With the exponential rise of the internet as a sales and merchandising tool, it is almost unavoidable to have some level of digital presence.
One of the fundamentals to success in the online environment is digital marketing campaigns, which play a huge role in getting a business product or service noticed in what is becoming an increasingly noisy virtual marketplace.
Set and understand the objective and the goal
Remember that the purpose of any marketing campaign is to achieve a specific goal or result. In that sense, it is always essentially a means to an end. As simple as it sounds, many people fail to clarify the question: “What exactly is the end goal of the proposed digital marketing campaign?”
Typically, the ultimate end goal is increased revenue through increased sales. But a digital marketing campaign may be implemented for other ‘shorter term’ purposes – to increase product branding and market acceptance, for example, or to simply drive more traffic to a target website.
The digital marketing campaign is your ship’s rudder, and clearly understanding the objective will then establish the tone and style for the overall campaign.
It is recommended that after you decide on the goals think about the digital marketing KPIs you will use.
Be aware of any industry-specific restrictions
Ensure that any industry-specific advertising and marketing restrictions or legislative requirements are understood and complied with. For example, the alcohol and tobacco industry places certain caveats on product marketing. Similar online gaming ventures like spinpalace.com are subject to stringent licensing and advertising limitations.
Who exactly is your market?
With the overall objective or end goal of the proposed marketing campaign now clear in everyone’s minds, the next logical question becomes: “Who exactly is the marketing campaign targeting?”
Surprisingly, many campaigns fail to reap results because this basic factor is ill-considered, or in some cases, completely unknown!
The target audience – their age bracket, socio-economic standing, and demographics ultimately set the tone for your marketing “style” – which is the type of language and media used in the campaign.
Knowing the target market will also directly determine where exactly you will place your online marketing efforts.
How to ascertain just who your target market is
For many new business start-ups, the early digital marketing campaigns serve to test the waters, so to speak, and gain a better understanding of just who the target market is.
A range of online tools can be employed to achieve this end:
- The use of advertising (either free or paid) on social media platforms casts the net widely.
- Blogging articles and posts can establish branding and business tone.
- Podcasts and/or multimedia posts are dynamic and potentially hold greater interest.
- Email campaigns can provide wide market coverage.
- Free giveaways can be used in the start-up stage in return for customer information, such as age, location, interests.
Track the metrics and measure performance
The ability to analyze marketing metrics becomes incredibly important. A good suite of web analytics tools can further assist in honing more concentrated future campaigns.
Monitoring progress and having the capability to subsequently adjust or fine-tune digital strategy is a further tool to the success of a campaign.
In summary
The importance of an effective digital marketing campaign cannot be underestimated when considering online business success.
Regardless of campaign scale or reach, follow these basic fundamentals to build a highly effective digital marketing program.
