Author: creativecircle

“Not To Exceed” are three words that send a shiver down the spine of anyone delivering services to clients – especially if those services are creative. What the “Not To Exceed” clause typically implies is that the client has a set budget and expects the supplier not to go over that budget. It is often referred to as a Fixed Price. Seems fair, right? Sure… It puts the burden on the supplier to budget accordingly; set the scope, figure out the deliverables, build the team and then set a budget. Of course, they are doing this before any work has begun. It’s always an estimate; always. Until of course the contract is signed and then it is a fixed price. This is typical and has been the way digital and creative services have been sold for years. And I don’t see it changing anytime soon. Rarely will a client spend a little money up front to accurately scope and budget a project. That would be ideal!

But what clients sometimes say (in fine print or buried in their legal docs) is that in addition to the Not To Exceed clause, there will be unlimited rounds of creative work to be completed before the client signs off and approves the work. Wait….what? You want me to fix my price, not exceed it and you can ask for as many revisions as you want? I don’t think so… But time and time again suppliers agree to it. Why? Because they need the gig and… think they can manage accordingly. Easier said than done. Creative work is subjective. It’s emotional. Some clients simply do not know what they like – but they sure know what they don’t like! And that is when bad things happen.

“Not To Exceed” is bad for both parties.

For the supplier, it is the kiss of death. Unless there is a clear change order process or a way to raise red flags for scope creep, the supplier’s margin will shrink every day there is another round of creative. And the supplier will begrudgingly do the work and it will no longer be fun. And creatives like to have fun.

While it may not be as emotional for the client, this is a bad situation because they will lose their partnership with the supplier. The collaboration and good feelings will have been lost. The supplier now sees the work as a chore and the passion is gone. All they want to do is get it done. In fact, they may move their top talent off the project (due to hourly rates and margin shrinkage) and put less experienced people on task. And in the end, this is bad for the client. Because the work is rushed.

Many years ago, my agency had a top cosmetics brand as a client. We agreed to the “Not To Exceed” clause because a) we needed the gig and b) how could we pass up the chance to work with such a well-known brand. When we delivered our first round of creative they gave some notes and felt we were close. So when we delivered round 2 we were confident we would get sign off. Well…after round 15 we had blown through the entire budget and still had no approval. My team was burnt, frustrated and angry. For round 16 I delivered the creative for Round 1 and guess what happened? They approved it. Argh! At that point, we were out of budget and had to go through a very long process to get the client to allocate more money to the project. But at that point, the relationship was over.

The bottom line is this….don’t suggest or agree to a “Not To Exceed” clause unless there is a way to protect both parties with a change order process. A creative relationship between client and supplier is based on trust and empathy. If the supplier feels they are going to lose money or burn out, then they are going to fail – and in turn, the client will fail as well. The “Not To Exceed” clause simply is not worth it – emotionally or financially.

Michael Weiss is the Vice President of Consulting Services & Solutions at Creative Circle.
This article was originally published on LinkedIn here.

If you’re an introvert, there’s no task more onerous than attending a professional networking mixer. There you are, in a sea of people you don’t know and honestly don’t really want to talk to, and yet you know one of them may be the key to a new job, a new client, or some much-needed advice. At best, it feels like an obstacle course; at worst, it feels like torture.

At least that’s how I felt. I’m a lifelong introvert who sought out a career in advertising to help counterbalance my unshakeable tendencies toward introversion.
The first hurdle was, of course, breaking into the industry, which is why I started suffering through networking mixers.

Flash-forward a dozen years: between attending what felt like hundreds of mixers (which eventually paid off) and then working in a notoriously extroverted industry, I’ve picked up some tricks that have made me better at networking – not just at events, but at work and in my personal life too. Here are a few of the best tips that can help you win almost any social situation.

Make it about the process, not the people.

