How to Plan and Launch a Holistic Marketing Campaign

Creating a marketing campaign has been complicated over the years. Gurus will try convince you that a specific funnel on a particular platform with the 8 step secret sauce is what you need for a successful campaign. The reality of the fact is they’ve fluffed it so much that they’ve lost the essence of what they’re trying to do and why. Going back to basics and covering your basis will create a holistic campaign that covers who you’re talking to, how you’ll communicate with them and what you need to do/set up to be successful. Use this 10 step planning process for your next holistic campaign and experience the difference.

1. What is the Desired Result?

What is it that you want the potential client to do once they’ve seen your ad or your promotion. Do you want them to sign up, purchase something, call your business, request a quote? Each campaign may have a different end result that you want, so what is the desired result for this specific campaign?

2. Who are you Talking to?

Who is your target audience? This will take a large chunk of your thinking power because you want to get a clear and thorough understanding of who you are talking to. For example, If you’re promoting your gift voucher, you’re not speaking to the person receiving the end treatment. You’re speaking to the person purchasing it as a gift for someone else. In this example, the messaging would be different.

Whoever you are speaking to, you want to get clear on who they are, what they care about, what their pain point is, how you solve that for them, what their ideal self looks like and a few other characteristics. These are all to enact the feeling of “oh they get what I need” or “they know what I’m going through” when the viewer sees your marketing material.

3. What is the Benefit to the Receiver

Why should the viewer of your marketing material engage with your business or purchase from you? The reality is that people have less disposable income than before and they are becoming more aware of where their money is going. So you need to be very clear of the value that the receiver is acquiring by engaging with you. Shift your perspective to answer “what is the transformation that the customer will have”. How will the customer feel, think and/or behave differently after engaging with your business. Will they have clarity on their goals, clearer skin, more energy?

4. Incentives

You don’t always have to include an incentive in all your marketing campaigns however they do give the customer a reason to take action now. Offers such as 2 for 1, 50% off, free gift after purchase, etc all encourage the consumer to make a purchase now rather than later. They offer something additional that puts a time crunch and sense of urgency on the customer which pushes them to take your desired action. Be careful here though. Too many incentives will lead to an entitled customer who may only engage when incentives are offered.

5. How are you Going to Let People Know

Where are you going to put your messaging so that as many people as possible can see it? Most small businesses here choose emails, websites, organic and paid social media. Larger corporations typically select TV, radio, partnerships, billboards and owned media spaces. Let’s not also forget events, bulletin boards, word of mouth, networking and industry shows. There are many options that you can choose from to spread your message. Choose the ones that fit your capacity and budget to reach the most people in your target audience as possible. Keeping in mind to select the places where your target audience reside (this is where the work in understanding who your target audience comes into play).

6. What are you Going to Say?

Pull heavily from your target audience research here to understand what exactly you are going to say. A consumer buying journey will also help you to understand what messaging is best delivered in certain places to meet your target audience where they are. What exactly are you going to write in your marketing material? What’s the headline of your email going to say? What are the key messages that will convince your reader that you know what they’re going through and that you have the best solution? Carefully consider the messaging for each piece of marketing material to ensure effective communication.

7. How Does your Potential Lead get to the End Result?

Remember how you decided what the end result was? Well how does your client get there? If your end result is for the client to request a quote, how do they do that? Is there a landing page that the Facebook ad takes them to which has a form they fill out? If you want your client to make a purchase, what collection is your email banner going to send them to? Map out the journey that your customer will experience throughout the campaign and how they are able to achieve the end result.

8. What Structures do you Need for Success?

Do you even have a website or the capacity to build a landing page? Technology is great when it wants to work. What do you need to create in order for the campaign to achieve success? Potentially creating report dashboards, designing emails, creating a social media campaign, or speaking with a media buyer is what needs to be done for this campaign to successfully launch. Write out all the systems, milestones and assets that must be handled to launch your next campaign.

9. Immediate Next Steps

When does your campaign need to be ready to launch? Remember your customer may need time to view the products, contemplate their other options, make a purchase and receive the product or service before a certain time. Keep into consideration the timelines for your internal team, external contractors and your customer. With that in mind, what needs to be done today, this week, and in the coming weeks to prepare for your launch?

10. Do or Delegate

Who in your team is responsible for which actions? Are you a 1 man band like myself? Delegating tasks to teams or resources that specialise in certain outcomes will alleviate the pressure off yourself and ensure success of the campaign. Yes there things that you are more than capable, if not excellent at doing yourself. Decide which tasks you will take on board and which (if any) will be passed on to other resources.

Launch your Holistic Marketing Campaign

Building a successful holistic marketing campaign is more than just the message and where it goes. It’s about having the systems, structures, research and plans in place to ensure that the campaign fits in with your every day operations. Resources to successfully launch your next holistic marketing campaign can be accessed in the Sage Library for a small monthly fee. However if you need further guidance, reach out to Georgia to discuss what your campaign management could look like.