Monthly Archives: January 2020

How to create a successful campaign plan?

Trial and error is a great tool for learning anything and that goes for your marketing too. We all spend a lot of time looking for lead generation tools that work for our business and when we find one, we hold on to it. At the same time, if we try something and it does not work, we strike it off our list forever. I think that it’s a good way to ensure you are spending your budget wisely and getting results.

So far so good but let me ask you two further questions:

  1. How much of your knowledge of success is based on your preference and comfort zone rather than on testing and measuring?
  2. When was the last time you reviewed your tried and tested lead generation methods?

These are really important questions to consider because,

  1. You should base your lead generation campaigns on your target market’s preference and comfort zone rather than your own
  2. New lead generation tools are developed all the time and trends and approaches are developed so reviewing your approach regularly is important

The beginning of the year is often when companies plan their marketing, so this month I thought I would share my approach to campaign planning whilst taking into account the above considerations:

Break your marketing into individual campaigns first and plan each one separately

Don’t go in all directions in one go; it’s much better to have two successful campaigns than five messy ones.

Set your new business targets by working out the following parameters of the sale:

  • Your average sale 
  • Your conversion rate 
  • Number of leads required 
  • Make sure your goals are SMART

Get a better understanding of who you are targeting. Consider things like:

  • Who is your ideal company and why?
  • What is the specific problem that you can solve?
  • Who do you want to speak to?
  • Where are they likely to go for information?
  • What questions are they going to ask?
  • What are your challenges in winning companies in this market?

Learn from your competition.  Do some research to find out:

  • Who are your main competitors in this market?
  • What are they doing to attract new business?
  • Can you offer something different?

Once you are clear on the above, look at tools and tactics:

  • What worked for you in the past?
  •  What can you do successfully using your own resources?
  • Are there any new tools you could use?
  • What is worth outsourcing?

There are many more things you can do but the above considerations are key to setting you off in the right direction. Many companies are set up to do their own planning successfully but if you lack resources or would like another pair of eyes and ears on the case, give us a call to discuss further. Find out more about our lead generation plans here.

Why you should be clear on your target markets for 2020

Before you do any marketing, it is vital you know your target markets, and when I say know them, I mean really know them, in detail.

Their age, gender, education, where they live, where they work, what they do, what they like and dislike, household size, income, what media they read, listen to etc

Why is this so vital? Well when you put a marketing plan together, you need to know who you are speaking to, how to get their interest and engage them and of course how to reach them. No matter how creative your campaigns, or how much money you spend, if you are speaking to the wrong people there is no point and a waste of your time and money. 

For example – would you place an advert for a mobility scooter in a magazine for Teenage girls! No, of course not, but you would promote the latest lip plumping lip gloss in one!

Once you have identified your market you are also able to craft messages that appeal specifically to different audiences within them. Even when you are selling fundamentally the same service or product you will still need to word things differently depending on your target audience.  For example, a Financial Advisor would need to tailor his message to an older person looking for financial advice for retirement differently than to a young couple looking to buy their first home.  

That’s the basics of it, and with digital technology in 2020 offering more sophisticated options to promote your business than ever before, you really do need to be crystal clear on your target markets to get the best and most cost effective results.

These days technology has made it much easier, not only to find out about your audience in the first place put also to reach them. Campaigns can now be aimed at very specific and niche audiences. To take advantage of this though you have to start with knowing as much as possible about the people you want to reach.

So, if you want to get the best results as cost effectively as possible you need to get total clarity on who your potential clients are. A great place to start would be at our target market planning workshop taking place on January 31st. Not only will this help identify your audience but show you the best way to approach them.

Join me on this workshop to learn about my unique and proven approach, to target market definition, and using it to identify and create your target market(s) in detail. 

We will also look at developing new markets to come up with a campaign plan and approach for your company so you can apply it straight away. 

If you would like to discuss target markets or planning a marketing campaign for 2020 please don’t hesitate to get in touch. yafit@yourbizdevteam.co.uk