The modern marketers have a wide range of automation, data analytics, CMS, and other sophisticated technologies at their disposal. Thanks to these advanced tools, marketers can easily find out when and where their customers read their messages, how long they spend on a particular channel, what actions they take, the types of content they prefer, and more.
Does that mean creativity and innovation take a backseat to technology in crafting successful digital journeys? A big NO!
Creativity Is Still (And Will Always Be) King Of Marketing
Ultimately, it all boils down to one fact – marketers need to establish an emotional connect with their audiences and encourage them to subscribe to their services or buy their products.
Market research reveals that only 20% of a brand’s marketing success comes from technology; the rest 80% from creative messaging.
The Problems With Relying Only On Technology-Driven Marketing
Very often, marketers make the mistake of over-relying on modern marketing tools, that innovation and creativity take a backseat. There are two significant problems with this approach: one, relying solely on data-driven marketing, makes it challenging to pair the right creative content with the data.
Two, most marketers fail to understand the difference between creativity and innovation in marketing. In other words, creativity is about unique ideas, while innovation is about unique ways to implement those ideas. Both creativity and innovation are essential for a successful marketing strategy.
When it comes to the development of a marketing strategy, the ideal approach is to define the goals first, use data (technology) to derive insights and then apply creativity and innovation to achieve the goals. Sadly, too many marketers rush towards the goals that they miss out on innovation and creativity.
What Are the Roles Of Creativity, Innovation, And Technology In Marketing?
- Innovation in marketing is taking an existing product/service/idea and enhancing it by applying creative solutions.
- Creativity is what transforms unique ideas into achievable improvements in a product/service.
- Technology is making use of available tools and scientific techniques to achieve a specific goal in marketing, say market reach, brand awareness, etc.
TECHNOLOGY & CREATIVITY GO HAND-IN-HAND IN MARKETING
Most of us would have heard of the “left-brain vs right-brain theory.” The right side of our brain is supposed to be creative, while the left side deals with reason and logic. While both these sides of the brain oversee different areas, they need to function in sync for all tasks.
Marketing can also be divided based on this theory: one side, there is data, analytics, and technology, and on the other hand, there are creativity and innovation.
Successful marketing campaigns need both parts to reach their goals. Marketers must employ the right mix of creativity and innovation, aided by technology to achieve ROI and their engagement goals.
The Key Takeaway
Marketing success doesn’t happen by accident. Rather than considering creativity as an afterthought, it must be included in the marketing process right from the beginning. Focus on a solid-design phase, and then transform ideas into implementable solutions fuelled by creative content.
Technology should aid creative content and not the other way around. Make use of data insights to fuel innovation, and then focus on developing the right creative content to build winning marketing strategies.
