Will this marketing activity work?

​I get asked this question a lot. And whether it’s a new website, advertising campaign, email campaign, leaflet, brochure, or event, I always come back with the same four questions. So here’s they are:

1.  Why are you doing it?

What do you want to achieve with this marketing activity? And be specific! “To get more sales” is too vague.

You need to know what is the end result you are hoping for. What do you want people to feel, think and do as a result of coming into contact with your marketing? Do you want them to go to your website; book onto an event; call you? Why would they want to do that? How will your advert get people to do this?
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Make sure you have a strong call to action that prompts people to do what you want them to do. Make it as obvious as possible what action you want people to take and you have a much higher chance of your marketing activity being successful.

2.  Who are you aiming this at?

Again, be specific. Who is your ideal buyer? Where do they hang out? What are they interested in? What messages will resonate with them?

Tailor your messages and call to action accordingly. Use images that help them picture the benefit they will receive, picture themselves, and/or picture you.

Also think about where your target audience is in the buying process: have they heard of you before? How well do they know you?

The process of winning new customers is similar to dating, so is this your first date or your 10th? If they’ve never heard of you before, they’re unlikely to turn into a loyal customer without knowing anything about you so how can you encourage them to come on a second date? What do they need to hear to help them make that decision?

Often a marketing activity might be aimed specifically at people who know you very well, such as existing or lapsed customers. What can you say to re-engage them?
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Receiving an email from a company that you buy from regularly which talks as if you’ve never heard of them is annoying and makes a customer feel like they are not valued. So make sure your messaging suits your audience.

3.  What is the next step?

Using the dating analogy again, you don’t want to be that person that talks about children’s names on the first date. If you are marketing to people who have never heard of you, don’t expect to put one advert, say, in front of them and close the sale! Make sure you have an appropriate next step to lead your customer onto so that they can get to know you comfortably in their own time.

Think carefully how this particularly marketing activity fits into the rest of your marketing. What are you offering as your next “date”? And then map out the next step and the next. How will your reader go from seeing this piece of marketing to actually buying from you? Think through your ideal path to purchase.

A typical path to purchase might look like this:

1. An advert or email
2. Blog post
3. A pdf download, such as a guide, checklist or case study, in exchange for their email address
4. A meeting or event which demands some time
5. A low-cost first purchase
6. Your core product offering

If you are marketing to people who have already heard of you, how much do they know about you and what is a logical next step?
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If you are marketing to customers who bought once and never again, think about a gentle way to invite them back in. Help them get to know you better.

4.  How will you measure success?

​Finally, ALWAYS make sure you have measures in place so that you will you know if your marketing activity is working.

If you’re using digital marketing, know in advance what you want to track, whether it is impressions/reach, clicks, conversions, etc.

And don’t just track your marketing activity, track across the whole sales process. Are all the elements of you path to purchase optimised? If not, which ones are letting you down?

I can help you make sure all your marketing activities are fully optimised and working together to succeed. Call or email me to discuss your particular needs, or follow me on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.