Building a marketing
campaign that is sure to be effective and accomplish your goals is not that
hard if you follow some very easy steps along the way. A killer campaign is one
that has a defined goal, minimizes risk and has a high ROI. It is usually part
of a planned flow of related campaigns and not a distinct event. Being part of
a progression of activity and being a segue into the next campaign, containing
multiple promotional tools and designed with achieving a return commensurate
with its cost, insulates you from striking out completely.
Here are some simple steps to follow:- Establish the objective. This is usually
to sell more of a product or service. While this may seem rather simple,
marketing campaigns are all too often developed around a promotional tool
and not revenue generating product or service. The content and call to
action are after thoughts to the brilliant idea of sending out a postcard.
Always remember that the objective is to make money, not create an award
winning promotional piece.
- Link the objective to the prior
campaign. A great marketing calendar will link campaigns so that most can
be thought of as up-sell opportunities to the prior campaign(s). Others
may provide alternate ways of accomplishing the same thing or satisfying
the same need for those that were not engaged by the last progression of
campaigns.
- Define the target market. As your
campaigns progress in the up-sell mode, the target market will narrow in
focus. Each addition to the product line will add cost to the solution.
Instead of trying to sell to the same broad market, begin segmenting the
market to those prospects or customers that will benefit the most from the
features and benefits of the product or service that is the objective.
- Establish your value proposition. Make
sure the value proposition is consistent with your company strategy. If
you’re strategy is cost leadership, make that benefit clear. If it’s
differentiation, are the features and benefits highlighted. If you’re a
nicher, is the target market focused and the features geared to that
market.
- Select your promotional tools. Never use
just one media. Marketing is both an art and a science. Sometimes one of
your marketing weapons doesn’t work. Don’t place the whole campaign at
risk on a single postcard. Use a variety of coordinated inbound and
outbound marketing tools.
- Establish your call to action. What is
it that you want your target market to do? Make it clear in your content
and be prepared to act when it happens.
- Create a sales process specific to the
campaign. Your team needs to know what to do when a prospect responds to
your call to action. Nail down the response and subsequent steps. What are
the anticipated customer touch points, how will you engage and convert?
- Create the content. Make sure the
content is consistent between the various promotional media. Adapt as
required to best utilize an email, blog, video, etc., but make sure the
campaign holds together from the value proposition to the call to action
for each.
- Setup a measurement and control system.
People don’t like to log data because it’s never available at a convenient
time. Keep it simple and make it easy to ensure it’s done. Measure leads,
prospects and conversions. Measure the value of the conversions and the
costs of the campaign.
- Plan, launch and adapt. A good campaign
is like a symphony, the team acting in a coordinated way and the
promotional tools all working together to make money. Follow your numbers
and determine if, where and when to adjust the tactics to maximize your
return.
Each step is
critical. That does not mean you need a 50 page play book for each campaign.
You just need to think it through and create the tools to compliment the
campaign’s execution. You can replicate much of this for the next campaign and
develop a rhythm for a continuous business development effort.
