Sell the experience
Not the product.
3 Steps to Building a
Winning Creative Strategy
by Kerr Wilson
Setting up a Creative Strategy system that increases your sales is not simple or easy. It requires a lot of work. But I’d like to show you that with a solid foundation, your marketing efforts become reliable to your potential customers and effective for your sales. By defining your key elements and setting up a working system, you’ll turn your concepts and ad creatives into a clear, well-aimed tactic instead of a guessing game.
Think about how much easier things get when you
1. have a clear plan (Foundation)
2. know exactly who you’re talking to (System), and
3. how to talk to them (Concept)
Not in for a long read? Book a free appointment, and I’ll walk you through it step by step.
1
FOUNDATION
With precise groundwork comes an indestructible building.
This is where you lay cement, not sand.
Success in marketing begins by defining your key elements first:
Best Sellers
Where does (or should) most of our revenue come from?
Past Performers
Which products sold well and why? Was it timing? Was it ad creative? Was it organic content?
Marketing Calendar
Name at least 4 key moments in a calendar year where you want to be fully prepared for your product to sell the most. e.g. holidays, Halloween, Black Friday, cultural moments such as festivals or large gatherings (e.g. Coachella, Comic Con) or even season shifts like Back-to-School.
Angles and tones
What energy do we want to give off, when advertising our product? Are we witty? Are we straightforward? Helpful and friendly? Young and trendy? Luxurious and exclusive?
Audiences (current and future)
Which demographic engages with and buys the most from us? Which audience would we like to see engage with us? Knowing your audience is important, otherwise, you might end up speaking Gen Z lingo to a Boomer audience or creating high-energy ads for an audience that prefers low-energy content.
Competing Brands
Identify your competitors and analyze their strategies. Examine the reviews and comments to uncover key problems and solutions. Research what people love about their product and why they buy it. Identify common dislikes and pain points. What angle are these competitors taking in their marketing? What are some key points, desires, and results, they’re failing to mention in their ads?
Mentor Brands
Look at brands you admire no matter the niche and analyze what makes their marketing successful.
Successful ad creatives come from knowing the target and aiming straight, not guessing where it is.
SYSTEM
2
Once we’ve set a solid foundation, we can implement a system to aim precisely at our clearly defined target, rather than shoot in the dark and guessing where it is. The target becomes crystal clear when you’ve set tight constraints.
The system is about finding your concept.
The concept = the ad creative.
To find our concept we need to define your offer, angle and audience.
For each concept we create, it is important that we have only one audience in mind. This way the angle is much clearer.
Offer (What)
This is your product. The offer could be a 2-for-1 deal, a gift with each purchase - but simply put: The offer is your product and you need to find out who wants it and why. For example:
The U-Smoo 100X Lotion
Audience (Who)
The more precise you are in defining the audience, the clearer the Angle and Concept becomes. For example:
A poorly-defined audience: “Lotion for men, age 25-35”
A well-defined audience: “Lotion for carpenters”
Angle (Why)
Once you’ve clearly defined who wants your product (audience+offer) we can find out exactly why they would need it (angle) and later, how we’ll make them want it (concept). What we know already is that carpenters deal with wood, sawdust, and tools, and are exposed to conditions and chemicals that lead to dry skin. But since they know this already we don’t need to remind them of the facts. What we need to do is find out why our product is missing in their lives. What do they desire and which bad experiences are they having without our product?
Dry, cracked skin and bleeding hands outside of work
Itchy face and fingers when trying to relax at home
Going to a dinner party with a red, puffy face, shaking hands with cracked fingers
Not being present and fully in the moment with your kids/friends due to itchiness and pain
New concept? Define a new audience and tweak the angle.
Some audiences share the same problem, and the angle that needs tweaking can sometimes be as simple as changing the surroundings.
e.g. Audience: Hairdressers (Constant exposure to hair, water, shampoos, and chemicals). What would the angle be here?
This approach draws from Common Thread Collective’s ‘Prophit System’.
“Us vs. Them” static ad from Rainbow Dust.
CONCEPT
Now that we have our foundational key elements and our system (offer, audience, and angle) in place, we can bring the concepts to life.
Finally, the concept is where you talk directly to your set audience using the angle and showing them the offer.
Each concept is your campaign, the ad creative itself, and its variations. One concept can deliver up to 3 variations of the same video ad. Another could deliver up to 3 variations of the static image ad. These variations are usually different hooks for the video concept, and for the static images, changes in copy, USPs, or headlines.
Example Concept Structures
In what I like to call the “In-the-Box” video concept, I use a straightforward structure which consistently gets results and is easy to iterate. The psychology behind the modular structure goes something like this:
1. Come here I need to show you one thing (hook)
2. This is your life without our product (problem/bad alternative)
3. This could be your life (product demo + benefits) and,
4. By owning this product you’ll have that life (CTA)”
Now it’s up to you to fill out the building blocks in this structure by finding out which audience you’ll speak to and what angle you’ll take to show them the offer.
With the rise in e-commerce, online stores, dropshipping, and white labeling, creativity and brand authenticity has never been more important.
3
A good example of an In-The-Box concept.
The “Out-of-Box” structure is less of a building and more of an exercise in research and inspiration. It’s based on thinking outside of the problem/solution structure by seeking inspiration elsewhere, following trends and coming up with clever ideas to showcase your product. The stronger your foundational work is and the more precise your system is (offer, audience, angle), the safer it is for you to have some fun with your creatives.
For hooks you can combine an enticing visual with a good sentence that triggers an emotional response. Many advertisers like to think that for a visual hook you need to catch attention with a big splash or a hypnotizing gimmick but I like to stay away from making the potential customer feel like they got tricked into viewing an ad.
A strong relationship is built on trust and respect, not bait.
This does not mean you can’t be funny or clever.
And being clever leads to my next concept structure, “Out-of-Box”. Whether it’s a structure or simply an exercise in research, it’s based on having some fun with the creative.
Don't be afraid to get creative with the Out-of-Box structure. While the approach is unconventional, it doesn't mean your USPs and value propositions will be lost. In fact, innovative storytelling can make these key messages stand out even more.
Effective static ads focus on what your audience needs and get straight to the point. Every element—headline, copy, call-to-action—should do its job without overcomplicating things. You don’t need flashy gimmicks to make an impact. A clear message that directly addresses what matters most to your audience will do the heavy lifting, drawing them in without any nonsense.
Ready to get your product out there and start making real profit? Don’t let another opportunity pass you by.
Your free consultation is right here—make the move.
Your static ads are all about bringing your USPs and value propositions together and stating clearly what your target audience is struggling with without your product, and how your product will solve that problem. The key is to convey this message in as few words as possible. With compelling copy and strong visuals, you'll be well on your way to striking gold.
Video ads I created for Unicorn Snot. These follow the In-The-Box structure. I’m currently working on Out-Of-Box structured ads for them which I’m excited to share here soon.
Your free consultation is right here—make the move.