William Shakespeare Says-

There is nothing more valuable than a spotless reputation.

Nothing is more valuable to a company than how it markets itself. Many companies come and go, but their marketing campaigns are remembered forever (for example, Nike’s “Just Do It”). Marketing campaigns are tough to crack, but with the right resources and roadmap, you will achieve your business goals in no time.

A marketing campaign is a series of organized steps that accomplish a marketing goal together. A proper marketing strategy will act as your safety net, which is why you need to spend enough time coming up with one.

It also helps you to spend your resources wisely and stay within your goals. Therefore, this is the article you need to guide you in building a marketing campaign that promises long-term and substantial growth.

5 Types Of Marketing Campaigns

The five major types of marketing campaigns used by brands today are:

1. Email marketing campaign

Email marketing campaigns are straightforward campaigns that can be accomplished through email channels. Most brands use email marketing platforms like Mailchimp to automate most functions in the process. This type of campaign helps achieve the following:

• Generating traffic
• Sales promotion
• Building brand awareness
• Sending newsletters
• Updating abandoned carts

2. SEO marketing campaign

SEO marketing campaigns focus on improving a website’s search engine ranking. The end goal is to get the website to rank in first place on the search engine results page.

The following factors decide the success of the marketing campaign:

• Quality of backlinks
• The volume of search intent
• Topical authority on SERPs
• Speed of the website and its pages
• Quality of content

3. Brand awareness marketing campaign

No guess here! A brand awareness marketing campaign aims to improve the brand’s recognizability among the target audience.

However, such campaigns are indirectly targeted at increasing the sales of the products and services of a brand. Multiple factors build up the brand’s reputation, and with these campaigns, you can ensure that your brand will be remembered eternally.

4. Social media marketing campaign

Social media marketing campaigns work similarly to email marketing campaigns. However, the usage of social media is prevalent here. The approach can be more targeted in social media, catering to specific audiences only.

A few goals you can achieve on social media are:

• Build a community
• Create brand hype
• Generate more organic traffic
• Develop more user-generated content
• Earn more revenue

5. PR marketing campaign

PR (Public Relations) marketing, and the need to Discover effective PR strategies, is sought by most companies today to maintain a positive image with the public and the media. While the communication channels used for PR are different, they help create more buzz around the brand and its offerings, eventually leading to more sales.

These campaigns are used to:

• Build a positive brand image
• Increase brand credibility
• Promote ideas and products
• Higher reach using word of mouth and media.

3 Mailchimp Alternatives For Your Side Business

While email marketing campaigns continue to be in the limelight, it is impossible for all businesses to access the same tools and platforms.

Companies in their initial stages cannot use advanced and expensive platforms like Mailchimp to create marketing campaigns. If you are a business owner, here are a few Mailchimp alternatives for your side business:

1. Flodesk

Flodesk is an email marketing platform whose demand snowballs, especially among small business owners.

Here are a few reasons behind the increased demand:

• Innumerable email templates to choose from
• Automated workflows
• Easy audience segmentation
• Quick integration with other services
• Personalized content for subscribers.

2. GetResponse

GetResponse is another email marketing tool that lets you easily connect with your subscribers.

There are some of its unique characteristics:

• Easy hosting of webinars
• Automated blog digest
• Custom pricing option
• Ad creator for social media
• Automated sales funnel.

3. HubSpot

HubSpot is an all-in-one marketing platform that caters to more than email marketing campaigns. It is backed by a complete suite of automation tools that can create personalized user experience and level up operations in your company.

The following are its features made for email marketing:

• Easy form builder
• Segmentation of audience
• Optimized for mobile devices
• Provides email analytics and insights.

7 Steps To Creating Your Next Marketing Campaign

1. Describe your goals

It is vital that you have a vision for your marketing campaign. If you have no goal or an outcome that you desire to see, then it’s implied that you don’t want to go the extra mile to see your business grow. No business owner in their right mind would think of doing such a thing.

