7 August 2023
Read time: 7 mins
Written by:
GEL Studios.
Before we start, let's look at what creativity is exactly.
"Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed"- Wikipedia
So, how can creativity benefit you and your business?
Let me start by introducing myself, I'm Gemma, I'm the Studio Manager here at GEL Studios and I am also this creative agency's non-creative. I play more of a supportive role here in the studio, managing the day-to-day which allows the creatives to flourish.
That's not to say I don't play an important role here at GEL Studios, but never have I been complimented on my eye-catching invoices or my 'out of the box' way of paying the gas bill. I did once create a pretty impressive toilet roll pyramid which actually made its way onto Linkedin, sadly that is my only claim to creative fame.
With that in mind, I did have to spend some time deliberating whether or not I was really the best person to be writing a blog on creativity? The conclusion I came to was that I could actually be the best person. Why? Because I am like you, a typical consumer.
Being the studio manager I am the member of the team that is called upon to find a service for customers, more often than not in a field I am not an expert in.
So how does creativity have an impact on me, a typical consumer? To answer that, we need to look at the environment in which we present our businesses to the consumer.
We live in a world where every product or service you can imagine is at your fingertips. Back in my late Grandmother's day, if you sprang a leak you would call the plumber, it didn't matter if he did a good job or charged a fair price, he was the plumber and that's who you called. For any financial service, you didn't shop around for the best deal, you simply went into 'the bank' and came out with 'the mortgage' or 'a bank account'.
Nowadays we are not limited to using products that are stocked locally, we can pick items from all over the world if we want. From insurance to guttering, wedding venues to car exhausts we can choose what we want and who we use - and we have plenty of choice.
So in a world where we have so many options available, how do we possibly choose what is best for us taking our business priorities into consideration budget, timeframe & personal choice?
It's very easy these days to ask a large number of people what they would do in the situation you find yourself in, some of these people you might not have seen for years - often you don't know at all.
It may sound like I am putting this method down, I'm really not - this can be a great way of finding trustworthy tradesmen, products and services but as I am heavily implying we need to err on the side of caution.
It's important to be sure these recommendations have come from a genuine place of trust and not just someone attempting to generate business for themselves, or for their friends or family.
That's not to say you cannot trust recommendations, here at GEL Studios we receive a large number of new enquiries off the back of good recommendations. However, it is very unlikely that they will hit that enquiry button without doing some homework and checking us out first.
The first port of call is to always look at a company's website before contacting them, whether they have been recommended or not.
For me personally, a company website needs to tick the below boxes to be considered:
This brings me nicely to the other ways I, your typical consumer, might find your business when looking for a product or service I need.
The most common method has to be Google, even my primary school-aged son knows the phrase 'Google it' - did you know that it's estimated that Google processes approximately 63,000 searches per second, that's 5.6 Billion searches per day? Ok, some of those are 8-year-old boys asking 'if a person can actually explode if they eat really hot chillies?' (yes, but that's a blog for another day!) All that aside, that is still a huge number of potential customers!
In order to gain my business from a Google search, your professional, authentic, user-friendly site that is portraying you as honest & reliable must also be full of up-to-date content. And it must be towards the top of the search results- rarely do I make it further than 5 down the list. So make sure your site has helpful SEO (search engine optimisation) friendly content please.
There have been many occasions where I have seen a company advertising a specific product or service across all of its social channels. That content needs to be creative and stand out, but I also need to see it a number of times. On average I need to see it seven times before I remember it in fact. (If you haven't heard of the rule of 7 in advertising it's definitely worth Googling).
In order to generate business via social media you'll need a carefully thought-out campaign with eye-catching, memorable logo and graphics. By doing this you'll benefit from the algorithms and your posts will be optimised for maximum exposure, that is an art form in itself!
Like many 'typical consumers' I'm a bit of a social media addict so it's probable I'll see your content on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and maybe even TikTok - this is why it is so beneficial to be on all of these social media outlets, it also makes that 'rule of 7' seem not so daunting.
In a way, you should think of social media marketing in a similar way to word-of-mouth recommendations in the sense that it puts your company on people's radar, and gives them a feeling that they know you a little better. However, as I mentioned above, with any recommendations further research into you and your business is always required. How? By clicking on your website.
So you've got all of the above right, and I now remember the name of your company, what am I going to do when I need you? Yep, I'm Googling you and we are back on the website again.
The whole aim of marketing is to drive people back to your website to complete an action. You might have the best social media campaign in the world, but if your website is not on point, you won't get your desired results.
This brings me nicely to the very point of this blog, creativity and why it should be a pivotal part of your business plan.
Creativity is KING when it comes to website design. Your website should truly reflect your vibe, vision, and USPs and help you achieve your objectives.
Here at GEL Studios only when we fully understand this can our talented designers map out how best to navigate your customers through your site giving them a pleasant, user-friendly experience and you, maximum results.
Only then, when your website is ready and optimised for maximum results should you inject that same creativity into your social media and ad campaigns.
Recognising the need for creativity within the marketing of your business really will propel you ahead of your competitors and if like me your creative flare is more of a glow stick then click on the little 'Get In Touch' tab up there and let's chat.
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