Why Are Marketing Campaigns So Important?

Countless times you have come across various billboards, TV commercials, ads in magazines, short videos on social networks, and even street promoters who stop you from presenting a product to you. All this is just part of the marketing campaign. We say only a part because there is much more than one advertisement or one billboard behind one marketing campaign. 

What exactly is a marketing campaign?

 
In short, a marketing campaign is an organized, strategic effort to achieve a specific goal of the company or to get feedback, "feedback", from customers.
 
In other words, it implies detailed planning and implementation of various activities to attract potential customers, increase sales or retain existing customers, all to gain some profit.
 
As HubSpot states - that is what remains in us long after the first impression and the first purchase.
 
How does it work? Campaigns make companies striking. In addition to promoting what the company wants to show, they label them, give them an identity, and tie them to some emotion and personality.

Goals of the marketing campaign

Successful marketing campaigns follow a consistent theme and promote one idea or one goal. Although they are very simply defined, they require a lot of effort and work.

"Why are we running this campaign?" and "What do we want to gain from this campaign?" are just some of the questions we ask ourselves at the outset. Maybe it's promoting a new product or service, maybe raising brand awareness, or simply promoting an upcoming event. Whatever the main idea, the goal of any marketing campaign is for the company to benefit from it.

Why is it important to make marketing campaigns?

Because it is through campaigns that you present yourself to the public and potential new customers. The way you do this will influence the opinions of others about you.

A good campaign is remembered for a long time and a bad one for even longer. That is why it is important to plan well and approach it strategically. If they are successfully realized, they can be a turning point for one company.

How to conduct a marketing campaign?

It is important to approach the marketing campaign strategically. The big challenge is to reach an adequate target group, motivate it to the necessary action and achieve conversion that leads to achieving the desired goal. To do this you need to follow the following steps.

1. Analyze your target group and their needs well.

You need to determine who your customers are and what they want. Based on this information, your marketing decisions are formed.

Ask yourself: WHO are we talking to? WHY? WHAT are we telling him?

2. Set clearly defined goals.

Once you've defined your audience and researched it well, it's time to set your campaign goals.

Goals must meet SMART requirements.

S - Specific - each goal must be specific. What exactly do we want to achieve? Is the outcome of the activity clear? Will the set goal lead to the desired result?

M - Measurable - the goal should be set so that the degree of its realization can be monitored and an indicator of target values ​​must be defined.

A - Achievable - the goal must be challenging but achievable

Can it be done on time? Has anyone done this successfully before? Does the organization have available resources?

R - Relevant, the goal must be relevant

Is the goal worth the effort? Is it in line with our needs? Is now the right time for this?

T - Time-based - each goal must have a certain period in which it should be achieved

A poorly defined goal would be: "Achieve higher sales compared to last year.", While a good one would read: "Increase sales by 50% compared to last year."

Determining whether you have achieved a goal or not, due to the use of SMART conditions, should be very simple and objective.

3. Plan the strategy of your marketing campaign.

As part of this step, you need to do the following:

• Choose marketing channels

They can be online (email, social media…) and offline (ads, flyers, radio commercials, event marketing…).

• Choose how you will measure the results

If your goal is, for example, to increase sales, then you can choose the following measurement results: number of online sales, number of new customer registrations… On the other hand, if your goal is to become a more recognizable brand in your city, then you can measure results by increasing followers on social media, and the number of clients coming on the recommendation of your current clients…

• Write a plan

To keep all of the above under control, you need to write it down in one document. This document is your campaign plan. It can be minimalist or even in the form of a PowerPoint presentation.

In this step, ask yourself questions: HOW to reach the target group? WHERE to contact them? WHEN? HOW OFTEN?

4. Define resources and delegate tasks.

Once you are confident in your marketing plan, you can begin to fulfill it by assigning specific tasks to specific people.

Some of the tasks you will need to delegate to your team are project management, graphic design, video, website analytics, social media analytics, flyer distribution, and the like. It is also important to plan, i.e. calculate the costs that will be incurred during the implementation of the campaign.

5. Run a marketing campaign

Now that you have a plan, budget, and team ready, it's time to get to the marketing stage. Once each step is planned, all you have to do is follow the plan. But that doesn't mean you won't face challenges. As with any project, a marketing plan is rarely completed without delay.

For small teams, staff shortages, cost overruns, or campaign preoccupation can be a problem. To avoid such and similar problems, it is necessary to be constantly active in campaign management.

It is necessary to regularly monitor the reports on the status of the campaign to know if everything is going well and on time. You need to make sure your team is motivated, and you need to solve problems on time.

6. Measure the results of the campaign

The last and step we all expect, is measuring the results of the campaign. In this phase, we find out whether the time and money spent were worth it, as well as whether we achieved the set goals. The results of the campaign are measured with special tools.

In addition, you should consider other aspects of your campaign:

• How capable was each member of the team of doing their job?
• Were all tasks completed on time?
• What problems or challenges arose during the implementation?
• What could you do better or differently?

Keep in mind that measuring campaign results doesn't have to be done explicitly in the end. On the contrary, if you monitor your results and progress during the campaign, it will be easier for you to adjust in case of problems.

Examples

Rona

In the spring of 2010, Rona, a Canadian distributor, and retailer of building materials and home remodeling products came up with a fantastic idea. Namely, he used the famous "Ambush Marketing", i.e. Ambush Marketing. This type of marketing refers to the use of large events or already existing marketing campaigns for their interests, without paying appropriate fees. Although negative thoughts are often associated with this type of marketing, this may not always be the case.

Rona recognized Apple's billboard, with which he advertises his latest iPod Nano. The billboard displays the product in all available colors so that the colors blend down. When she saw that, Ron's company came up with a fantastic idea to use Apple's billboard for its purpose. Originally, Rona wanted to design a campaign based on the fact that they are a company that recycles paints, which resulted in placing their billboards just below Apple's billboards. Their billboard contained paint buckets placed just below Apple's products so that the paint "leaked" directly to them. The caption that dominated the billboard was: "We recycle leftover paint."

This initiative was very unique and innovative. The result is about 2 million liters of recycled paint.

We must note that this example of ambush marketing is not typical. Apple's products had nothing to do with Rona's products, so they were not competent to each other at any time.

Burger King

"Free burgers for women who get pregnant with a football player during the World Cup" is a campaign launched in 2018 by the Russian "Burger King".

Namely, the famous fast-food chain offered a lifetime supply of burgers to women who manage to "collect the best football genes" and "ensure the success of the Russian football team in the years to come." The company quickly publicly apologized to everyone who felt uncomfortable about their announcement: "We are sorry for the offensive promotional offer devised by the digital team in Russia. This does not represent our entire brand and values, and we are working to ensure that things like this never happen again. ”

Although they managed to gain public attention, this campaign did not have a positive impact on the brand. Insufficient attention in designing and forming a campaign can result in disaster for one campaign.

Conclusion

So, if you want to raise the credibility of your company, or simply want to be "heard", a good marketing campaign is the right solution. Whether it is as simple as handing out flyers on the street, or so complex that it requires a lot of time and capital, the campaign will leave an impression on customers, and that is what we want.