CAN SOFTWARE TELL YOU WHICH CREATIVE EXECUTION WILL BE MORE EFFECTIVE?

Can a calculation or a mathematical computation predict user behavior? There is no simple answer, however as a designer I found it interesting enough to take a deeper look into it.

There are companies in the market who have built software and analytical strategies that try and tackle this problem of identifying what makes effective and impactful creative work. Can we trust their results? Yes and no.

The services in the market are similar in some ways, different in others. Most test for creative impact based on contrast:  shape, color, light and dark – and the presence of a face. Based on these factors, these testing tools can provide you with an A/B comparison or overall creative score. They may help creative choose between a few versions of layouts, or see which area of a piece will first catch the eye. Some of these programs offer stored analytics that allow viral tracking through social channels, re-pinning and more.

However smart the logic is behind these systems, they just can’t account for some marketing basics and branding know-how. For example, a consumer audience that is looking at an ad on a social site may be vastly different from an audience viewing an ad for the same brand in a magazine. Marketers still need to be smart about their audiences and adjust creative accordingly.

On the plus-side, creative “litmus tests” can teach designers and marketers which visual is more effective, sharable or likeable. Marketers should indeed pay attention to analytics, take a look at what is trending, and follow it.

In sum, there are some really great tools that help to tweak, track and measure the potential impact of creative. It’s a good idea to try them to see if they improve your creative’s impact and performance. However, seasoned creatives and marketers don’t fly using only the instrument panel; they keep their eyes, ears and mind open, and use other inputs as well – they know their brand, their audience…and their gut.