We introverts tend to be very process-oriented people. If you can think of a networking event not as a social event but a job-oriented task, you can handle it one step at a time. Examples of different steps could be researching the event, attending the event, giving yourself the goal of meeting x number of people, telling x number of people what you’re looking for, etc. You can also apply this entire “break it down into chunks” approach to everything else in your life, including your job search.

Be strategic about the events you go to.

The brutal truth is that many people go to networking events either for the free drinks or they’re there to give their elevator speech and hope you can find them a job. Which is fine, but if you go to a mixer filled with people just like you (e.g., copywriters, new account executives), there may not be very much value to exchange.

Instead, attend events that are more likely to attract a wider audience. For designers and visual artists, your local AIGA chapter is a great place to look for multifaceted events that attract a range of people. I, personally, have made valuable connections at Creative Mornings, since they attract not only artists, writers and programmers, but also professionals who are eager to learn new ways to solve their business problems.

Don’t waste time thinking of a clever opening line.

Because here is the perfect opening line that works every time: “So, what brings you to this event?” It’s a bulletproof icebreaker since most people enjoy talking about themselves! It can also help set up a fruitful conversation about what they’re looking to gain from attending the event.

Do spend a lot of time perfecting your elevator pitch.

Your elevator pitch is that brief and meaningful professional summary of who you are, what you can offer, and what you’re looking for. Many career experts recommend a run time of about 30 seconds, but come on! 30 seconds is also the length of the average commercial, and you know what happens when those come on? People get up and leave.

Have the full 30-second pitch in your back-pocket, but have a trimmed, sound-byte version that can add your elevator pitch to a conversation without monopolizing it. Write it out and practice it, if you must. It really is that important.

Practice reading the room.

As an introvert, you probably spend a lot of time hanging back, analyzing everyone and everything in the room. Put it to good use! Before you approach anyone, make sure you’re doing it at the right time, with the right person. Look for people who seem pleasant and receptive before you approach them, not distracted (i.e., people that have been on the phone 90% of the time). If you only approach one person at the event, make sure it’s the event organizer. They probably know everyone attending the event, can direct you to key people, and may even introduce you.

Meet someone? Ask for their card.

Digital contact cards are nice, but having a real, physical thing that you can jot notes on is best. For one thing, you’re more likely to remember the details of the discussion if you write them by hand. And it gives you the opportunity to write down an interesting fact about the conversation with your new contact, which you can refer to later.

Trade value for value.

Networking is a two-way street, so you shouldn’t be purely focused on what you can get out of a connection. So, to badly mangle one of the most powerful quotes of all time, “Ask not what your colleague can do for you, but what you can do for your colleague.” Sometimes, just listening and being an active, thoughtful participant in a conversation is enough.

Follow up with your new contacts.

Within a day of the event, send a note saying something to the effect of: “It was nice to meet you! Let’s stay in touch, and if I hear of any opportunities you’d be interested in, I’ll let you know.” Send your note to an email account rather than a social media profile, as you’d be surprised by many people don’t check their LinkedIn accounts that often.

BYOB (Be You, Only Better).

And finally, when you do go to a networking event, you don’t have to adopt an extroverted persona, but you should present the best version of yourself. You can still be an introvert, but be a sincere, honest, engaged one who is comfortable in your own skin. People will respond! The more at-ease and relaxed you appear, the more likely it is that people will approach you.

Lisa is a Creative Circle candidate and seasoned advertising copywriter who lives in Los Angeles. Her background includes both in-house and agency work on Fortune 500 and global accounts in the consumer and healthcare/pharmaceutical fields. She excels at words, fashion, and cats. If you want to work with Lisa, contact Creative Circle Los Angeles.

We interviewed recruiters on what the most crucial dos and don’ts are when it comes to crafting a resume and on the most common mistakes they see. Take note of these quick tips. These are the five things you can do to improve your resume right now.

1. DO limit it two pages max.

Shoot to get everything onto a single page. If you honestly think there’s enough worth mentioning (and you’ve tightened the type and spacing within reason) to spill over on a second page, okay — but only if you’re a senior-level type.

