two audiences have distinct expectations, and the technology used must reflect this difference.
3. Extend your campaign beyond the expected campaign elements
You can do a lot more than simply deliver a landing page and a banner. Expand your thinking beyond web or display advertising, and consider creating pieces that people can easily share with others or take away, such as video, widgets, mobile content and RSS feeds. As an example, baby.com offers a widget that you can put on your Google.com home page to receive up-to-the-minute tips on baby care.
Creating collateral that is both reusable and expandable is smart. Your campaign can, and should, reach wherever the audience is looking or may have technology. Just be sure to stick to the original vision and keep the messaging consistent across all campaign formats.
4. Create a conversation or relationship
With interactive technology today, you've got the opportunity to build a real relationship with consumers. You're no longer limited to websites and interactive space that merely invites people to read materials, buy products online or engage with others on message boards. You've got live chat, video blogs, wikis and user-generated content as tools for creating conversations.
Great advertisers and brands understand the importance of moving from one-way monologues to full-on discussions about the brand. Technology has changed to enable companies and consumers to interact in a much greater way, and it's important to take great advantage of this development.
5. Establish your metrics
Many clients seek the strong ROI that interactive and digital can bring to campaigns. This being the case, you must set up in advance exactly what you're going to use to measure success; for example, clickthroughs or interaction rates. Once you have those parameters in place, you can build and design your campaign to easily track results. Whatever form you use, make sure you can easily measure your results, and make sure your team understands the metrics requirements right from the beginning.
Making these your top five priorities before your creative team gets started can help you create a successful interactive campaign.
Kalie Kimball-Malone is VP/creative director for Worktank. Read full bio.