Since opening our business, we’ve had the pleasure to work alongside quite a few driven business owners that  track the return on investment of their marketing dollars and see how successful their marketing campaigns are.

We enjoy working with these types of owners! They like data, they like to execute plans, and  achieve goals. These are our kind of people!

Today, we want to share a few thoughts on what it takes to run a successful marketing campaign. Now while no two marketing campaigns are completely the same, there is a standard practice you can utilize to implement any marketing campaign.

So first off, what is a Marketing Campaign?

A marketing campaign is a specific course of actions taken to promote and sell a product or service.

Sounds easy right? Follow a checklist and then your marketing campaign is launched!

Well, the fact of the matter is, it is not as easy as it sounds. If the campaign isn’t using a cohesive set of marketing drivers, you will fail to get the results you want.

So how do you know which marketing drivers to utilize together?

Follow these checkpoints and you will be well on your way

1. What is your goal with this campaign?

It’s very important that you are very clear about what you are trying to achieve. While the main goal may be to increase sales, door swings and build your subscriber list, it may not be possible to achieve all these goals in one campaign.

Slow it down and figure out what you need to do first. Maybe you are trying to increase traffic into your brick or mortar location, or you are trying to increase the number of subscribers on your email list. These campaigns would look very different for each, so it is essential you first figure out what the goal is for this specific campaign.

2. What is your budget for this campaign?

Be realistic when you are setting a budget for your campaign. Unless you launch this campaign organically and are okay with slowly getting results, dedicating marketing dollars is part of growing a business.  What can you spend on average per month for marketing your business and brand?

The truth is, if you are just beginning, you are going to have to spend some money testing the market before you see results. You are going to have to see if your products or services resonate with the target market, and maybe change your approach a little along the way. The fastest way to find out is to spend money and test the market with your product offerings.

And if you’ve been in business a while now, you know it takes money to make money.

3.Who is your target market for this specific campaign?

You may think you want to serve everyone and have everyone as your target market.

Well the problem with that is, the less specific you are, the less results you will get.

Knowing who your target market is for this campaign, and where they hang out will help you buy media in the appropriate places. You will ensure you get your message in front of the people who want your product or service.

Spending time drilling down your target market, and you will thank yourself later.

4. What is the Call to Action for the Campaign?

Another way to say this, is what do you want the target market to do?

• Attend an event?
• Give you their email address?
• Buy something online?

The content (copy and graphics) should direct people to do the thing you’re wanting them to do. And I suggest you even give them an incentive to do the thing you’re wanting them to do!

For example:

• “Attend and get a free gift”
• “Get my free guide here when you enter your name & email”
• “Use Code Valentine20 and receive free shipping”

Be specific on what you’re asking your target market to do!

5. Establish the Marketing Channels you will be using

Are you launching Facebook Ads? Google Ads? Radio? TV? Instagram Ads?

These are questions you need to ask yourself. Reason being is each channel will require different assets. A Facebook ad has an image size that will be different than an Instagram and Google ad. Radio, obviously won’t need graphics, but you’ll need some sort of keyword to be able to track an ROI. Copy on Facebook ads will allow more text characters than google ads. TV ads will require video while not all channels do.

It’s important to not only figure out what channels you will be utilizing for the reasons above, but also because you need to ensure it is in alignment with your budget. Can you afford a two-week tv segment? Does your target market even watch TV or are they more on Instagram?

And if you are directing people to a website, what does the landing page look like? Clean or is it cluttered? Easy to understand? Is a consumer having to click multiples times to find what they wanted?

Make sure your landing pages are optimized!

This is a great place to stop and re-evaluate if everything so far is in alignment.

6. Create your Copy and Graphics

Once you’ve confirmed what marketing channels you will be using and if each step is in alignment, then you can get to work creating the copy and the graphics needed to support this campaign.

Well written copy and graphics that are aesthetically pleasing can make the difference between a successful campaign or one that fails.

If you are not a graphic designer, then outsource the graphics to a graphic designer or check out Canva to see what you can put together. Depending on your budget, you can also work with a copywriter to write the copy for the campaign.

If that is not feasible, then do your very best to provide a hook to your audience and tell them a short story with your offer.

7. Launch the Campaign!

Once you’ve walked through the previous six steps you are now ready to launch your campaign! Depending on what channel you launch this campaign(s) in will determine how you track your return on investment. But it is essential that you track your results. This is how you will know if you reached your overall goal and if the campaign was successful. If you have found that your campaign is not successful, then one of the steps is out of alignment and not working cohesively to achieve the goal. Go back through each step and see what’s off.

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