What's the first question to ask before starting your next marketing campaign?
| Tuesday March 17The answer is: “WHAT do I want to achieve?”
What’s the goal, the aim, the reason? Whether you are trying to reach a new customer demographic, launching a new product or service, keeping a meaningful connection with existing customers or trying to increase revenue. Always clarify the “what” BEFORE you start the marketing campaign and before you start considering the how? the when? and the who?
Many businesses don’t ask this crucial question before they commence a marketing campaign, instead, they jump into solution mode and fire off questions like, should I be using social media marketing? Should I do Google Ads? What about a podcast?
If your business is not clear on what you are trying to achieve with your marketing initiatives, then you are risking the success of the outcome and the dollars you are investing.
There are many ways that businesses can market themselves – Podcasts, Social Media Marketing, Video, Websites, Sponsorships, Collaboration, Webinars, disseminating content Speaking opportunities, Newsletters, Events, the list is endless. With the right mix of channels and platforms, you can identify and focus on the most effective marketing tactics for your small business. However before you jump into “solution” mode, consider the WHAT first and be very clear your goal. Make sure that your marketing goals always align with your business goals.
Here is our step by step guide to creating a successful marketing campaign:
Firstly determine your marketing goal i.e., the WHAT?
What is my business wanting to achieve with this marketing initiative?
Your marketing goal should be aligned to your overall business strategy, whether you are growing the business, moving into a new business area or keeping the business running at its current position.
Then it’s all about the target audience. Your marketing campaign must be customer-centric to achieve positive results and an ROI.
NEXT steps for a successful marketing campaign:
- Who? Define your target audience.
- What is your key message? Define your key message. Always keep the focus on your audience when you produce content, no matter the type of channel. Your key message needs to be compelling, to encourage engagement and action. Want to know how best to create engaging copy? 7 tips to create engaging content.
- Which? Consider the channel/s and platform/s that best reach and promote engagement for your target audience with your specified message? As mentioned above, there are many platforms and channels for businesses to choose from. Think about which one/s best resonate with your target audience. It’s all about the target audience, making it easier for them and engaging.
- Determine at the outset what will success look like? Have a definable target and measuring mechanism/s in place.
- Be brand consistent and channel sensitive. It’s no secret that customers nowadays interact with businesses in a variety of ways, this is called omnichannel marketing. It’s an approach that is all about providing customers with a completely seamless and integrated experience from the first touchpoint to the last. That means that each channel works together to create a unified message, voice, and a brand for your business. So when it comes to your business’s marketing initiatives, make sure that all design, copy, tone etc are on brand. If you are utilising multiple platforms and channels, make sure your brand is consistently presented (look, feel and voice tone), however also adapted to the individual requirements of the channel or platform i.e., the way users interact and expect information to be delivered on Facebook is different to LinkedIn or to Instagram. Marketing campaigns that are responsive and targeted to the particular platform will achieve better levels of audience engagement.
AFTER the marketing campaign, always analyse and record the results. If available measure the ROI. If tangible results are not easy to glean look at the intangibles, like feedback, comments etc. Take these learnings and make sure you use them and apply them to make our next marketing campaign even better.
Business TIP# Wherever possible ALWAYS ask new prospects “how did you hear about us?” and then record this information. The first step in understanding which marketing initiatives are working and which are not is knowing where your new customers are coming from. This piece of very important customer research tells you which initiatives, channels and platforms are working for you the hardest and identifies gaps where you could put focus in the future.
Author's Bio:
Kim MacDonald, Principal of Spindrift Marketing, a Sydney based marketing consultancy. Helping businesses thrive by creating outcome focused marketing and content plans.
Their experienced marketing consultants also execute your plans on your behalf, so that they happen on time, on budget and deliver maximum impact. To find out more about how Spindrift Marketing can help your business thrive, click on the link: Helping businesses thrive.
Kim is a Marketing, Brand and Business Development specialist with over 20 years’ experience in a range of top tier multinational organisations, in industries including Professional Services, Airlines, Financial Services, High Tech and MedTech in both Australia and the UK. She has also founded, launched and managed two successful SME businesses.
