Top Tips to Solve Campaign Brain Drain
It’s tough out there.
It’s the almost end of a very odd (at best) year.
And that’s good. We’ve earned a break. This year I think people will be making more of an effort than before on buying gifts (my feeling is that experiences are going to be VERY popular), cooking, catching up – nothing is going to seem as hard as it normally might because we’ve learned a bit more appreciation for each other and our freedom in 2020.
So there’s never been more pressure on your end of year marketing campaigns – whether that’s Christmas, or BFCM, or “New Year, New You” type things, you’re going to need to be onto it.
And Facebook’s not on your side – it’s been wonky AF since COVID started and even worse during the US election.
So here’s some stuff you need to consider to set your marketing campaigns up for success.
1. Define your ultimate goal & offer
Sounds easy enough. But your goal isn’t just to “get sales”. How many sales do you need to be profitable? How many units of stock do you need to move? What’s your expected last delivery date (hard one I know…) before your event (Xmas for example…)
What’s the best offer to achieve this?
If you’re using Facebook Ads (and I suggest that you do), what’s the best objective that will get you there? Is it Conversions, Lead Gen…do you have a catalogue set up, will you use dynamic ads? Video?
Once you know exactly what you want to achieve (eg – sell 123 units of abc at $456 by Dec 5 using 2+1 bundle + Free gift wrapping) you’ll start to see a clear path forward on objectives, set-up, targeting and creative.
2. Check your tracking & tagging
Yep ok – you have a Pixel you installed. But is it sending the right data? Does you plugin need an update? Has it switched itself off for no discernible reason?
Does it match your Google Analytics (or at least almost)?
Do you need more sophisticated tagging to help you record third party activity?
It’s all very well and good to measure, and make adjustments and optimisations based on this data – but if it’s not set up correctly you’re getting the wrong data!
3. Consider the user experience
Is there anything you can make easier/less confusing for the user so they can’t help but almost accidentally buy from you?
In order to do so you might need bespoke landing pages, more payment methods (Apple pay, Google pay, Afterpay etc) and clearly display your shipping info!
You might need to look at your site speed too, and any popups. If you manage to get people’s attention and initiate a sale, there’s not much that needs to go wrong for them to abandon it.
4. Speak clearly
Sometimes people forget that marketing is simply getting your message to the right audience.
A clever or catchy campaign slogan is good, but when writing copy it needs to be punch, emotive and relatable to your audience.
Remove unnecessary words. Use emoji. Treat the reader with respect – they’ve paid attention to you, now don’t waste their time.
5. Get eyes
Your marketing campaigns can’t work if no-one sees them. And sure, if you’re using paid social you’ll get them seen, but is anyone actually looking?
Don’t be tempted to blast your images full of text just because Facebook removed the 20% rule. Your creative’s job is to get attention from the target audience. Use what they like to see and they’ll see you.
6. Plan it out
You need to have all your ducks in a row. Plot it out on a campaign calendar. When are you launching, how long is the campaign? Is it phased? What are you key dates for messages? When are you sending eDMs etc?
A unified and organised roll-out is not only more powerful but less stressful.
And remember – this time of year is when people are en masse thinking of gifting – so your target audience is ALLLLLL over the place. Bear that in mind when crafting your campaigns.
There you have it folks – my TOP 6 tips on mapping out your campaigns! Now go forth and market!
Did I miss any? Probably – leave me a comment.
Have you got a campaign you love? Or one of your own you’d like to share with other marketers? Send it to The Marketer and maybe we’ll feature it!