#043 How to Infuse Creativity in Your Organization by Developing Strategic Creative Partnerships

Diversify Your Creative Partnerships

In this episode, our very own CEO, Beth Trejo, is joined by our Creative Manager, Allison Gates, to discuss the importance of building a creative strategic partnership network for businesses. These partnerships can help infuse creativity into organizations, make them more elastic and agile, and provide additional creative resources when needed.

There is a need to diversify creative partnerships to enable businesses to bring in specialized creators for specific projects and initiatives. The goal is to align with partners who share core values and establish relationships that allow for flexibility and expansion without incurring unnecessary costs.

Biggest Takeaways From This Episode

The process of building a creative network and finding suitable strategic partners starts with a conversation to understand the organization’s creative needs and the resources available. By identifying specific requirements, businesses can resource the best partners and avoid expecting a one-stop-shop solution.

When building a creative network, you want to keep these things in mind:

• Set clear expectations and provide examples.

• Outline your goals, preferred style, timeline and budget.

• Effective communication and collaboration between your business and the creator are essential to ensure a successful partnership.

• Listen to the recommendations and expertise of the creative partners, especially in challenging situations like poor lighting or sound conditions.

Plan Ahead

When working with a creative partner, businesses will need to plan ahead and allocate sufficient time for creative projects. The advantages of partnering with agencies or professionals who can provide a comprehensive plan and strategy, especially for larger projects involve multiple creative elements. Planning and preparation are key to achieving successful outcomes in creative endeavors.

CONCLUSION

Developing a creative strategic partnership network requires understanding the organization’s needs, setting clear expectations and fostering open communication with creative partners. By building strong relationships and collaborating effectively, businesses can tap into a diverse pool of creators and infuse creativity into their projects, leading to greater success and adaptability.

Want your question to be answered on the generation social media podcast? Tell us what it is here!

Transcript

This text below is a straight up audio transcript of the episode. In our humble opinion, we think the audio podcast sounds much better in its original form. We have not edited the transcription below so there are indeed some grammar errors (some quite funny, in-fact).

INTRO (00:02):

You don't have to be a millennial to be socially savvy. We believe anyone can join generation social media, and your journey starts now. This is the Generation Social Media podcast by Chatterkick.

Beth (00:17):

Welcome to another episode of Generation Social Media podcast. I'm Beth Trejo, uh, CEO and founder of Chatterkick. And I have today with me, Alison Gates, our Creative Manager at Chatterkick. And we are going to be talking about building a creative strategic partnership network for your business, how that can lead to infusing creativity in your organization and help businesses become elastic and agile for when they need to develop additional creative resources as well as be able to, um, you know, bring on special creators as projects and their business warrants it. So we're really excited to have this conversation today and can't wait to jump into the episode.

Allison (01:04):

Yeah. So let's just kind of start with the basics. What is a creative network? Can you explain kind of your process and thoughts on how, what that means?

Beth (01:15):

So we developed a creative network at Chatterkick. We are a social media agency, and we saw the need to really diversify our creative partnerships, um, so that our clients and the people that were serving on a daily basis really have the opportunity to pull creators in when they need to, but not necessarily be part, um, on a day-to-day basis. Um, you know, if you need a special illustrator or a certain, um, even video producer, um, these are individuals that don't necessarily need to be every single day in the office, but when the opportunity arises or the projects arise, it really does make a big difference because then we can pull these partners in that have already kind of been aligned to our core values and, um, you know, we've had those relationships established. So it really does make it an easy, uh, play for our business partners to be able to flex and expand when needed. And again, when you don't need it, we don't need to like pass through any costs on that. So, long story short, I think the core concept of developing a creative network or strategic partnerships that happen to be creators is really to be able to serve your business on relevancy and trends. So you can keep in the mix of what is happening now as well as, you know, developing partnerships with real people that can help your business infuse that creativity for certain projects and initiatives.

Allison (02:46):

Right. Well, and speaking of partnerships, I mean, I'm sure if someone's listening to this, they're like, yeah, great, I wanna meet all of these creative people, <laugh>, that would be amazing. So how, um, do you, you recommend going about like, building those relationships and finding those creative people that you wanna work with or the strategic partners that you wanna work with?

Beth (03:09):

You know, I think it first starts out by just having a conversation. So businesses can do this just like we did as an agency. They can infuse that creativity with strategic partnerships. But I think the first place to start is really to have a conversation with your team or even outside partners to understand what you actually need. Let's take video for example. A lot of people say, I would like to do a video shoot, but they don't have a good understanding of what that actually looks like from an execution perspective. So if you're hiring someone to do TikTok videos, that skillset is very different than hiring someone to do two camera lighting, mic, commercial style video that's going to be on, you know, tv. And so I think by developing partnerships and really understanding what you need, it can help you resource the best partners for going forward and making sure that you're aligning and you're not trying to ask a one stop shop, right? A video person who may not have experience in short form vertical videos to do something that they're uncomfortable with as well. So, so the first step is really identifying and having that conversation of what does amazing look like? What does best case scenario look like? What are you trying to do for your organization? And then the second piece of that is understand the resources you have available, right? Like, if you're gonna fly in a photographer or videographer from another market, you need to make sure that you're planning and budgeting for that accordingly.

