Are ‘tick box’ campaigns ruining your marketing performance and reputation?
Have you ever hastily created an advert for a heavily-discounted, last-minute opportunity.
Have you succumbed to the pressure of your sales team to turn around an impromptu event or mailing to pacify their need to meet targets?
Or maybe you’re an entrepreneur finding themselves posting and blogging because you’re worried about decreased engagement with your followers and subscribers?
A lack of process or planning prior to campaign execution is likely to divert valuable marketing efforts and budgets into tactical activities that don’t yield meaningful results or returns, and could even damage to your brand and reputation.
Of course, there are times when tight timescales, limited budgets and peer pressures require a rapid response. So how can you optimise your efforts in these situations?
In the absence of a proper planning session, here are 6 crucial questions I always try to answer before developing any form of campaign which have helped me make the most of available resources…
1. “Who are the target audience and what situation do they find themselves in that is challenging or problematic?”
Being able to understand empathise with your audience can be far more effective than just hitting them with an offer. It demonstrates your appreciation of their circumstances and helps to quickly establish a rapport.
2. “What can you provide that will help them overcome this challenge or problem?”
A simple, short one-line introduction to your solution, focussing on what you have to offer - not ‘how it works’.
3. “How much better will things be for them by using your solution?”
Outline the primary 2 - 3 benefits they’ll gain from using your product or service. A couple of punchy bullet points could work well.
4. “Do you have a quote / statistic that proves your solution works?”
Including a genuine customer testimonial or review adds a layer or credibility. Similarly, statistics can provide the evidence to help build trust and strengthen audience engagement.
5. “Is there a sweetener to get them to act now?”
If they’ve got this far, make it as easy as possible for your campaign recipient to respond and take the next steps on their customer journey - if they’re hot to trot, what should they do next? (e.g. subscribe, vote, comment, enquire, register, etc.).
6. “Does the campaign compliment your business goals and brand values?”
If your offering or solution is aspirational or luxury, take care not to devalue it with a price-based offer. Conversely, if your strategy is centred on cost-leadership then a heavily-discounted or limited-time message is much more aligned to your business, and less likely to undermine your market reputation.
I hope you’ve found this insight useful. These are the questions I regularly pose to our clients to help them get the most from their marketing investment, and to date they’ve never let me down. They provide a considered approach and can mean the difference between just another ‘tick box’ campaign and a tactical activity that generates desirable results. And working with an external agency like us has helped them to hone their messages, content, design and execution for better campaign performance.
Author: Neil Corrigan
Branding and marketing specialist helping businesses grow their client base, market share and turnover.
