Marketing and promotional campaigns:

Transcription

1 Marketing Marketing and promotional campaigns: laying the foundation for success A successful campaign considers each avenue at its disposal and uses the right channels at the right time to guide targets to action by Beth Rand and Erin Read Ruddick What do you think of when you hear the phrases Just Do It, Snap, Crackle, Pop, Virginia is for Lovers or What Happens in Vegas? These are just a few memorable marketing campaigns that have made their way into the consciousness of consumers. It takes more than a catchy slogan or eye-catching creative to ensure your brand messages will reach your audience. And while you may never promote your organization or brand on the 24 same national or global level as these examples, you can develop a successful platform on which to reach your mature target audience and create results. Hallmarks of a successful campaign Strong brands are developed over time by the consistent delivery of the brand image and promise across all media and interactions. Your brand will establish the initial impressions your target market has of your organization and serve as the basis for a cohesive marketing approach. Your brand presence is everything your target market touches that helps shape interaction and, ultimately, action. Continued on page 26 ICAA Nov-Dec indd :13 PM

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3 foundation for success Continued from page 24 Marketing dos and don ts for establishing your brand presence Don t Try to be all things to all people. Say too much at once. Forget about public relations, an especially effective channel with older consumers. Leave out your USPs (what makes you unique). Forget a clear call to action, the next step for every phase in the purchase funnel. Forget to tell people how to act: phone number, address, website. Do Segment and define your audience s needs and aspirations in your communications strategy. Take an integrated brand approach. Make sure your brand is present where your targets are spending time. Have a strong digital presence, including a website, blog, social media, and online ads. Research and test your options for communications channels. Use emotion and relevance to spark interest and gain consideration. Remember the tenets of good communication. Plan ahead to align maximally with the purchase funnel and integrate with other initiatives, considering large events, grand openings and seasonal needs. Have a plan to promote retention and advocacy, after the sale. 26 Technically speaking, a marketing or promotional campaign is defined as the efforts to increase consumer awareness of a particular product, service, business or organization. The best campaigns move a consumer beyond awareness and into action. While many associate marketing campaigns with print advertising or television commercials, these channels are just two pieces of the marketing puzzle. The most successful marketing campaigns go well beyond, employing an integrated approach to their marketing. An integrated strategy gives your brand a voice across every channel consumers interact with, ensuring saturation across multiple touchpoints (the points of contact between brand and consumer). Virginia is for Lovers is an example of a brand that takes every opportunity to position and promote itself through each and every avenue. From print ads to billboards, website to commercials, and social media to hot air balloons, the Virginia Tourism Corporation creates a unified voice and brand presence for the Lovers campaign that resonates with prospective visitors both inside and outside the state. Building the foundation Strategic planning is key to effective messaging. This messaging is at the core of your marketing campaign and serves as your foundation. Without it, your efforts can be (and most of the time will be) fruitless. After all, you want to have a solid foundation before you build a house; otherwise, you have the proverbial house of cards waiting to fall. At the heart of your messaging lies your communications strategy, which helps define and drive all marketing campaigns/efforts and ensure that your message is conveyed consistently. This strategy is critical to understanding your target audience s desires and aspirations, as well as how your organization uniquely meets their needs. Your communications strategy examines the following two elements of your brand: Unique Selling Proposition audience insights The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) asks the following questions: What makes your product or service different? How do you compare with the competition? Where do you fit in the marketplace and what makes you better? Audience insights must go deeper than age, gender and household income. To properly identify your audience, you must know what stage of life they are in; what their concerns, challenges, dreams and aspirations are; and what they are looking for (what quality of life they seek). Where the two elements meet is your community (or organizational) strategy statement. Type it up, print it out, and have every team member hang it over their monitor so they consistently build on this foundation. And, remember, this is not a tagline; it s your strategy. Aligning your efforts Consumers use different communication channels at different times, driven in part by preference but primarily based on where they are in their purchase journey. It is critical to know where your audience is in regards to knowledge of your brand and what you offer in order to ensure your messaging is relevant and produces the desired action. In a nutshell, you gain greater results through alignment, not greater effort. R Effective marketing approaches utilize a purchase funnel to show the phases that your target market(s) go through (see Figure 1 on page 28). As with a funnel you use for cooking, you need a lot Continued on page 28 ICAA Nov-Dec indd :15 PM Precor-I