Allison (04:40):

Yeah, I think finding someone too who's, uh, constantly curious yes, is is super helpful to have, you know, when you're on a shoot to be like, Ooh, what's this? Or, oh, I noticed this. We should capture this. Um, you know, we, we obviously wanna go in with a plan and know what we're trying to capture, but being kind of flexible and curious in that way is super helpful. Sometimes that's when we find the best moments in the best stuff. Um, one of the things too...

Beth (05:08):

Well I think too, like one of the best places that you can start, if you're a business and you're like, I don't know any videographers, I don't know any creators, where do I even start? I think one place that is, um, well-known is the photography. And even like the wedding videography and photography market, there's a lot of people out there doing wedding videography and as well as photography. And oftentimes those individuals are busy on weekends, right? Because they're doing weddings, they happen to be on Fridays and Saturdays. Sometimes those people are looking for work during the week, which is a really great alignment for business partnerships and reaching out to someone to say like, Hey, do you do work on this? This is what I'm looking for. Again, it all starts with a conversation and a mutual respect that they understand their space and you understand your business. And so how do you have those conversations just to start those relationships?

Allison (06:06):

Totally. Well, and some recommendations from, uh, you know, people that, that you know, or that you work with, some of our best partnerships have come from those, um, recommendations or connections or people who, you know, if you've collaborated on a video project with someone and they've brought in a another, uh, editor or someone to lend a hand, I mean, that's a, that's a great way to start a relationship and, and possibly work with them in the future too.

Beth (06:36):

Yeah, and I think, I mean, Allison, you and I have seen this go wrong in so many instances, not necessarily with our company, but as we talk to creators and their frustrations are, you know, brought to the table of like, what doesn't success look like? I think the biggest starting point is expectations. Like show examples show if you are hiring someone for photography or video videography skills, then like show them what you're expecting because there is a huge difference. And I've learned this not being someone who edits videos, but there is a huge difference in the way that one style of video may appear for the final product as well as, you know, other styles of videos. So really show and lay out those expectations. Make sure that the creator has expectations that you can fulfill on your end, right? Approvals, providing, uh, access, being there with them, making sure that, you know, if, um, so and so in HR doesn't like to be on video, that they're not on video. Like all of those things. There's kind of that collaboration on the business side as well as on the creative side.

Allison (07:46):

Well, and I think also listening to the recommendations of, of your partners, like in the moment. So if you want to get something that is, maybe the sound is awful <laugh>, Or,

Beth (08:00):

Yes.

Allison (08:01):

Or like the lighting is, is tricky, like listening to how, you know, we, we could possibly make it work or if it just won't work. You know, if you're in a loud environment and you wanna have someone talking and you know, even if a mic, um, set up won't help or it, you know, won't capture what you want, like being able to, uh, you know, understand their expertise and say like they wanna make something awesome for you too, um, I think is is one thing too. And a lot of times they'll have really great ideas on, you know, ways to work around that, cuz I'm sure it's not the first time that they've run into a, a dim corner or <laugh>. Yeah. You know?

Beth (08:44):

Yeah. And I feel like the projects that I've seen executed the most, the most successfully between like those strategic partnerships are really those that, um, are organized from the business. The business has to have an organized expectation list, right? Like, this is where this video's gonna go. These, this is an example of what I want it to look like and what I want it to turn out in the end. And here's the timeline that I'm thinking of. Like, all of those things need to be outlined. So you're not handing the dumpster fire over to a creator and say, I'm looking to spend a thousand dollars on this production that probably would cost 10,000. They have to rent all of this equipment. There's no audio, um, opportunities in a large manufacturing planner, whatever the case may be. That misalignment is really where the partnership does not work.

Beth (09:41):

And that is a more vendor related relationship, which you don't want as a business because you wanna be able to leverage them for their skills or expertise and have that happen multiple times, right? You definitely need to give direction on what you're trying to accomplish, but the creator can help you get there and really make sure that those expectations are even doable. Um, again, I see this the most in videography, wouldn't you say? Like, we see this gap of just for sure businesses want a commercial that they see, but their expectations are production value very, very low.

Allison (10:14):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative> Well, and I think too is that's where we can kind of help guide is like, where is this video going to be used? Like, and how should it, how should that, uh, final product look? You know, is it a TikTok video? Is it something that needs, is, it's just like nice looking B-roll that will be on a website and like that is the goal to just get cool looking shots or is it a storytelling video that's a little more involved? And all of all of those kind of approaches and styles could be a different partner. And so having a wide variety of creators that you have good relationships with, um, you know, even if you're not working with them every month or you know, every quarter, if it's something that is generally a positive experience, um, for both parties. So like you said, it's not a vendor relationship, it's more of a two-way, um, mutual kind of, um, relationship. Then that's how we've seen some of our long-term, um, kind of creative network partnerships really work for us.

