After years as a Marketing Director, I have learned that a few simple tips can make or break any marketing campaign. I have outlined four of them below for you. If you follow these four steps you have a much greater chance of making a big and powerful splash with your next marketing campaign… “CANON BALL!”
1. Forget about the BIG idea and focus on finding the RIGHT idea.
Everyone learns in marketing 101 that the big idea, is the holy grail. (Insert Monty Python quip here!) If you can pin point the one huge concept, then you will make your message stand out. Here is the issue with that; there are not that many big ideas out there, and the consequence of that, is a whole lot of people trying to hard to make a once in a lifetime impression (or color copies of someone else’s!) and missing out on actually penetrating the market with the message they need to have heard. Focus on the message you need people to hear, If you find a big idea that wraps it all together great, but the big idea is not the point the messaging is.
Focus on your message, not being the next big branding hit.
2. Create a strong message and don’t back down from it.
Next lesson is to create a powerful centerpiece message for your campaigns and to stick with it. You may say, “Of course that is the ideal, but once you role out a campaign every one from the home office to the sales staff to individual advertising mediums want to start playing around with your messaging.” That is no win situation for you. It is too easy to have your message get diluted and eventually lost all together. At that point you no longer have a marketing campaign but a bunch of random advertisements. A gin and tonic is a gin and tonic because the creator kept the other liquors from interfering with his genius. Tequila need not apply.
Do not let other forces dilute the chosen marketing message. Keep it pure, to keep it powerful.
3. Image and branding are about your whole company reputation not just about any one marketing campaign.
When you create a marketing campaign, remember that you need to fit it into the overall image of the company. Too often, it is easy to stumble over ourselves and create a great product campaign, that actually misrepresents the overall image the company is trying to brand. Admit it, you judge a book by its cover.
Image and branding are not isolated to one product; they cover the entire company or organization. Make sure the product campaign fits into the whole image plan.
4. All of Your Marketing Vehicles Need to Feed the Same Consistent Message.
A campaign, by its very nature means you will be taking your message and distributing it through a variety of mediums, like print, TV, internet, porn pop ups etc... Well, maybe not the porn pop ups! This is a fabulous way to build momentum, increase eyeballs on the message and create lasting branding impact. The problem is, when you start increasing the number of unique mediums, it is too easy to start slightly altering the messaging to fit the delivery mechanism’s formula. Next thing you know you no longer have a marketing campaign, you have some cool ad spots.
Keep the messaging consistent.
Four Things You Have to Remember to Have a Successful Marketing Campaign!
1.Focus on your message, not being the next big branding hit.
2.Do not let other forces dilute the chosen marketing message. Keep it pure , to keep it powerful.
3.Image and branding are not isolated to one product, they cover the entire company or organization. Make sure the product campaign fits into the whole image plan.
4.Keep the messaging consistent.