In marketing, as in life, there are no guarantees. But as a business owner looking to grow, you’ll understandably want to get as close as possible to guaranteed results and ROI with any given marketing campaign you launch.
The best way to do this? Follow a proven, repeatable template that you can base campaign planning and execution on. Here, we’ll share a checklist of steps that will produce revenue-generating, business-boosting campaigns, every time.
Step #1 – Pick a Campaign Type or the Right Campaign Mix
From the very start, it’s essential to get the style and form of marketing right, in order to forge strong bonds with future customers.
For example, if your main customers are artsy Millennials, influencer marketing via Instagram and Snapchat might work. If you’re going after seasoned, ambitious professionals, some high-impact articles and SlideShare presentations on LinkedIn might attract the right prospects.
Remember that your customers aren’t one dimensional — multichannel approaches, such as a combination of SEO blogging and email marketing, can help your overall message resonate much more.
Step #2 – Drill Down to Goal Specifics
Next, think about what you really want to achieve with your campaign:
- A specific number of new leads?
- A certain number of new sales?
- An increase in web conversion rates by a certain percentage?
- Broader social media reach?
- Media mentions and PR outreach?
All of these are worthwhile goals. A look at your revenues and growth stage can help you decide which ones matter most. In the beginning, sales are everything; once your brand is well-established, you might add a little earned media to the mix.
Settling on the campaign goal will keep you laser-focused on hitting intended targets. For example, if you know you need to nurture leads better, email marketing fits like a glove — and you’ll be more apt to plan the right order and pacing of helpful messages.
Step #3 – Create Time-Bound Plans
If you want to get things done, set deadlines.
You’ll want to create time-bound plans for getting from point A to point B with your chosen campaign (after you’ve defined A and B, of course).
Some meaningful SMART goals — that’s “specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound” — attached to a marketing campaign might look something like “gain 20 new leads from February 1st – February 28th,” or “make 5 new sales of our premium package within the first quarter.”
Notice how you can attach a definite beginning- and end-date to those objectives? That’s where the magic is. Setting time boundaries suddenly makes it straight-forward to schedule marketing tasks, gather needed resources, and measure the results in hard numbers.
Step #4 – Execute on the Creative
Now comes the actual “doing” of the work that every campaign entails. To guide that work, draw up a clear roadmap to spell out all the tasks and creative.
The way it looks depends on the campaign mix. If it’s centered around blog content or social media posts, you might want to flesh out a simple editorial calendar. If it’s a social media ad campaign, you may create some detailed briefs with ideas for copy and graphics, along with several versions for future testing.
Then, it’s simply a matter of getting it all done. Ensure that your team of creators is fully-informed and matched by skill to each task. That way, the final product is more likely to be up-to-standard and on time.
Step #5 – Measure the Results
When the campaign is all said and done, it’s time to measure it all. If you’ve met your goals, amazing! If not, you have a great learning opportunity on your hands.
If the campaign didn’t go your way, take a hard look at how each part was executed. Compare it to your past successful campaigns, as well as to your competitors’ marketing efforts.
Testing can be very helpful. A tool like HubSpot, with its A/B testing feature for emails and landing pages, can reveal quick fixes that add up to better-performing digital campaigns.
And there you have it…a marketing campaign template to follow consistently, and one you can depend on to actually produce results. If you try these steps in order for every campaign, your business will thank you for it.
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