The world of marketing looks very different from what it once was. Even when considering marketing for a gym, which is an in-person endeavour for the most part, we’re now seeing investment in digital marketing overtaking investment in traditional marketing at a rapidly increasing rate. Britain being the largest online advertising market in Europe, there are predictions that almost two-thirds of UK ad spend will be online by 2020. And whilst many believe that this shift away from traditional marketing tactics – in which brands are often left looking at vague estimates of ROI and predicted circulation figures – and towards highly targeted and trackable digital strategies allows for greater control over campaigns and results, it also means that today’s marketers must be savvier than ever before.
Only 5% of all branded content online content gets 90% of consumer engagements, so standing out from the crowd and ensuring campaigns and convert has never been more important – or more difficult. With that in mind, here are five of our top tips for making sure your campaigns convert.
Set your campaign goals and make them SMART
Without a clear definition of the ultimate aim of your marketing campaign, it’s impossible to be able to measure the results. Your first step should be to decide your objective; are you looking to drive website traffic, convert sales, increase downloads, or maximise video views? Once this is decided, there are a number of bespoke ways to ensure your campaign is maximised to delivering results, but ultimately your objectives should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Timely. Nailing your objectives will lead to a highly targeted campaign, where your goals are clear and therefore more likely to be achievable.
Use your customer data to drive conversions
In today’s digital-sphere we have access to increasingly sophisticated ways of gathering essential insights on our target audience, we don’t always have to rely on traditional market research. However, if you don’t use the findings to benefit your marketing campaign then it risks becoming completely redundant. Use the tools at your disposal to learn more about your audience, their behaviours, the content they want to see and where to see it – and then shape your marketing campaign to these findings. A good free example is Facebook’s audience insights that provides you a more detailed look at what a page’s fans like and dislike from TV shows, popstars to sports teams.
Never stop testing to make sure your campaigns are successful
Monitoring the results of your campaign is critical, but it’s the observations you make and the learnings you take on board as a result which matter most. By continuously analysing your campaigns you can ensure you’re making the relevant changes to make sure it’s converting into results; whether it’s AB testing on a LinkedIn campaign looking to drive downloads of a whitepaper, or utilising the test and learn facilities on Facebook ads manager to make sure your ads are achieving a high relevancy score and resulting in great reach with low cost per result.
Authenticity is still paramount when it comes to campaigns
If your campaign is going to convert and achieve the results you’re looking for, then you absolutely have to make sure your target audience is fully bought in to your offering – your audience is going to watch, download, engage or make a purchase if they aren’t sold on your brand in the first place. Today’s web users in particular are seeing straight through click-bait content and corporate messaging, so make sure you develop a brand voice which is relevant to your target audience which is trustworthy and appears authentic. Remain true to your brand voice and audience, and you’ll end up building up trust in your brand and the products or services it’s offering, which in turn will lead to conversion.
Investing in SEO can be key to making sure your campaigns convert
I know some people will be shocked I write this but my final point is in order to cut through the noise with your campaign and ensure it’s positioned in the best possible way to drive conversations it’s worth considering investing in search engine optimisation to help your campaign’s content stand out online. SEO strategy aims to increase the amount of quality traffic driven to your website or content organically, through tailored and quality content. Ultimately it builds brand awareness which in turn is likely to lead to a greater number of conversions for your campaign.
We’ve worked on variety of campaigns for clients in B2B and B2C sectors that have achieved real ROI and helped contribute to meeting the business goals of each brand. To find out how we could help you create campaigns that convert your target audience – get in touch with us on 0113 4304 160.