Why I’m Doing More Creative Things That Scare Me

Welcome to my newsletter. Each month, I share things that I've been thinking about.

This October I’m sharing more on the journey that led up to our latest brand campaign and why doing more creative things that scare you could be the most important thing you do for your business.?

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Eight months ago, my VP of marketing, Dan Mills , texted me.

“Do you think this is something LinkedIn could handle?” he asked.?

In the text, he attached a vertical video . Dan is a talented and wildly creative musician, so I was not surprised when I hit “play,” and there was Dan dancing and serenading me about our newest features in Wistia He’d produced the tune in max 45 minutes like the pro he is.

It was time to see if LinkedIn could, in fact, handle it. We let the video rip and, as my Talking Too Loud co-host Sylvie Lubow likes to say, it slapped.

225 reactions and 50 LinkedIn comments, plus a whole bunch of in-person reports that Dan’s tune was a total earworm later, we knew we were on to something.

I admit the instantaneous positive reaction did surprise me, though it shouldn’t have.

Anything we’d ever done with music in prior Wistia campaigns had always stood out as some of our more creative, catchy, and memorable work.

Like the time we created a retro compilation album “Songs About Wistia:”

Or that barbershop quartet on laptops that belted out the benefits of using Wistia for business videos:

And then there was the rap about the release of our free plan:

Dan and I got to thinking – if this kind of ear-addictive jingle worked before, why not do more of it now?

When You’re Moving Fast?

We’ve spent the last few years expanding and dramatically improving Wistia products so we can help businesses solve more problems with video.?

This year has been especially big – we're already at more than 100 updates for the year.?

As we’ve moved fast, we’ve worked to keep up messaging to let customers and prospects know what’s new in the product. As simple as it sounds, it’s not easy to cut through the noise, and we’re not alone.

It’s a challenge all marketers face and one we often underestimate. When we’re all bombarded with so many channels and emails, it can take time before a prospect or customer sees a message that gets through.

With a challenge like that, it’s tempting to find new ways to grow awareness more quickly to match the pace of your product.

The Imitation Trap

Sometimes, that desire to do something big and quickly can lead marketers straight into an imitation trap – imitating a move you’ve seen a big, popular brand do.? If something worked for them, it should work for you, right?

Wrong. Here are two potential pitfalls of copying other brands:

• You might be copying a version of something that isn't actually working even though it might seem like it is. Big brands are established. When they take wild risks, it's possible the thing you're imitating isn't doing anything, but it doesn't really matter in the scheme of things…for them. You have a different brand with a different audience. If you make this mistake, you could do more harm to your company than good.?

• Big, super-established brands can say bold things other brands can't because they've built a broad audience that knows and trusts them. Think about it. Coca-Cola can keep it simple with an ad saying "Enjoy" because no matter where you are in the world, you know Coke, and you’ve probably tried it. That ad evokes joy and makes perfect sense. If your tech brand that not everyone knows says: "Enjoy," it won't work. In fact, it could come off as downright bizarre.

Scare The Crap Out Of Yourself

So what can you do?

Understand yourself. Understand your audience. Invest in understanding what makes your customers tick and lean in. Be who you uniquely are and do what’s worked for you in the past.

Commit to doing it bigger than you have before. Lean in so much you scare yourself.?

That’s what we’re doing with our new campaign and our first music video for this campaign Do It Right Here (check it out below).

Dan and I decided that those signals we got from our LinkedIn video test were a sign it was time to get back to what made Wistia marketing uniquely Wistia – catchy, quirky, can’t-get-it-out-of-your-head musically unique videos that you find yourself humming…at work, in the office, taking a shower, or walking down the street.

The team is having an absolute blast producing these. For our next trick, we traveled to Canada to shoot, shut down an entire street, and worked with a crew of 40. One thing I will tell you – this next video will be magic.?

Let me know what you think of Do It Right Here . Your feedback is what got us going on this wild campaign eight months ago in the first place.