Motivated Marketing is the advertising agency you want to break bread with. And if you’re counting carbs or ditching gluten, then we’re definitely the quirky creatives you want at your holiday table … because we’ll take those crescent rolls off your hands, no problem. Just pass the butter.

But there’s an even better reason to send us an invite: We’ve perfected the recipe for a successful advertising campaign. Plus, we make a mean sweet potato casserole.

1. Make Your Guest List

Determine Your Audience

This initial stage is arguably one of the most important. To devise an effective campaign, your target audience can’t include every human within a 200-mile radius – because trust us, that’s a waste of resources (and space at your table). Think about the folks who most need to hear your message and set your sights on that demographic.

2. Choose a Recipe for Success

Strategize & Brainstorm

Whether you’re cooking an elaborate Thanksgiving feast or launching a marketing campaign, planning is key. Now that you’ve trimmed down your guest list, do some research on your guests’ tastes to ensure that your marketing strategy will please each palate.

3. Gather Necessary Ingredients

Draft a Creative Brief

Since collecting all the essential pieces of information for a creative brief is a lot trickier than strolling the aisles of a grocery store, it’s a good thing that M2’s experienced Account Managers handle this step. They communicate with clients, corporate and often, co-op, to determine which elements need to be included in the ad.

4. Do Your Prep Work

Create Copy

Copywriting is the first step of the creative phase. An expertly-crafted piece of copy whets the Creative Team’s appetite and gives our web, production and design gurus the direction they need to carry out the next steps of the recipe.

5. Taste Test Along the Way

Get Internal Approval

Before the copy moves into the design or production phase, it must earn the Account Manager approval. If it meets all the criteria mapped out in the creative brief and aligns with the brand’s overall tone, the Word document moves on to the next stage.

6. Cook Up Something Amazing

Send to Design/Production

Now it’s time to go from words on a page to work of art. Whether it’s a TV or radio spot, Facebook ad, web banner or mailer, this is where we add our “special sauce.” By the time the oven dings or the deadline arrives, we can guarantee that the result will have your audience’s mouths watering – figuratively, of course.

7. Make Sure Plating Is On-Point

Edit & Revise

Because we know that presentation is critical to producing a five-star meal, M2 performs any necessary edits or revisions before seeking final client approval. We view typos or incorrect logos the way Julia Child sees a sloppily-plated beef bourguignon. Not acceptable.

8. Serve Your Guests

Place the Ad

The ad is delivered only after it has earned final client approval. No matter how tight the deadline, the M2 team functions as efficiently as the staff of a Michelin-star restaurant. Because we know that missed deadlines ruin a reputation faster than a case of food poisoning.

9. Ask for Feedback Before Dessert

Analyze Performance

Before serving your audience another round of ads, it’s best to determine how the first course fared. If your marketing campaign is producing favorable results, consider them compliments to the chef! Once we crunch the numbers and figure out what works, we’ll cook up more.

Our clients give us the opportunity to stretch our imaginations each and every day. For that, we’re thankful!

And if tradition holds, some of our families will go around the table as each person shares one of their blessings – and the turkey inevitably gets cold. So as you’re sitting down to your own Thanksgiving dinner this year, just know that there are some very happy M2 team members thanking their lucky stars for you.

Happy Thanksgiving, from our family to yours!