Do You Produce Top-Quality Creative Content?

Marketing professionals are happy with the quality of their own ad creative. But when it comes to creative quality across the industry, they’re not quite as optimistic.

In June 2015 research by CRN International, more than three-quarters of US marketers said the overall quality of creative in their advertising was good or excellent, while just 1.7% said it was poor. However, respondents weren’t as positive about creative across the sector as a whole. Just over six in 10 marketers rated the quality of creative from the brands with which they were associated as good or excellent.

In order to continue to improve creative quality—at both their own companies and across the industry—marketers will need to overcome several hurdles. When asked about the biggest obstacles to delivering quality creative, respondents were most likely to cite understanding customers—something data-gathering tech could help with—and corporate culture. Meanwhile, prioritizing other efforts and a lack of confidence and talent were smaller issues.

Informative creative content was far and away the most effective type for marketing objectives, cited by nearly two-thirds of marketers. Fully 15.5% said touching content was the most effective, while one in 10 said the same about humorous items.

When April 2015 polling by Undertone asked US agency and marketing professionals about the leading considerations for garnering consumer attention and creating a positive user experience, nearly eight in 10 marketers and 73% of agencies cited ads that were visually appealing. Almost seven in 10 marketers said the content had to be personal and relevant, as did 65% of agencies.

Further results support the notion that advertisers are increasing creative focus. In May 2015 research by Market Measurement for Active International, fully 58% of US media company execs said reinforcing advertising value via content, rather than pure ratings, was their top advertising priority this year, vs. 42% who chose developing new pricing models for digital, mobile and social channel inventory.

Courtesy of eMarketer