Members posting an idea are keen to hear what you truly think of their submission. As someone unconnected with their business, looking at their marketing as a prospect might, with no prior knowledge you will bring an outside perspective.
For that reason, it’s important to give your first gut feeling impression. After that please go on to suggest any improvements that might from your experience be helpful.
They want an honest and objective perspective, so please feel free to be frank and direct. It’s more helpful that way. After all, if your viewpoint makes the difference to them between success and failure, then don’t sugar coat it – or it risks being missed.
This is supposed to be a quick look and we are aware of your time constraints, so don’t feel the need to say too much. Just a couple of pointers would be appreciated. But that’s entirely up to you.
We always ask for reviews to be constructive. So, if you point out a deficiency (which is welcome) add a suggestion on how it might be improved (even more welcome). Talk about how in your view something could be made better, rather than just saying it’s not good enough.
Try to be as specific as you can. For example, don’t say “ the visuals aren’t good”. Say “the visual is too complicated and it took me a while to work out what it was”. That way the recipient knows where to start.
Recipients want to be able to action your feedback. So, explain exactly what part of the marketing message or idea you like or disliked.
Use the 4 metrics to prompt your thinking on any review:
Eye catching – does it grab your attention, have impact, and capture your eyeballs? Basically do you like this idea at first sight – did it appeal to both head and heart? Would it have caught your attention on a social media scroll or passing a booth, or whatever? The first task of marketing is to be noticed, after all,.
Engaging – is it intriguing, interesting, arouses curiosity, immediately addresses an area of concern? There is no point grabbing attention if the idea is glib or spurious, so put yourselves in the mindset of their likely customer as best you can. Is the messaging talking about problems and concerns or is it too much about “them”. Can you imagine it feeling relevant to the customer?
Easy to understand – most prospects won’t invest long reading any marketing, so keeping everything clear and simple, with high impact language is crucial. Complexity and busy-ness can be the enemy of this. Is this idea getting the right blend of simplicity and impact?
Says what it’s meant to – they should have explained what you were trying to achieve when they uploaded the idea. So, do you now feel this marketing will do that particular task. In your opinion, will it get action from prospects seeing it? Will it actually work?
Don’t feel the need to say “in my opinion” or “this is just a sample of one” or any other “apologetic” add on. Recipients know this is the case, it’s baked into the system. You can feel free to tell it just as it is. Without being brutal or rude, of course. We all know marketing is difficult and users of Sensecheck are at least self-aware enough and courageous enough to ask for feedback. Let’s keep that in mind. Some may be seasoned professionals, but others may be junior marketers early in their profession. You won’t always know. Just imagine the person’s thoughts as they read your comments…..We’re friendly reviewers if most importantly, ones that are willing to be direct and honest.
