Marketers: When you're running campaigns, how do you decide creative direction—data or instinct?

Hey everyone — I’m trying to understand how marketing teams actually make creative decisions in real campaigns.

Just trying to learn from people who’ve done this for real.

I’ve spoken with a few marketers, and I keep hearing two different experiences:

• Some say their campaigns are completely data-driven
• Others say early-stage decisions feel like guesswork until something starts working
• And almost everyone mentions how painful it is when past learnings get lost and teams start from zero

So I’m curious:

👉 How do you decide creative direction when launching or running a campaign?
👉 What parts feel the most like guesswork?
👉 Where do things usually break or slow down?
👉 What tools do you rely on day-to-day?

Even short replies help.
Trying to get a clearer picture of how different teams actually work.

Thanks in advance!