Online marketing is essential for any successful business, but before you invest in the development and launch of a new campaign, you want to be sure that you are doing everything you can to attract customers. When a campaign is targeting the wrong customers or failing to attract anyone, it quickly becomes a massive waste of money.
To help you get started, here are some recommendations that you can easily implement to help you on your way towards a successful marketing campaign.
1. Research
The first step for any company that wants to develop a successful marketing campaign is research. You will need to know about your industry, what other successful campaigns have looked like in the last year, and how to get your specific audience to take notice and respond.
When you consider the time and money that goes into a successful campaign, getting this part right, to begin with, is essential. If you are uncertain of where you should start, then here is a great place to start: The 8 Types Of Market Research—And How To Use Them.
2. Ask for Help
One of the most important and effective things you can do to run a successful marketing campaign is to ask for help. With so much competition, it is difficult to build up a brand alone, especially if you have very little marketing experience.
Working alongside a reputable marketing agency is the best thing you can do for your business. The outlying cost will soon be made up for by your new customers and improved brand. Some agencies specialize their services but it is typically easier to invest your time with an agency that can do your digital marketing, graphic design and web design. There are agencies that are full service such as Ascendancy Digital Marketing and it’s easier for you to build rapport with one company that really understands your brands image and how to execute that then trying to put several parts of the pieces together.
3. Know Your Audience
The next step necessary for a successful campaign is understanding your audience. This might involve developing representations of your ideal customers based on data about your existing customers and market research.
It takes time to define your target audience and determine where they spend their time online and how you can best reach them. When you know your audience, you can predict what methods will work for them.
4. Plan
Unless you have a long term actionable plan in place, your marketing scheme will most likely fizzle out. Design a plan that will steer you through the various phases of your campaign, and allow yourself the flexibility to adapt as you discover what is working for you and what isn’t.
Your plan should include a breakdown of phases (design, pre-launch, launch, post-launch, etc.), your budget, email templates for reaching out to people, information about your target audience, a content calendar, your SMART goals, a list of people who will help promote your campaign, tools that you intend to use, and more.
5. Manage Your Time
All of this takes time. You need to plan and design, promote, evaluate, and adapt and continually push yourself forward. You need to be consistent, which is why you need to set time aside to manage your campaign and give yourself sufficient time to take the necessary steps.
Campaign timing advice:
- Put together an organized promotion calendar.
- Reach out to existing customers and partners before you start your campaign.
- Follow up with people who agreed to help you get the word out.
- Reach out to influencers who could promote your campaign.
- Ask your friends and family to help out by sharing your campaign.
6. Evaluate and Adapt
When you first launch a campaign, it is not uncommon to experience less success then you may have hoped for. It is essential that you continually evaluate, adapt, and refine your process. You must be willing to make small, or even very large changes if you want to see success.