How To Run Impactful, Measurable Marketing Campaigns

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Creating an entire campaign might be complex, but it’s a pretty straightforward process — if you do it correctly. So, let’s start off with understanding what is needed to set up and run impactful, measurable marketing campaigns.

1. Identify marketing objectives for the campaign.
   The first step is to identify the marketing objective of the campaign, what are you trying to achieve? Brainstorm with your team on what is achievable and what is a stretch. A few examples are — growing online presence, lead generation, increased profit, building brand awareness etc.
2. Set SMART objectives.
   Once the marketing objectives are outlined, drill down the details. Get more specific. Use SMART marketing objectives, which are:

Specific: Clearly define the goals so the whole team understands the objective and why it’s important.

Measurable: Identify metrics and key performance indicators (KPI) that allow you to measure your success.

Achievable: Set goals that are within your reach. While you may want to set a high bar, setting goals within your means will set your team up for success.

Relevant: The goals are relevant to your brand mission and the direction of your business. You should have good reasons for each of your marketing objectives.

Time-Bound: The goals need to have a timeline that indicates when the objectives begin and end.

3. Identify your target audience.
This is one of my favorite topics that I like to talk about “target audience”. That is because your alignment with your audience can make or break the success of anything marketing or sales-related campaign.

Start by answering questions like — Are you trying to gain new customers, or are you looking at gathering feedback from existing clients? Are you marketing your brand to those who recognize it, or are you introducing a new brand identity altogether?

Answering this will help not only know your audience better but also create marketing messages based on the journey your audience is in the Awareness, Consideration, or Decision stage.

4. Identify metrics.
It is important to know what metrics you will monitor to understand the effectiveness of the campaign. This is dependent on the channel(s) used. Do not get overwhelmed by the metrics, keeping an eye on this will help evaluate the campaign effectiveness. Some metrics that can be measured are listed below.

Email Metrics: Click-through rate (CTR), Bounce Rate, Conversion rate
Social Media (Paid) Metrics: Click-through rate, Conversion rate, Cost per click, Cost per-conversion
Social Media (Organic) Metrics: Passive engagements (likes and shares), Active engagements (comments), Follows, Click-through rate
Lead Magnet/Content Offer Metrics: Opt-in rate, Cost per opt-in, Follow-up email open rate, Opt-in conversion rate
Display Ads/Paid Media Metrics: Cost per thousand impressions, CTR, Conversion rate, Cost per conversion

5. Measure/ Evaluate.
Now that you have all the metrics in place look at the data in hand. Ask questions like — what worked, what could be done differently? What did you learn from your audience interaction? Use the answers to tweak your next campaigns.

Final thoughts-

The success of your marketing strategy depends on — clearly outlined objectives and metrics. Do not have too many objectives and stay focused on the outcomes. Answer questions and see how you can use data to guide you with better decision-making powers.