The ingredients for a successful marketing campaign

When customers have a good understanding of what’s being offered, they’re more likely to pay attention and appreciate the efforts put into advertising the product or service. To be able to gain the upper hand over competitors, businesses must evaluate and analyse them. When doing so, businesses should discover their value proposition by establishing a number of questions, such as what distinguishes them from their competitors, what is the competitive edge being offered, why should clients choose them instead, etc.

The next step in any marketing campaign is defining the right audiences. The audiences must be targeted specifically to the appropriate product or service being advertised. Setting the right goals will aid marketing teams to produce relevant messages and creative concepts suitable for the campaign. Some examples are; baby products for expecting or new parents, gaming peripherals for gaming enthusiasts, energy drinks for athletes, etc. Narrowing down the audience will give marketers the help they need to achieve a fruitful campaign.

When advertising, you should always consider how the product or service is going to benefit the established target audience. One way to do this is by exploiting a tangible circumstance, such as a free consultation or downloading the first chapter of an e-book. This will allow the customers to have a taste or a sneak peek of the entire experience that is being offered. Another way is to provide customers with a reason to act immediately, for example, a limited-time offer. Creating excitement and a sense of urgency in their minds will persuade them to take advantage of the offer instantly. Outright pushing the client to buy will, more often than not, result in the opposite of the desired outcome and repel them rather than being attracted to the product or service.

A characteristic to make your campaign stand out from the rest is by introducing a hook. A memorable campaign grabs the attention of the audience, to the extent that it might be difficult for them to forget it, even after many years. One opportunity to do this is by either captivating and unforgettable stimuli such as imagery, graphics, slogans and jingles. A perfect example is the Dumb Ways to Die public service announcement (PSA) campaign by Metro Trains Melbourne used to spread awareness of railway safety.

Coordinating the right balance will occasionally result in campaigns going viral. The advantage of this is reaching a customer base which might not have been considered during the preliminary plan.

Although going viral can be perceived as a success, it shouldn’t be a distraction from the campaign's original goal. Focusing on creating a viral campaign might result in the consumer not knowing the purpose of what’s being offered. When advertising, marketers must always keep the campaign objective in mind to avoid this from happening.

The campaign objective is the foundational basis of why the campaign is being designed and can be split into various sorts. The type of campaign you might opt for all depends on where the target audience lies the most, otherwise, you might end up with marketing efforts being done in vain. For example, a new business making its presence known on the market for the first time might go for a brand awareness campaign to unveil either a product/service or even the business itself. On the other hand, a consideration campaign would be fitting for a business selling a luxury product and wishing to highlight the benefits via testimonials and success stories, reinforcing its worth in investing in.

The advertising can be executed through two marketing channels; either digital or traditional advertising. Whilst the scope of traditional advertising is to strike a wide and diverse audience, digital marketing is more direct and selected. Deciding on which approach to adopt, is determined by current trends and predictions of the market. You can learn more about the differences between these two types of marketing through our last Marketing & Communications Short Read, Digital vs Traditional Marketing.

Gathering and assessing statistics after a completed campaign is both vital and necessary. This data is a collection of several pieces of information, such as the campaign’s overall performance, the audiences’ reaction and response, the ultimate effectiveness of the campaign when compared to its original objectives, result breakdowns according to the channels used and core takeaways on the entire campaign. Keeping up to date with the feedback generated during this stage gauges the campaign’s success and provides insight for future projects which might need to take place.