2. DON’T add filler.

In the vast majority of cases, all anybody really needs to learn from your resume is what your last three jobs were, education history (if you were in school during recent history or it’s impressive), the technical skills you possess, and maybe a line for references. Again, how impressive these are can determine whether or not it’s worth including. Almost anything that happened more than ten years ago can probably be scrapped.

3. DO choose a sensible font.

Even if you’re a designer, save the tricks for your portfolio work. Choose a font that reads clearly and is in line with the typographical hierarchy you’ve set for your resume.

4. DO format consistently.

Wonky formatting can make people absolutely bonkers. If you’re switching techniques mid-document like alternating em-dashes with bullet points, it’s a pretty safe bet that you’re provoking someone’s pet peeve. You don’t want to give the wrong impression before you even meet.

5. DON’T make any typos.

Typos can be forgiven in some contexts (most of which involve a phone) but on a resume, it is utterly forbidden. No wiggle room here so read your resume forwards and backwards, out loud, and one more time than you think is necessary.

Now, we understand that every rule has its exceptions but these five tips are quick and basic things you should be doing first.

Marjorie is a former Creative Circle candidate based in Portland who recently accepted a full-time offer for her dream job. She is a writer/editor and stylist/producer with an emphasis in the design world. If you are interested in working with someone like Marjorie, please contact your nearest Creative Circle office.

You’ve put the work into developing your creative brief, outlining your media buying plan, and completing your creative – now it’s time to put your plan into action.

Choosing who will see your ad is one of the most important campaign decisions you will make.
Before hitting the launch button, consider the available options for segmentation and targeting on the platform you are using. You will likely find a wide variety of demographics, firmographics, or behaviors that can be targeted. Many platforms also let you target your existing audience (based on email address or visit to your website). Being appropriately selective amongst these options can ensure that you spend your money efficiently and effectively.

You should also plan on testing key elements of your campaign. If you have created multiple variations of your creative, then run an A/B test (where setup is identical for the two variations, except for the creative itself). This can help you zero-in on the creative that your target audience responds to the best. If you only have a single creative variation, consider testing other elements of the campaign, such as you audience segment (divide your target audience into demographic segments) or client platform (divide your target audience into the platforms they use such as mobile and desktop).

Once you have set up your campaign and any tests, it’s time to launch! While this is a tremendous milestone, there is still work to be done.

Most digital ad platforms will provide basic reporting on the performance of your ad. While this basic reporting may suffice for some, you may want to consider creating your own tracking sheet (particularly if you are running your campaign across multiple platforms that have different reporting tools). Some basic engagement metrics you should pay attention to are: Impressions (the number of times your ad was shown), Clicks (the number of times your ad was clicked), Click Through Rate or CTR (a percentage that is the number of clicks your ad received divided by the number of impressions), Spend (how much you have spent on distributing your ad), and Cost per Click or CPC (an average that is the amount you spent divided by the number of clicks your ad received).

While it is important to track and measure these basic metrics, you will also want to measure the number of people who convert (people who click on your ad that ultimately take the action that was the impetus behind your campaign). For some, conversion may be filling out a lead form, for others it may be an e-commerce purchase. Regardless of the conversion goal, many digital ad platforms will allow you to track how many people convert off your ad (this is usually done through a tracking script or pixel on your site). Similarly, you will want to track your Conversion Rate (a percentage that is the number of conversions divided by the number of clicks on your ad) and your Cost per Acquisition or CPA (an average that is the amount you spent divided by the number of conversions you have generated from your ad). If you are running your campaign across multiple platforms, you may want to consider using an analytics tool, such as Google Analytics, to help you connect your ad engagement data to your conversion data across platforms.

