A marketing campaign takes time and money along with a significant investment of resources. It should never be undertaken without advance preparation, since that legwork can make the difference between success and failure. Here are some things that you should do before launching a marketing campaign.
Define Your Audience in Excruciating Detail
In order to start marketing, you need to know who you are marketing to and what they want. You cannot just blindly put out marketing materials in the hopes that they find an audience. Your current customers may be a helpful resource to defining your target audience. They may be able to give useful information when it comes to figuring out the persona of your intended customer, and they should be used as a resource.
Create a Dedicated Landing Page
Each marketing campaign has an online hub or landing page that will have the core information customers need to know. Before starting your efforts, make sure that you have this landing page where customers can learn the details of what you are marketing along with a way to contact you. The landing page will be a way to collect sales leads and will be the entry point to your business from wherever the traffic originates. Accordingly, it should have built-in conversion elements appropriately placed, making the transition from first time visitor to converted client natural and easy.
Audit the Resources Dedicated to the Campaign
The principles of campaign management are identical to the principles of managing any other project. Project management principles dictate that you figure out ahead of time exactly which resources will be devoted to the campaign. You need to make sure that you have sufficient personnel and budget for the project. You must plan and track the resources as they are expended. Various automated software tools exist that can help you with this task.
Ramp up Your Social Media
Social media is a real-time place where you can find and interact with your customers. They will not even wait to find a business online in the mobile environment. Instead, they will get their information straight to their mobile device. You want to be active and present in this medium because that is where your customers are spending their time.
Planning your marketing campaign ahead of time will be a major determinant of whether it is successful. When you invest in marketing with your advance work done, you will reach not only more customers but also the right customers.
