Last year, I read Rick Rubin's book, The Creative Act, and I couldn't help but think about how the insights he shared are incredibly applicable to the work we do in growth marketing. As someone who runs an ad agency, I'm always looking for fresh perspectives that can help our clients unlock their potential and drive real results.
We're constantly seeking ways to innovate and capture attention, but the path to success isn't always clear. That's where the wisdom of legendary music producer Rick Rubin comes in. In his book The Creative Act, Rubin shares insights that, while originally intended for artists, hold immense value for marketers looking to elevate their campaigns.
One of the key takeaways from Rubin's book is the importance of embracing uncertainty. In the world of marketing, it's easy to fall into the trap of playing it safe, sticking to tried-and-true formulas. However, true breakthroughs often come from taking creative risks and venturing into uncharted territory. By stepping outside our comfort zones and exploring new ideas, we open ourselves up to the possibility of discovering something extraordinary.
This is weird but one of my clients is in the generative AI space. When we did research, we discovered a large segment of writers in the erotica and nsfw space. So a few months back we threw that in as a keyword and tested it. Our guts felt wrong about this (the product is not specifically built for this use case) but we took a swing as it wasn’t against the brand’s preferences.
Lo and behold, that bucket of keywords has now become a significant amount of monthly new customer signups at an extremely efficient ROAS of 800%. It’s possible that nobody else is serving these people and we stumbled across a neglected pocket of people.
Another crucial insight from Rubin's book is the power of iteration. In marketing, as in art, the first idea is rarely the best one. It's through a process of experimentation, refinement, and adjustment that we arrive at truly impactful solutions. By treating our campaigns as works in progress, we can continually optimize and improve based on data and feedback.
This is how creative testing is done. You ground in your ICP’s pains and desires, and figure out a way to speak to them and to share how your offering can help.
Another example from the same client. The 800lb gorilla and main competitor in the room for us was ChatGPT. In meta, we identified that users hated the restrictions and limitations. So naturally, we lead with that as a hook in a video ad. Something along the lines of “Feel restricted by ChatGPTs limitations?”
I was bullish. But I was wrong. It wasn’t a particularly strong ad.
However, this sentiment was pervasive and we were hearing it from everywhere. It stuck in my head. So weeks later we took another crack at it, but we approached it different. We created a battlecard ad that stacked us vs ChatGPT, calling out more differences - and instantly.
This one was a winner.
So we iterated again, and made it an animated ad, with the original hook. Today, this is one of our strongest new ads.
Of course, iteration isn't just about making creative adjustments in the dark; you better be leveraging data to inform decisions. We have access to a wealth of information about consumer behavior and preferences. By analyzing metrics like hook rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and engagement levels, we can gain valuable insights into what's working and what's not. Our internal reporting process here uses an iteration template to make sure we're observing what we've learned, what we want to test next.
So, I'd love to hear from you: what creative risks have you taken in your own marketing efforts? How have you used iteration and data to refine your campaigns over time? Share your experiences and insights in the comments below, and let's start a conversation about how we can all embrace the creative act in our work.
First time here? I push insights like these every month.
Subscribe if you want more. Browse our archive of posts from the past.
Need help with marketing or know someone who does? Drop me a message at alvin@adsbyalvin.com to see how we can help. You can also look at our work here.
I also share playbooks, templates, and knowledge for all things marketing / productivity that you can download here.
.jpeg)