The success of creating effective and impactful integrated marketing campaigns to achieve your desired marketing outcome can be better secured by planning ahead and taking note of the following ten tips.
1. Establish the competition
Who are your main competitive threats? If you don’t already know this inside and out, research your competitors. Understand where they are visible, and what are they saying. Take these learnings and ensure your strategy best reflects how to steal their market share.
2. Refine your target market
Who are you talking to? Define a customer profile to inform your messaging and media mix. Understand how your customer thinks and feels, and how prominent your brand is to them, if at all. Determine how they currently consume their media. Is your audience B2B vs B2C? If you are targeting a B2B audience don’t waste your money and time on an above the line plan. Direct and targeted communications will allow you to narrow your focus. A B2C audience does warrant an above the line plan, however, be specific and targeted in your approach to minimise wastage. Plan what are you going to need to tell your ideal costumers about your brand to deliver your intended outcome.
3. Define your goals
What do you want to achieve? Don’t try to do everything at once, a complicated and convoluted message will set you up for failure. The defined goals should form a clear call to action for the consumer by establishing what do you want your audience to think, feel and do. Perhaps your goal is increased sales or retention, web visits or calls. Pick one and do it well. If the marketing plan is to drive profits to the bottom line, work backwards from the revenue you anticipate achieving. What is your cost per enquiry vs acquisition? Based on this, how many sales will you need to deliver against your intended revenue forecast?
4. Determine your budget
How much money do you have to spend to ensure your plan is successful? Once you establish your ideal number of enquiries, sales, your conversion rate and overall revenue growth, you will be able to map out your budget. Make sure you are monitoring your conversion rates are being achieved as this will ensure your plan is delivering.
5. Navigate the everchanging media landscape
What channels have been successful for you in the past? Consider that these safe channels may no longer be as impactful. Traditional above the line media plans are no longer as effective with the media landscape in flux. Consumption is in decline within the channels marketers once relied on. Take TV for example, viewership is on the decline due to the accelerated uptake of online streaming. Broadcast TV viewership has declined 6% in the last 4 years, whereas catch up TV has increased 13%. Over 51% of Australians are watching Netflix regularly, since it arrived in Australia in March 2015. TV networks are needing to diversify in their fight to maintain their market share. The hunger for online content is swiftly accelerating and it’s not going to slow down. It now provides marketers more options, and avenues. However, it also allows your plan to be more tightly targeted. When developing your media channels ensure you are going to be visible where your target market is going to easily find you.
6. Map out your customer journey from beginning to end
Where is your customers’ final destination, and what do you want them to do from here? By mapping out the customer journey end to end you can ensure your messaging at each touch point is guiding them along the journey and enticing them to do what your plan aims to deliver.
7. Develop your content
Develop your content relevant for the mediums you have chosen. Ensure you are talking in an engaging tone that will resonate with your target market. You should speak to them in a persuasive manner, with a clear call to action.
8. Consider SEO vs SEM
Is your web presence visible? There is no point on spending money on marketing if your customers will not be able to find you online. If your SEO is not fully optimised consider implementing SEM to support your campaign and to ensure you don’t send your customers to the competitors who may have a stronger web presence.
9. Go live
Are you fully prepared for all inbound enquiries? Inform the frontline staff, ensure they are equipped to handle any inbound consumer queries and understand the campaign messaging. Once you are confident your business is resourced and fully ready to receive and embrace the new business you are driving, set your plan live.
10. Test report and measure
Once your plan has been activated, there is no better way to burn out your budget than by setting and forgetting. It is recommended to keep a close eye on the activity generated from your plan and optimise as you go. With the right mechanisms in place, you will soon learn which channel is proving most effective. Test and tweak along the way to get the most out of your plan.
Here at Cuckoo we have crafted the art of creating impactful and effective integrated marketing so if you want some support we’re here to help, give us a call.