Kicking off a Media Campaign with Better Inputs, for Better Outcomes
It’s 2019 – we are well past the days of “spray and pray” marketing. Customers, businesses and brands are all unique, and the more nuanced and informed view one takes of these, the more thoughtful and effective a marketing campaign can be. To help your agency partners better understand the many factors that impact your business and make your service or product unique, here are some questions to anticipate answering, or proactively provide answers for, during the discovery phase of a new media campaign or engagement: Who is your target audience and how do you define your ideal customer?The key component to any successful marketing strategy is understanding the individuals that you want to engage with your brand. The ideal target audience should not be limited to quantitative data such as average household income, education level, demographic and geographical information. Endeavor to include your target audiences interests, hobbies, motivations, and media consumption habits. A sound marketing strategy is customer-centric and reaches target consumers throughout the course of their day via the appropriate channel with messaging that connects with them and makes them tick - understanding the ideal target customer is essential to accomplish this. Creating personas can help create a composite view of your customer segments, helping illustrate ways to make their experience with your brand more impactful.What does a typical customer journey look like for your brand? The three key phases of any customer journey are awareness, consideration, and decision. It is imperative to identify what a customer mentally and emotionally experiences during each phase of the journey to ensure they are reached with the right message at the right time. Things to consider as we think about the phases of the customer journey may include:
Problems and/or pain points they are experiencing
Activities or measures they are taking while considering solutions for a said problem
The rationale utilized to make a purchasing decision
What is the main objective your brand is looking to achieve via marketing?Should marketing efforts focus on building brand awareness in a defined market or increasing sales revenue? Are you looking to gain new users, or increase customer lifetime value? For a marketing strategy to be successful, the strategist needs to understand what is of the utmost importance to the brand to ensure all proposed channels, tactics and messaging strategies ladder up to the key campaign goal. Other common brand objectives include targeting new customers, building brand affinity and loyalty, launching a new product or service and growing market share. Larger campaigns may have multiple, interrelated objectives, but understanding which to prioritize can help determine channel strategies, key performance metrics, messaging and more.How does your brand define success? What are the hard metrics associated with your established marketing objective?For example, you may be seeking double the number of sales of your product and service in a certain period of time or a 40% decrease in the average cost per purchase (CPP). Measuring return on investment (ROI) is how your marketing strategist is able to determine campaign effectiveness. It’s also helpful to share with your marketing partner exactly how these metrics have been determined. Historical trends such as year over year growth or internal research on how a new product may be received can become useful insights when it comes to marketing strategy and deciding which tactics to employ.What is your current level of brand awareness? Is your brand new to the market, relatively unknown or is there an established awareness in your target geography? Some things to take into consideration as you evaluate your brand awareness include the volume of traffic and activity on your Website, earned media, engagement with existing brand content, social media activity, community reach, and search volume. By understanding brand awareness at the onset of marketing strategy development, a strategist is able to identify a benchmark to measure and track against throughout the lifecycle of the campaign. Of equal importance, the strategist can begin to determine the necessary mix of awareness versus lead generation tactics to accomplish maximum brand impact.What is your brand’s competitive landscape? Who are your main competitors, what are their main product and/or service offerings and what are their strengths and weaknesses?The more insight your marketing strategist has into your competitive set, the better equipped they are to identify marketing tactics that take advantage of competitive weaknesses and emphasize your brand in the most impactful way. Understanding the competitive set will also help inform targeting strategies, such as specific geographic locations where your brand has the highest potential for impact or specific customer segments that are most likely to convert to a new brand’s product or service.What is your brand’s unique value proposition (UVP)? What is the key benefit of your product or service? How will your brand solve a consumer’s problem or improve their situation? What sets your brand apart from your competitors?The UVP for your brand will clearly communicate why a customer should purchase your specific product or service. Any marketing strategist will tell you that your brand’s UVP is of paramount importance as it serves as your introduction to potential buyers and allows for a strong first impression among your target audience. The UVP will be front and center in the messaging of your brand’s product or service across all campaign elements.As a marketer for your brand, having the answers to the questions above will serve as a launch pad for a successful campaign. If you don’t have all of the answers up front, have no fear. Look to your marketing strategist for guidance as you discuss these points, tapping into their expertise to formulate the appropriate answers for your unique business. Remember: your marketing strategist has the same end goal as you, brand success – however, you may define it. Take full advantage of the partnership you are about to embark on with your marketing strategist as you work towards having a big impact on your brand.To learn more about Primacy's media services, click here.