Beth (11:21):

And don't you think too that, um, if a business is listening to this and they're like, man, I don't even know where I would start with this. Like, I don't have those expectations out. I don't know where I should use this. I just know that we're having a big sales kickoff and I need video footage from it. I think that that's the best place to go through a agency or maybe somebody who has the connections already in place so that you can have both the plan of this is what we need to shoot, this is why we need to shoot it, this is what we're gonna use it for. If you need that taken care of, you probably need more than just somebody, um, that can do an individual creative project. You need a more of a plan and a strategy in place. And that's a great time to go through an agency who may have multiple partners and connections that can write the scripts, that can take those scripts and put those on for radio or audio files that can do the videos and the photos. Um, that just becomes a bigger project than just I'm having an event and here's somebody to come to video. Right.

Allison (12:31):

Well, and I think the, the key to that is, um, planning <laugh>. Yes. Because a lot of the, the success of, even if it's a, a photo shoot and there's not, you know, movement involved or for video shoots or any real creative project, having that time to plan and, um, make sure that everything's in the right place when you're there on, you know, at that event shooting, um, makes all the difference in the world, um, with the final project. And, um, so I think the, the key to that is if, you know, a business does have something coming up and they, you know, want to have a partner to help them is just making sure that there's enough time to put all the puzzle pieces into place. Um, and you kind of have to have like the frame of the puzzle built before you get the <laugh>, you

Beth (13:23):

Know? Yeah. And I think that's one of the biggest mistakes I see businesses make is they hire creators, um, to create, but then they make them be project managers. And that's a different role and that's a different level of responsibility. If you're having someone come to your organization to capture footage or to create a video, the expectation that that person manages the entire project start to stop, including, you know, kind of, for lack of a better word, directing people around mm-hmm. <affirmative> it, that typically doesn't happen that way. You need somebody else to kind of oversee the larger project and then so that the creatives who you hire them because they're creative, right? They're the ones that are going to be behind you and getting the angles and shooting and, and creating and not necessarily standing there and telling everybody where to go, how long, what the timeline is, what the shot list is. That's, it's a very, and some creators have both sides of that. Don't get me wrong. There are people out there, but before you go and source and build that creative strategic partnership, you really need to know again, what you're looking for and the skill sets that you need.

Allison (14:37):

Exactly. Well, that's just, it's just a lot to juggle Yeah. For one person to be like, <laugh> is the lighting, is the lighting right? Is the mic right? Is this person feeling comfortable in front of the camera? Do they know what they're supposed to be doing? It's just, it is a lot for, um, one person to manage or if they have, you know, a, a team, um, kind of approach can be really helpful with that, you know, handling that relationship side and then doing the doing making the creative thing.

Beth (15:05):

Yeah. And I think the other exciting thing for creators is there's a lot of people, uh, that are out there doing this work Now, whether it's creating individually for TikTok, Instagram, et cetera, or they're, um, you know, technical e experts in illustration or motion graphics or, um, you know, videography, all of these things. There are a lot of people that are doing some amazing work. It does take time and skill to be able to vet partnerships and to understand and align expectations for what your business needs and what someone is willing to kind of meet you in the middle with. So I would reiterate the sense that, you know, it, there is time that will go into finding and sourcing and really building relationships with the right people and the right partners. Quality over quantity in most cases is going to work best for businesses. You don't need 300 of them, but, you know, three to five key strategic creator partners could make a big difference on a lot of businesses.

Allison (16:11):

Yeah. And, um, trying to, you know, maintain those relationships on the, in the off times, you know, if there, you know, the slow times is, is also super, um, helpful and important. Always keeping someone in mind if there's, you know, another opportunity or if, or if they know of someone who would be a great addition to the creative network. Um, you know, that is, that's a, a really great resource too.

Beth (16:40):

All right. Well we talked a lot about a lot today, Allison, thank you for being on this episode and to help our business partners understand how they can infuse creativity into their organization by building creative strategic partnerships. We talked today about making sure that it's a real partnership, um, a two-way street, and that you have your expectations set, understanding that project management is separate from the actual creation of, um, of the work. And the third is, if you don't know where to start, um, hiring and building these creator networks or creative strategic partnerships agencies can be a great place to start. Because oftentimes they have a network already built and they can help with the project management of it all. So I think, um, that about covers it. And, um, stay tuned to another episode of Generation Social Media.

Outro (17:34):

That's it for this episode of Generation Social Media podcast. If you had an aha moment or just a haha moment, I would be so grateful if you leave a review with the moment you loved most. If you have a question you'd like us to answer on the next episode, fill out the form on generationsocialmediapodcast.com.

inspiration, Business, Social MediaChatterkickJune 23, 2023internal team, Podcast, Executive Social, CEO