Cogo Strategy Blog

There's a reason why the job outlook for marketing managers is expected to increase by 10% over the next decade. If your business isn't growing at the rate you want it to, then marketing is often the secret to jumpstarting its success.

However, it's important to remember that marketing will only be as effective as its campaign. So, what is a marketing campaign? And how can an effective one help your company reach its goals?

This guide will discuss the answers to these questions so you'll know everything about marketing campaigns - from definitions to planning.

What Is a Marketing Campaign?

Let's say you have a specific goal as a business. Maybe you want to increase the amount of traffic you get to your website. Or, you could want to improve your product sales by a certain percentage. Marketing campaigns are a way for you to achieve these goals.

At their core, these campaigns are organized efforts that utilize multiple strategies to reach a specific goal. They might include things like expanding brand awareness, improving social engagement, or increasing the amount of customer feedback.

Business marketing campaigns use different types of media to achieve these goals. Some of the common ones include:

• Email
• Social media
• Print ads
• Radio
• Television
• Pay-per-click (or PPC)
• Search engine optimization (or SEO)

There is rarely a one-size-fits-all approach to a marketing campaign. As we'll see, the right type of media for your needs will depend on the specific goals you set.

What Are Some Ways a Marketing Campaign Can Help You?

There are numerous ways that a marketing campaign can help your business. One of the more obvious ones is lead generation. A good campaign can target new customers and bring them to your website or business.

What's more, it can also help you retain the customers you do have. This process can be just as important as finding new customers. Another important area that marketing campaigns can help with is brand awareness and image.

Brand awareness is essential for businesses these days. This is especially true if your business fits into a crowded market. Proper brand awareness campaigns can help distinguish your product or service from the competition.

The more familiar people are with your brand, the more they'll start to trust it. In addition to these three important area, marketing campaigns can also help your business:

• Generating awareness for a new product
• Increase sales for a specific type of product
• Improve traffic to your website
• Gain more followers on your social media accounts
• Promote seasonal products and services
• Increase the subscriber list for your email newsletters

It's important to note that these benefits are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to marketing campaigns.

As we'll see in the next section, almost any realistic goal you need to achieve can be reached with an effective marketing strategy.

The Importance of Setting Your Goals Before a Campaign

Without clear goals, your marketing campaign isn't going to go anywhere. A goal or purpose will inform every component of your strategy. Is your goal to increase traffic to your site?

In that case, a marketing campaign involving SEO and social media is the best avenue for success. Or, is your goal to increase sales?

In that case, a television or print ad might be more effective. Regardless of what your goals are, it's a good idea to make sure they follow the SMART framework. This marketing term means that your goals should:

• Specific: What exactly are you trying to do?
• Measurable: We want to increase our web traffic by 40%
• Attainable: We want to sell a million units might not be a realistic goal for a small business
• Relevant: Focusing on new products or services you might have
• Timely: Set a timeframe for this goal to be achieved

Goals have another important purpose for your marketing campaign: they tell you whether or not it was successful. You can't expect your campaign to be successful right off the bat.

With clear goals in place, you can discuss what worked and what didn't work once the campaign is through. From there, you can fine-tune it to be more effective on the second or third go around.

How to Plan a Marketing Campaign

It's important to remember that every marketing campaign will look different. For example, if your goal is to get a high lead conversion rate, you would likely follow this checklist.

That being said, most effective campaigns follow a similar basic formula. In this section, we'll break down the basics of this formula when planning your campaign.

1. Look At the Data

The importance of data analytics cannot be understated when it comes to digital marketing. Without proper data, it's like throwing darts at a board in a dark room.

You're shooting blindly with the hopes of landing your target using sheer luck. This is no good when it comes to marketing campaigns. Why? Because these campaigns can get expensive quite quickly.

So if you don't have an idea of where to aim your marketing strategy, you're going to lose money quickly. So what type of data should you look for? At a minimum, we recommend things like:

• The average age of your consumer
• The average gender of your consumer
• Where your consumer lives
• Behaviors, habits, and beliefs of your consumer
• Lifestyle information about your consumer

All of these data points help paint a picture of your target audience. This is an imaginary, ideal consumer who is most likely to purchase your product or service.

Once you have a target audience, you can begin developing a message and strategy that's specifically geared toward them. So how do you get this data?

Website tracking and product data can reveal some valuable insights. However, so can digital marketing data like social media interactions and keyword analysis.

So the more marketing campaigns you run, the more accurate your analytic data will become.

2. Develop a Message and Strategy

Once you have your target in mind, you can start discussing a message and strategy to get them interested in your product or service. Now is the time to be creative.

Put yourself in the shoes of your audience to brainstorm ways they might be interested in receiving marketing material. During this time it's important to think about what separates you from the competition.

Once you find that small detail, you need to figure out how to distill it into a message. Maybe you own an organic hot sauce company.

Compared to the competition, you ethically source all of your peppers for the products. Thus, you'll use this detail to target consumers who are environmentally conscious with their purchasing decisions.

3. Implement It Across Multiple Channels

Once your strategy is in place, it's time to implement it across the appropriate channels. The number of channels you choose will depend on both the specific strategy and your budget.

It's important to remember that some channels (television ads and billboards) will be a lot more costly than others (SEO and social media). Get creative with how you use these media channels.

For example, if you're a make-up company, you might want to do social media marketing. A paid promotion with a social media beauty influencer is a great option.

By demonstrating your product in action to their audience, you can create brand awareness with a market that's uniquely tuned to purchase your product.

The Secret Behind Successful Marketing Campaigns

A marketing campaign is often only as successful as the person running it. It's not enough for a marketing major to apply a blank slate model to your campaign. They need to fully understand your product and services.

They also need to analyze customer data to find your target audience. Only then, can they deliver a creative campaign that produces real, tangible results.

So how do you find marketing companies that fit this bill? Look for agencies like Cogo & Co that focus on data-driven strategies. Then, schedule a consultation with them. Describe your business and goals, then see how they respond.

The difference between a mediocre marketing agency and an exceptional one lies in how the team listens to you. If you feel like you aren't being heard, look elsewhere.

If they're as passionate about your product or service as you are, they can translate this into marketing. This passion, combined with good data, is the secret to the best marketing campaigns.

Ready to Maximize Your Marketing Strategy? Contact Cogo & Co

We hope this guide helped you answer the question, What is a marketing campaign? Here at Cogo & Co, we know that every business has unique marketing needs.

That's why we offer two different marketing services for our clients. Those who want ongoing marketing help can subscribe to our monthly subscription for a growth-oriented strategic partnership.

Or, if you just need tactical support, you can take advantage of our comprehensive campaign kit. Not sure which one fits your business's needs?

Schedule a consultation with us today We'll discuss your needs and wants to find the perfect solution to your marketing problems.