Amaury Guichon makes delicious works of art. If you’re unfamiliar with him, he’s a French pastry chef who develops stunning masterpieces from chocolate and pastry. A number of viral videos depict the expertise and precision of his craft. From lifesize sculptures of tigers and alligators to an ultra-realistic jewelry box with a working hinge, Chef Guichon displays a proficiency of ingenuity with every new creation he reveals, and viewers are amazed.
Of course we are! His workspace is always pristine, his skill unobtainable, and his process satisfying. At the end of each video, he reveals a piece that looks mouthwateringly delicious and almost too beautiful to eat.
What viewers don’t see is the team cleaning up between cuts, the dirty dishes off-screen, and the weeks of planning and practice that go into each sculpture. They see his skill and compare it to their own, thinking “I could never do that.”
Marketers often do the same, comparing their work to competitors’ campaigns. They see fellow marketers create incredible work and accomplish impossible feats like it’s easy. They feel as though they’ll never attain such mastery.
Yes, Chef Guichon has years of experience and is incredibly talented, but he doesn’t accomplish his work alone. He has a team behind him, helping him plan and helping him look good. The secret behind his craft is detailed forethought and down-to-the-minute scheduling.
The same is true for a great marketing plan. It’s the structure and organization of a team that makes or breaks a campaign. If you move forward without carefully testing each segment, the foundation may not be stable enough to hold, and the whole project could come tumbling down. So plan ahead.
Before piecing together the social media, email, and blogs to create your final product, conduct the necessary research to ensure that each part will be received well. Have your team develop, dissect, tear down, and restructure each segment to ensure perfection. Though your campaign comprises individual pieces, they should come together perfectly to create a clean, uniform story. Transitions should be fine-tuned, sanded, and polished to achieve seamlessness.
Ideas will end up on the cutting room floor in this editing process. You’ll have to let go of concepts that seem worthwhile initially but don’t quite fit. You’ll have to consider some mediocre ideas and mold them into brilliant ones to complete the story you’re trying to tell. It’s far from a pristine process. It’s messy, chaotic, and even ugly at times. Don’t let it discourage you because after cleaning away the clutter, what you’ll find left are the perfect components to create a masterpiece. Now all you have to do is put them together.
Unfortunately, none of this is a straightforward process. A blog post might melt in your hands and fail to capture the intended audience. You’ll feel like you’re taking a step backward because, suddenly, the pieces aren’t fitting together as planned. Don’t lose hope. Your team knows the end goal, and you discussed so many options in the planning process that they can easily produce a backup.
As viewers, what we see from other brands is the result of hours of planning. Their ability to make it look simple comes from repeated practice. So rest assured, knowing that a masterful marketing plan is within reach! It just takes commitment, planning, and a clear vision of the end goal. With these three ingredients, you can whip up a jaw-dropping campaign—and make it look easy.
If you need a few extra hands to help you behind the scenes, turn to your partners for support. The team at THuS Marketing is always eager to jump into a project and provide assistance wherever needed. Whether it’s with planning, designing the parts, or piecing it all together, we’re happy to offer an extra hand. Connect with us today to set up a free consultation!