The time has come again—time to launch that new promotion. You’ve put on your best creative hat, scheduled the meetings, and now hope the brainstorming sessions yield some unique ideas. It could be as simple as reimagining one of the “tried and true” campaigns members have grown to love. But maybe, after a couple rounds of the numbers not being what you want them to be, it’s time to ask the hard questions: What could be so wrong? You’ve run that same holiday loan dozens of times, why haven’t the members been chomping at the bit like you anticipated?

You might think that throwing together a creative campaign with a generic holiday-themed image and catchy tagline would be compelling enough for most people, but that simply is not the case. When it comes to nailing down solid creative for a campaign, a “one-size fits all” approach just won’t do. So how do you keep campaign creative from falling flat? How do you move someone to jump at the latest offer or promotion? To start, you have to be asking the right questions.

People are skeptics. We poke holes in most propositions. Our natural response is to close up when we’re being sold to. In order to truly overcome the opposition, you have to appeal to what people value. Place yourself in someone else’s shoes. Understand the “why” behind what motivates decisions. Why would someone take out a loan during the holidays? In many cases, it is to provide gifts for family members or perhaps to cover travel expenses. Although those reasons may be true, there’s still something deeper to consider. Why buy gifts for loved ones? Why travel across the country for the holidays? These choices play at our very basic human concepts of love, family, connection, and togetherness.

So let’s get practical. How do your initial creative choices translate your promotion to the audience at large? How can you find ways to convey connection, togetherness, and happiness? If you can tune in to the basic elements of humanity, your promotions suddenly become more relevant than those of the competition. They stick out. People see the promotions not as a pitch, but as a pathway to a better tomorrow.