Your marketing campaign will only take proper shape if particular goals define it. The goals could be to increase reach, improve sales, or reach new customers. The more specific you are with your goal, the easier it will be to convey the message to the people working with you and measure the success of the campaign.

2. Determine your budget

Your budget is the next most critical factor on which the fate of your marketing campaign depends. You must have enough funds to fuel up the needed actions for the campaign to work out. Similarly, you must be aware of the purchasing power of your customers so that you can foresee the return on your marketing investments.

It is okay to dream big, but make sure it’s practically possible. You need to have a realistic budget at hand. The budget should be big enough to convince your audience that your company is the best in the industry but small enough to maintain steady profits. Be prepared for unforeseen expenditures too.

3. Identify your target audience

Your target audience is the consumer group you’re developing the campaign for. These groups are the most vital elements for your strategy’s success. You may either be looking to expand your reach or improve brand loyalty. In both cases, your target audience will oscillate between old and new consumers.

You can only create a marketing campaign with prior in-depth research on your audience. Data-driven campaigns are proven to work out the best. You must be aware of your audience’s pain points, interests, average income, etc. At the end of the day, this is what will decide the destiny of your marketing campaign: which market problem did it solve?

4. Select your communication channels

Your marketing campaign needs a pathway to convey the message and reach the people it was intended for. Upon market research, you must have information on the preferred communication channels of your audience. Knowing the preferred media of your audience will help message development and estimate a more appropriate budget.

Furthermore, your business goals will also decide the communication channel you choose. For example, digital media is your best bet if your goal is to reach newer audiences in the 25-40 years demographic. However, most marketing campaigns work perfectly if spread across two or more media channels as they have a greater impact.

5. Develop your message

The message-making step in the marketing campaign is the most fun part. This is the step where most brainstorming is needed. The need here is to create a message that fits your audience’s terms and conditions. The focus should be on them, and you must demonstrate how your brand will help them.

Create a message that speaks to their interests and needs. Simultaneously, plugin a clear call-to-action in your marketing campaign so that audiences know which steps to take if they want to proceed. Make use of appropriate images and other graphics where needed. You have 3 seconds to grab your audience’s attention, so keep it engaging.

6. Implement and measure your marketing campaign

If planned well, the implementation part of the marketing campaign should be smooth as butter. Make sure to schedule all other steps rightly. Instead of waiting for the campaign to complete, monitor its performance at regular intervals. You can immediately adjust and stop further damage if you see something going haywire.

Once the marketing campaign is done and dusted, study statistics to analyze your results. These stats are essential in more than one way for your brand. You will be able to see the audience’s behavioral patterns, the performance of each communication channel, and a lot more.

These data-driven insights will further guide you and make you confident for your next marketing campaign. Whether it’s a success or a failure, you will surely learn life-changing lessons along the way.

7. Compare with competitors’ performances

If necessary, you can include another step in your marketing campaign: tracking your competitors’ performances. If your marketing campaign didn’t see the desired results, you could take tips from competitors who have done better. See what sailed their boat and get your next campaign to sail the same way on similar waters.

A word of caution is that what worked for them might not necessarily work for you. But it will surely help you to think of better ways to improve performance and create a different image than theirs. You can provide services that they don’t or offer something better. Test their strategies in your business and see what suits you.

Create A Winning Marketing Campaign In 7 Easy Steps

The next time you set out to create a marketing campaign, research and explore new angles about your target audience. There are many unexplored avenues in marketing; you never know which would take your brand to never-thought-of heights! Now that you have a foolproof 7-step guide on marketing campaigns, it’s time to put your newly acquired knowledge to use.

Read Also:

• Measuring The Impact Of Experiential Marketing Campaigns
• Four Ways Businesses Can Overhaul Their Marketing Campaigns
• Why Content Marketing is better than Paid Promotion Campaigns