How to Create a Custom Ad Campaign for the Web

[? Music ?] [Treehouse presents] 0:00 [Exercise Your Creative] 0:06 In this episode of Exercise Your Creative 0:08 we're going to create an ad campaign for Treehouse from start to finish. 0:11 Let's have a quick chat with Chris Hamze, our ad marketing manager, 0:14 so we can get the details. 0:18 [Chris Hamze] [Ad Marketing Manager] We chose to advertise on Smashing Magazine 0:20 because their client base is made up of designers and developers, 0:22 and these are the kind of people that we really want to be Treehouse members. 0:25 They get over 10.5 million page views per month, 0:29 so it's a highly trafficked site that we hope will bring us 0:33 lots of people who want to sign up for Treehouse. 0:36 Our approach to this campaign was to increase the number of clicks 0:39 our ads were getting on Smashing Magazine. 0:42 We've been advertising with them for over 3 months. 0:45 The first month the clicks were very high, and then it rapidly decreased 0:48 the second month, and by the third month we're down over 70%, 0:51 so these campaigns we're using custom professional photos 0:55 and custom illustrations to increase the engagement with the customers 0:59 and get more clicks on these ads. 1:03 The designer was provided with a lot of creative freedom. 1:06 The only stipulations were that they use a professional photo 1:10 and they incorporate what the subject area the teacher taught, 1:14 and it was the designer's idea to do these custom illustrations 1:17 that were very out there. 1:21 They really get the customer's attention, and it was all the designer's ideas 1:23 and creativity that was used. 1:27 For this project, we have 3 main content fulfillments, 1:29 the first being the photo of each teacher, the second being 1:32 the custom illustration overlaying the photo, and the third 1:36 being the title and call to action for each teacher. 1:39 Before scheduling a photo shoot, let's create a quick mockup for each teacher 1:43 so we know the correct positioning. 1:48 When creating these mockups, I simply want to import the images I took 1:50 from my phone into Photoshop. 1:53 Then I want to make super rough sketches over the top of each image. 1:56 This will give the correct positioning of the teachers in the ad space. 1:59 Also this allows the teachers to know why they are in awkward positions 2:03 and so they know what their facial expression should be. 2:07 Now we are ready for the photo shoot. 2:11 Since we have so many teachers to shoot, 2:13 we don't want to waste any time. 2:15 We want to set each teacher up in their correct positions. 2:17 Since we've prepped for the photo shoot with our mockups 2:21 we know exactly what we're looking for. 2:23 Now it's time for our illustrations. 2:25 For this process I'm going to use a tablet and Adobe Illustrator. 2:28 I'm using the same sketch techniques that I used for the Code Racer illustrations. 2:32 I simply create a custom brush and start with the outlines, 2:36 then with the fill color. 2:40 Once the character illustrations are complete, 2:47 then we need to add the copy and a call to action. 2:50 For Nick, I wanted to have him holding an HTML 5 shield 2:54 and dressed in a medieval knight/Robin Hood costume. 2:58 [? Music ?] 3:02 As for Jim, I wanted to illustrate him in his lab coat 3:13 and have him writing on a glass surface with molecular structures in the background. 3:17 This gives a nice programmer appeal. 3:21 [? Music ?] 3:24 With Amit, I wanted to portray his magical skills as an iOS developer. 3:35 I felt the clouds, lightening bolts and bow tie 3:40 were all a necessary touch. 3:43 [? Music ?] 3:46 Hands down, Jason's is the most abstract and yet direct relation 3:57 to his expertise, programming Ruby. 4:01 I wanted to put Jason in a miner's uniform while holding a pickaxe 4:04 and a Ruby gem. 4:08 [? Music ?] 4:11 For Allison's ad, I wanted to have her painting a web page 4:21 to visually communicate Photoshop and web design. 4:25 I really emphasized the dripping of the paint and art smock 4:28 so when the ad is sized down you can clearly tell 4:32 what the subject matter is. 4:35 As you can see, when prepping for a photo shoot and knowing exactly 4:37 what you want by creating mockups we can quickly create 4:41 a powerful, robust ad campaign. 4:44 A few days after the ads were run, we touched base with Chris Hamze 4:47 to see how they were performing. 4:51 This is what Chris had to say. 4:53 One of the ads has been live for 2 days now, 4:55 and the number of clicks has increased 3 times from the previous ads. 4:57 Once the rest of the ads are live, we hope that this will make the campaign 5:01 super successful, and we hope to use this kind of creativity 5:05 in these types of ads in all our marketing campaigns going forward. 5:08 As always, have fun and exercise your creative. 5:12 [Exercise Your Creative] 5:17