Written by Amanda Marshall

A large, comprehensive marketing campaign is a bit like a three-ring circus – there are a lot of pieces and parts to manage, and they’re usually all going on at the same time. For that reason, the idea of launching a large, complex campaign may be overwhelming and cause a business owner to just not do it. Instead, they stick with the one or two types of marketing they’re comfortable doing. But these days customers get information from too many channels for business owners to simply rely on one or two types of communication. An effective campaign has to reach people using many different types of communication. The key is to organize your campaign so it’s manageable, even if you have minimal marketing staff. Over the years I’ve relied on a few tips to help keep large campaigns organized and on track, and they can help you do the same.

To start with, you’ve got to have a master plan: a set of clearly-defined goals, a finite start and end date, and a means of tracking your successes (and failures). Then, as you map out the specific parts of your campaign, use these tips to organize them:

#1. Identify your audiences and determine what messaging resonates with them

The first—and arguably most important–step in running a successful marketing campaign is knowing who you’re talking to and what content grabs that audience’s attention. What do they really care about, and what’s important to them? Think of your audiences as asking the question “what’s in it for me?” How will they benefit from your product or service? Make sure you always keep your audience top-of-mind when you explore and execute ideas.

Ask yourself:

• Which audience are you targeting? What sort of content or campaign will resonate with those prospects?
• Which topics are popular with your audience? Which of your campaigns have gotten through to them in the past? Which ones haven’t worked?
• What is there a need for? Are the same questions appearing in blog comments, on social channels and with your customer support team?

Remember the goal is to deliver as much value as possible.

#2. Strategically set goals – and track them

Be as specific as possible when setting goals – both short and long term. Once you’ve mapped out an action plan, make sure you specifically spell out exactly what it is you want to accomplish when it’s all said and done. That will help you better measure your success down the road. Putting in that extra effort of strategically planning in advance will help you assess and calculate the outcome of the campaign.

Ask yourself:

• Short term: Are the right tools in place to measure against the goals that have been set? Tools like Google analytics, unique website landing pages, etc.
• Long term: How will the insights gathered from the short-term measurements be used to improve future campaigns? Will it refine the channels used to promote the campaign? Or cause adjustments to be made to the target audiences?

#3. Decide on your communication channels

Now that you’ve set your goals and mapped out your plan, it’s time to get it out there!

Ask yourself:

What channels will be the best ways to reach my audience? This could include one or a number of avenues:

• Direct mail
• Email
• News release/PR
• Social Media
• Blogging and content marketing
• A contest
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Display advertising
• Print advertising
• Out of home advertising
• Broadcast (TV/radio)

By choosing the perfect combination of advertising and promotion avenues, you create a recipe for success in boosting and creating hype around your campaign.

#4. Review and reassess

Once everything has wrapped up, it’s important to get the team involved together for a retrospective meeting. Talk about what went right, what went wrong, and what could have been done to make the campaign better.

Ask yourself:

• Did we target the correct audience? What was its response?
• Did we meet our goals?
• What didn’t work that we could improve on? Why didn’t it work?
• What strategies worked and what could have been to make the campaign better?

When everyone collaborates and answers these questions in retrospect, it not only helps the entire team grow professionally, but makes it stronger for the next campaign!

With achievable goals, measurable results and good organization, managing a large marketing campaign isn’t nearly as intimidating and overwhelming. It still requires some time and effort, but good organization will allow you to do more in less time, and focus on accomplishing your overall goal of getting more customers for your product or service.

Here at Reuben Rink, we want to help you create a campaign that puts you ahead of the game and delivers results. Contact us today to explore how we can help your business develop a thorough marketing plan and campaign!