Running a truly successful marketing campaign is an elusive achievement for many marketers. Not only does running a successful marketing campaign involve many different skills and techniques, but the metrics of success are also varied and far-reaching. To ensure the highest return from your marketing initiative you must plan carefully and use only the most effective techniques.
Set the budget
The amount of money you have to spend will drastically impact the scale of your marketing campaign. For example, if you have a more limited budget then you will likely focus on hyper-personalized digital marketing techniques. If money is no object then you might choose to display your adverts in high-value locations such as a billboard in Times Square.
If you are unsure of how to set a budget for your marketing campaign, then it can be useful to consult a financial advisor. Your financial advisor will inform you of the best financial decisions to make to promote business growth and support your campaign. There are many ways to find the right consultant for your business such as using Facebook to find a financial advisor.
Define your objectives
For any marketing campaign to be successful, there have to be predefined objectives and goals; without these, it would be impossible to tell if your campaign has achieved what you intended. Rather than focusing on broad ideas such as increasing your customer base, set specific metrics – like increasing your customer base by 25% in six months. Without these specific metrics, it is impossible to measure the effectiveness of your campaign as it proceeds.
Choose your communication channels
The next step is to choose which communications channels you will use in your campaign. The channels that you choose should be those most suited to the behaviors of your target audience.
Digital marketing
Digital marketing campaigns can encompass a mix of different communication channels:
- Social Media
Social media is a great free-to-use marketing tool. It offers businesses a way to reach new customers, increase brand awareness and create a community around their brand. To effectively use social media in a digital marketing campaign you must understand which target audiences use which platforms. Research has found the average age of a user differs greatly from one social medium to another. For example, 41% of Facebook users are aged 65 and above. In fact, more baby boomers are using Facebook than Generations Xers, Millennials or Generation Zers. Younger generations (Millennials and generations X and Z) are particularly drawn to visually-driven platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. A majority of every generation uses YouTube at least once a week.
- Email Marketing
Email is another very useful communication channel to use in a digital marketing campaign. Businesses can use email to quickly and easily contact the bulk of their customers. Unlike social media platforms, email marketing is not used to gather new customers but rather to solidify relationships with existing clients. The more effective email marketing campaigns usually involve offering promotions or discounts.
- Onsite Content
Your website can also be used as a communication channel. Posting regular, relevant content to your site will not only offer an enhanced experience for your customers, but it will also help to boost search engine rankings too.
- Influencer Marketing
Many businesses choose to utilize the communication channels and followers of online influencers. When you pay for an influencer-sponsored post you are exposing your product and brand to a whole new audience. The advantage of using influencer marketing is that audiences are more likely to trust a recommendation from an influencer than an advert. Only 1% of millennials reported trusting traditional advertisements, whereas 33% trust blog reviews for purchases.
Traditional media
Television and radio advertisements and product placements are used by brands to increase brand awareness. Traditional media is a popular alternative to digital marketing, used by businesses that want to reach a broad audience rather than targeting individuals.
Guerrilla marketing
Rather than a specific communication channel, guerrilla marketing involves employing original and innovative techniques. The focus of guerrilla marketing is usually as much about marketing as it is about branding and press exposure.
Create an action plan
The next step is to write a timeline for your digital marketing campaign. Your plan should be as detailed and digestible as possible. It is important that you note the name of the member of staff responsible for each aspect of the campaign. This timeline should also include the specific goals of your campaign and the dates that you expect each to be completed. This plan must be regularly reviewed to ensure that the campaign is running as predicted.
Execute
Once all of the planning has been completed, it is then time to execute. As you complete tasks, go back to your plan, tick them off and write the completion date next to an estimated completion date. As you are executing, you must stay focused on the goals of the campaign and the purpose of the task at hand. Regular reviewing of expected progress compared to actual progress will ensure you have all the information necessary to make the changes that will aid success. It is also useful to keep your target audience in mind. It is important to brief your staff working on your campaign so they have a clear and comprehensive understanding of the target market.
Measure your results
After all your assigned tasks have been completed, it’s time to measure the success of your campaign. It is useful to consult not only your overall aims but your specific goals and compare your results with your predictions. The measure of your campaign’s overall success will depend on your initial goals. If you aimed to increase sales, compare the rate of sales in the months leading up to the campaign to the rate of post-campaign sales. Use data analytics to discover through which channels traffic arrived at your site. If you struggle to effectively measure the success rate then you might want to use marketing campaign software like ActiveCampaign, SharpSpring or Hatchbuck.
Plan the next campaign
The results of your previous campaign are invaluable to your next marketing campaign. To ensure that your next campaign is as successful as possible it is important that you take a look at your previous goals and outcomes. Identifying the areas in which your returns exceeded your expectations will allow you to only employ the most effective techniques in the future.