If you have done a good job of setting up your engagement and conversion tracking, you should be able to start analyzing your data to identify opportunities for optimization. Pay close attention to the reporting capabilities of the platform you are using. Many will have the ability to break down campaign performance by age, gender, location, placement, platform, time of day, and many other useful analysis dimensions. Compare this data along with any A/B test data you have collected to identify segments that are performing above or below average CPCs and CPAs. By stopping under-performing segments and investing in the ones that perform above the average, you will be able to optimize your campaign and drive down your CPA.

Campaign measurement, analysis, and optimization is a continuous process that can dramatically improve response and drive down your cost to acquire a new customer. Having solid insights into your campaign performance data and adapting your strategy to what you learn from this data is critical to a successful marketing campaign.

Abraham Langer is the founder of Business Advisory Board LLC, a B2B marketing consultancy that helps companies grow using technology and data. Abraham has over 18 years of media and marketing experience and regularly speaks at industry events. He can be reached at alanger@mybab.co.

“Reach! Distribute! Acquire! E-blast! Impressions!” are just some of the words we’ve all seen on briefs, heard in meetings, and been tasked to achieve while working in digital media and marketing.

As far as conventional marketing goes: the jig is up. We, as consumers, know not to click on the banners, that if you’re looking at shoes on Amazon, they’re likely to show up somewhere else on another website, “cookies” are something that don’t come out of the oven, and that paying for an ad-free music experience on Spotify is worth it. Because of these changes in consumer behavior, brands have been forced to figure out a new way to storytell while also driving purchase intent.

Companies of all kinds have grown dependent on reaching and targeting mass audiences through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest because of their ability access consumers through shareable content and 1:1 engagement. Over the past couple of years, companies like BuzzFeed have encouraged brands to focus heavily on storytelling in an editorial fashion. Even ad agencies are now making commercials that could stand alone as their own TV episodes. With the nuanced addition of influencer marketing and brands developing their own identities, “successful marketing” as we know it has gone through yet another evolution.

Technology, and the way brands use it to market to consumers, is on a hamster wheel going full-speed because now, more than ever, individuals are not loyal to any brand or platform in particular. This is, in part, because millennials are curatorial when it comes to their daily lifestyles. The products in one’s purse are as aesthetically-in-line with the products they use in their kitchen as the clothes they wear and the people they follow on social media. Most importantly, these curated lifestyles are typically attached to some form of deeply-rooted mission. The age of conventional loyalty is over, making it more and more difficult for brands to maintain consistency and longevity with their target audiences unless they stand for something.

To make things even more complicated, millennials are getting tech fatigue, having to find ways (even apps!) to help them turn off and seek more authentic experiences. Given the state of the world, people want to get back to human connection and the causes they stand behind, which is creating yet another facet for brands to address when it comes to marketing. In this Forbes article, SEO Specialist, David Kley, says that “ads will become more singularly purposed in nature, with a very specific goal and goal conversion place in mind, whether it be a mobile or desktop experience,” insisting that brands will look to speak directly to the consumer rather than just reacting to tentpole events and old-school marketing calendars.

Marketing is no longer about selling something, but rather relating to consumers on an individual basis for who they are, where they are, and giving them what they want given what they stand for.

With that said, augmented reality, professionally-executed live video, and conversational engagement with one’s smart home devices like Alexa, Google Home, etc., will be a focus for making people feel like they’re getting that personal contact with their tech that knows them best. In the same Forbes article, digital marketing strategist Twila Grissom, suggests that “attention is a currency, and building a personalized connection with prospects will be critical for digital marketing in 2018.”

Curious about other up-and-coming marketing trends to look out for? Read more on Forbes.

Annie is a Creative Circle candidate and freelance creative strategist/copywriter working and living in Los Angeles. She knows digital media as well as she knows her own horoscope (she’s a Virgo), having worked at the likes of BuzzFeed and Mashable. She has created branded content strategies for the top Fortune 500 brands, which means she knows the true meaning of “going native.” If you want to work with Annie, contact Creative Circle Los Angeles.