How to create a marketing campaign step by step
Find out what a marketing campaign is, and how to plan yours
In order to get results, it is necessary to consider what a campaign is, and what its purpose is. As simple as it may sound, do you know how to create a marketing campaign?
A marketing campaign has the power to transform a business. When done well, it can captivate, attract and retain more and more customers. However, the challenge is knowing how to do it right.
Once you understand the concept, it naturally becomes easier to understand how and why to create a campaign. Before you begin, bear in mind some starting points related to planning. Knowing how to position these campaigns digitally is critical too.
What is a marketing campaign?
A marketing campaign is a set of initiatives developed to promote a company, its products or services. Such a campaign always has a goal to be achieved, a start date and an end date.
Marketing campaigns are created with the objective of reaching a specific audience, or business persona. Its placement can take place using different means and channels, online and offline, from TV advertisements to billboards.
These means need to be aligned with the tastes and interests of your company’s customers. Plenty of actions and tools can be used to create a great campaign, including data analysis tools, OKRs templates and more.
Different audiences frequent specific media and channels, and this needs to be taken into account during the planning and execution of your campaign.
In practice, a campaign is made up of a sequence of actions which fall under a single concept. For example, on Black Friday, brands run a specific campaign for that time of year, aiming to increase sales. This work is marked by a series of actions which are planned for different channels, always aiming to draw attention to the main event.
Definition of concepts
A strong campaign clearly defines its concepts. No matter the reason for its existence, a coherent theme emerges. The launch of an innovative product, for example, may use innovation as the basis of its actions. So the product’s launch campaign will be focused on showing how innovation can have a positive impact on consumers’ lives.
Why do I need a marketing campaign?
Marketing campaigns have become essential for business success as Ecommerce continues to grow, and people’s consumption habits constantly change.
Marketing campaigns allow you to show off your product and create a connection with the consumer, while strengthening your brand in the market.
A marketing campaign is the key for captivating your audience and drawing their attention to your business.
The different stages of a marketing campaign
A marketing campaign should be developed around three basic steps:
1 – Planning: planning and organization are essential factors for the success of a marketing campaign. During this step, make sure to answer the following questions:
- What is the purpose of my campaign?
- To whom will it be directed?
- How much budget is available?
- How long will it last?
- What is the expected outcome of this action?
The answers to these questions will allow you to plan and design your marketing campaign as a whole.
2 – Execution: in this stage, everything that was defined in the planning stage is carried out. The important thing here is not to lose sight of the initiatives that were outlined earlier. A single misstep or failure can put your campaign at risk, so your full attention is required.
3 – Analysis: the analysis process is directly linked to the previous stage. In practice, you don’t have to wait for the entire campaign to end to analyze the results. On the contrary, they can already be assessed as soon as your marketing campaign initiatives have been implemented.
How to develop a strong marketing campaign?
Know your persona: The persona is the representation of your company’s ideal customer, including what they expect from your company, their needs, etc.
By establishing personas, marketing teams can better understand the customer, and help them in their shopping experience.
Establish a budget: this is one of the most cited aspects when developing a marketing campaign, since it refers precisely to the capital which is made available to carry it out. In marketing, the budget is used for a number of actions, such as:
- Investment in social networks;
- Investments in paid traffic;
- Actions related to public relations, and more.
Define your goals and KPIs: marketing campaigns are doomed to failure without an objective, and corresponding KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Clearly defining these two aspects will optimize the results of your marketing campaign.
Set the duration of your campaign: marketing campaigns need to have a specific start and end date. Monitoring results is key, and this isn’t possible if the campaign goes on interminably.
In addition, customers will eventually tire of viewing the same marketing campaign. Novelty is a major attraction for consumers. And the longer a campaign runs, the more it tends to cost.
Focus on establishing a deadline, using balance and common sense, when defining a marketing campaign for your business.
Analyze competitors: this analysis is relevant in many aspects within a company, but especially when it comes to marketing. Just think if your main competitor conducted a campaign that did not go down well with consumers, and you followed suit later on due to a lack of awareness. That would definitely be a problem.
The reverse is also true. If the competition is doing something that is being well received by the public, it is worth taking note, while maintaining originality.
Choose the appropriate channels: will your campaign be exclusively online, or include offline elements? Your campaign’s channels need to be well aligned for it to be a success. Always remember to bear in mind the channels which are most used by your customers.
Tests: conduct tests before putting the campaign into action. For example, if you’re planning on using email marketing, don’t send your communication to the entire user base at once, but rather segment and define smaller groups of people before sending the content.
If everything works as planned and feedback is positive, go ahead and send the message to the rest of the customer base.
Measure results: how will you know if your campaign initiatives are proceeding as expected? Simple: by measuring the data.
This is essential, not only because of the speed with which the public responds to campaigns on social networks and other channels, but in order to achieve your goals and take your brand to the next level.
Monitoring will help you to understand whether a particular initiative is worth continuing, adjusting or dropping.
All online actions are closely linked to a large volume of informational assets that, if properly analyzed, will contribute to your campaign’s success.
When considering how to create a marketing campaign, it is worth highlighting the strategic use of data as a means of achieving your set objectives. This data makes everything more coordinated, by unveiling your target audience, and making it possible to analyze and stand out from the competition.
