A digital marketing campaign has four phases: plan, implement, monitor and optimise, then close. Aim for leads that intend to buy, not only for clicks and sign-ups. Put each activity into one phase, so that the scope stays under control.
Learn this skill in the course Digital Marketing (MC-DM).
Signs that your campaigns need a process
- Campaigns bring traffic and sign-ups, but few proposals or sales.
- New ideas join the campaign halfway, and the schedule slips.
- Nobody calculated the return on ad spend (ROAS) before the campaign started.
Aim for buying intent
Many campaigns collect interest: email sign-ups, brochure requests, video views and rewards. These seldom become sales. A sales conversion comes from a person who intends to get the product. That person asks about price, terms and conditions, and then gets a proposal. This is true for business buyers (B2B) and for consumers (B2C).
Phase 1: Plan
For a small business, the planning can take less than three hours. For a complex business with many products, the strategy session alone can take a full day. Agree these outcomes:
- The goals and KPIs
- The product or model to promote
- The target market, its demographics, locations and buyer personas
- Why they will buy from you, and how you are different (positioning and pitch)
- The emotion to raise, and the reasons that support it
- The brand book, the imagery and the creative work (video, photos, talent, copy)
- The outcome you want: email, chat, calls or online sales
- The channels: search, ad networks, social media, influencers, news sites
- The assets: a landing page, a website, videos, digital flyers, emails or apps
- The action plan, the budget and the expected payback period
Phase 2: Implement
- Get online: domain name, website or landing pages, secure online shop, business email.
- Build the website: base the layout and navigation on the brand book and the customer journey. Include UX and UI, technical SEO (build quality, speed, security), analytics and integrations.
- Make the content: video, product and corporate photos, research, articles and copy.
- Reach the audience: run paid, earned and owned traffic. Map the media, the calls to action and the metrics.
- Run social media: keep the brand the same on each platform, control who can post, monitor mentions and reviews, and reply to comments.
Phase 3: Monitor, optimise and control
Set up goals in analytics and track each step to the final goal: a sale, a lead form or a sample request. Use A/B tests to find changes that give better results (conversion rate optimisation, CRO). Improve traffic (SEO) and conversions (CRO) continuously. Control each change to the plan, so that the scope does not grow without approval.
Phase 4: Close
Compare the results with the goals and KPIs. Calculate the real ROAS. Record the lessons learned, and use them in the plan for the next campaign.
What to do this week
- Check your last campaign: how many leads asked for a price or a proposal?
- Write the ten planning outcomes for your next campaign on one page.
- Agree who approves changes to the campaign after it starts.
