Marketing is about selling an experience, weaving that into your brand and building a successful business.
Every marketer should consider the following when launching their next marketing campaign: Peter DeCaprio
1. How can I tell my brand’s story? What makes it unique?
Your marketing efforts need to be focused on telling your company’s story, not just selling product or service features. This means you must know what makes your company “tick” at its core. Selling products and services are important, but if you’re not attracting users based on other factors like brand loyalty then your marketing efforts will only go so far. Ask yourself questions like: how does your product or service make people feel? Can you express this in 3 words? Why do we exist? This will help you learn more about your brand and why people should be interested in it.
2. What is the competition doing? How are they succeeding or failing?
It’s important to pay attention to what your competitors are up to, but don’t just copy their every move. Instead, look for opportunities where you can do something differently that will give you a competitive advantage. Is there a product feature that your competitor doesn’t have that would solve a user problem? You could then market this as one of your USPs (unique selling points).
3. Who will join our community and how can we attract them?
Your users and customers make up the foundation of your business: without them you’d simply have no one to sell your products and services to.
To attract new users you need a great product or service offering, but that’s only half of the equation. In order to build a healthy community you also need to invest some time into marketing efforts that target potential new users. Whatever channels they’re using today – from blogs and forums to social media – should be taken into consideration when creating your content marketing strategy. Share your expertise with them on a regular basis and learn more about what they want from a company like yours by asking questions directly on their online communities.
4. How can I make this campaign spread?
Marketing campaigns are always going to cost some money, but it shouldn’t be spent haphazard. Some marketing strategies require very little in terms of financial investment, while others might need you to go above and beyond.
When launching your next marketing campaign keep in mind how much effort will be required from you/your team (and how much it will cost) in order to make the most out of whatever budget you have available.
5. How can I integrate this into my existing campaigns?
You don’t want to throw away what has worked so far for your company simply because a new marketing strategy is available to try out. By integrating new ideas into your existing campaigns you can give yourself an opportunity to test them through new filters before deciding if they’re appropriate for their own dedicated campaigns down the line.
6. Have I set realistic targets? Will measuring success be easy?
It’s important to set realistic targets for your marketing campaigns. Every time you launch a new campaign there are variables that could have an impact on the results you’re hoping to see, so being flexible is always key. However, setting clear goals will also help keep focus on what needs to be achieved right now in order to make more progress later. If measuring success of your marketing campaigns becomes difficult because you’ve already moved on to other things then it might not be worth doing at all. It’s better to measure and improve upon efforts made than invest time into something that has no clear measurable benefits.
7. Have I built up enough trust within my community?
Building trust is not easy but it pays off over time. We live in the age of mistrust, where it’s much easier to share our opinions online than it is to offer positive feedback about a product or service.
However, there are some very easy ways to start building trust with potential customers. Offer expert advice that people can rely on through blog posts, social media chats and other community-building efforts. Make your business stand out by being transparent in what you’re doing now as well as plans for the future. Show prospective customers that they’re making the right choice by choosing your company over others in the same industry/niche.
Conclusion by Peter DeCaprio:
A successful marketing campaign is a mix of strategy and creativity. It’s fun to brainstorm new ideas, but you also need the discipline to figure out what helps your business make progress in the long run.