4 foundation for success Continued from page 26 Is the message appropriate for the channel you are using? The Purchase Funnel AWARENESS INTEREST RELEVANCE CONSIDERATION DESIRE ACTION/ PURCHASE RETENTION ADVOCACY Creating Results, LLC copyright 2008 Figure 1. The Purchase Funnel. Source: Creating Results, LLC of people at the top to have a select few filter all the way down to action. All companies have a purchase funnel. Typically, though, many companies don t know how their marketing initiatives can align with these phases. Or they have been creating one size fits all marketing pieces in the hopes that a single postcard will create interest and move a consumer to final action. Not a realistic approach or good investment for your marketing dollars. While overlap does exist (for example, social media is a viable channel for both fostering initial interest and driving consideration, as below), your message will need to be altered based on the phase your prospect is in. 28 With each phase of the purchase funnel, there are things to consider tenets of good communication that you should reference when developing your specific marketing pieces within your campaign. Things to ask yourself when approaching each and every marketing initiative include the following: Who are you trying to reach? What phase of the purchase funnel are they in? What do you want your audience to know? How you do you want your audience to act? Does your message reflect your defined communications strategy? In phase one of the purchase funnel, your audience forms initial Awareness of your brand. First impressions are mission critical during the awareness phase in order to move into the next phase, as people are discovering your brand or organization. These impressions should be consistent and powerful across several channels, which is possible with an integrated plan. When they enter the Interest phase, your targets have raised their hands and want to learn and know more. What you do with this interest is a make-or-break opportunity. Boomers and older adults are less receptive to what you say your brand is and want to define it for themselves. They are more likely to reject messages that hold little relevance to them. So, ensuring your campaign messaging is relevant will help motivate your audience to proceed to later phases and incite action. Specific marketing initiatives typically used during these two phases include online advertising to drive people to your website, social media and marketing. All are effective channels for driving targeted messaging. Why? They utilize userbased attributes and preferences such as preferences including type of subject matter, and remarketing online banner ads that display for people who visited your site to provide context and help create brand advocates. In phases three and four, your audience moves from Consideration to Desire. This is where your website will come to the foreground as a primary marketing channel; both online and offline efforts should be driving to the Web. Why? Because Boomers and older adults are looking for reasons to go with their instincts at this point. They already have a feeling for their decision, based on past Continued on page 30 ICAA Nov-Dec indd :15 PM

5 foundation for success Continued from page 28 The final phases within the purchase funnel are Action and Retention. It s important to keep in mind that the process does not end with the purchasing action. Ultimately, your marketing efforts aren t successful if you can t retain your target market experience and the impact you made in phases one and two. Now they want confirmation that you are the right choice. A website can provide the proof points both emotional and technical that your organization aligns with their values and needs. At that point, they ll give into desire, which is important for fully moving them to action (purchase). The final phases within the purchase funnel are Action and Retention. These 30 are the channels used to complete the process join as a member, purchase a product, form a partnership, etc. But it s important to keep in mind that the process does not end with the purchasing action. Ultimately, your marketing efforts aren t successful if you can t retain your target market. What are you doing to keep them involved? Do you share new and exciting news, engaging them regularly? Are you thanking them for their support or action? Referral and loyalty programs are ideal channels that help take your relationship beyond completion of the original action. These efforts will reduce the cost of future marketing and should be the benchmark you use for measuring success. Pitfalls While establishing a communications strategy and aligning your efforts will take your marketing in the right direction, there are two main pitfalls that should be avoided as you proceed with your program. Don t be all things to all people It isn t realistic to assume that your audience will all have the same needs and desires. A universal message that tries to appeal to all will fail as it takes relevance out of the equation. Go back to your communications strategy. Let the intersection of your Unique Selling Proposition(s) and your insights into each specific audience segment guide what you say and how you say it. space, you crowd out the emotion and relevance needed to gain consideration in an older mind. Keep it simple. Then let the purchase funnel guide you and your audience by directing them to avenues where they can gain further insight. The payoff A successful marketing campaign is built on a strong foundation of planning and understanding. A successful campaign also considers each avenue at its disposal and uses the right channels at the right phase of the purchase funnel to guide a target to action. By moving beyond an emphasis on slogans and snazzy ad designs, you ll have more than one memorable campaign. You ll have a strong, consistent brand presence that successfully creates results with your Boomer and older-adult targets. It s the best foundation to Just Do It. Beth Rand and Erin Read Ruddick are part of the Creating Results marketing team, which works with clients in senior living and other industries to define communications strategies, develop and implement campaigns, and build strong brands that motivate older consumers. More information about Creating Results is available at Don t say too much Don t try to cram 100 lbs. of marketing power into a 10-lb. bag. Make white space your friend in print ads and marketing materials, limiting essentially, focusing your messaging. This is especially critical for older targets. As we age, emotion has a greater say in whether an ad even registers in our brain or a marketing message makes it through the brain s triage process. If you try to incorporate all your key points in a tiny ICAA Nov-Dec indd :16 PM