Digital marketing is evolving faster than ever, which means running successful campaigns can be more difficult if you’re not keeping up with the latest trends. But who has the time to test and figure out which tools or strategies are most effective, right? Thankfully, we do, and we’re happy to share some of today’s most crucial components to running a successful digital marketing campaign.
#1 - Research
Every campaign should start with a creative brief, a document that includes campaign objectives, messaging outlines, themes, guidelines, ad channels and calls to action. But even a well written creative brief is just a starting point from which you launch your campaign research. Every section of the brief should be poured over and understood, and where questions arise, you have to dig for answers. Any good digital marketing team understands the importance of first understanding the “problem” the client is asking them to solve before they can create a strategy for solving that problem. And the way you do that is with exhaustive research.
#2 – Leveraging tools
The quality of a campaign’s components is more quantifiable than ever thanks to analytical digital marketing tools that are now widely available. There are tools that analyze ad copy and determine its reading level, as well as tools to analyze headlines and email subject lines. When it comes to digital strategy, a deep knowledge of the industry’s mediums is a must. Google Skillshop is a free educational service offered by Google that teaches you to master Google Analytics, Google Ads and more. Similarly, Facebook Blueprint offers courses and certifications to help you get the most out of Facebook and Instagram marketing campaigns. These tools are available specifically to help digital marketers and their campaigns succeed.
#3 – Choose the right channels
If you’ve done your research and understand how to use the tools available to you, now it’s time to determine which ad channels are right for your campaign. That might seem daunting, but the solution for doing this correctly is simple: analyze the industry benchmarks and go from there. Look at your client’s industry, analyze which ad channels do best in that particular market, then leverage those channels. Understanding the strengths and audiences of the channels available will come with experience, e.g., Facebook is more personal and e-commerce-focused while LinkedIn is aimed at networking-conscious professionals. But knowing your goals and your audience is essential to finding those channels that are best suited for your campaigns.
#4 - Optimization
Perhaps the most important part of any digital campaign is optimization, and it’s most effective once a campaign has been running for a week or more. The process is simple: using your metrics, you determine how your ads are performing and which channels they are performing (or not performing) in. At this point you can rework ads that aren’t performing and relaunch them (including rewriting copy and adjusting images) or you can remove the underperforming ads and double-down on the ads that are doing well. A/B testing and ad variations are essential to good optimization. And the whole point of this process is to maximize your campaign dollars and ensure your money is spent in the right area. That can’t be done without thorough analysis of a running campaign and informed decisions on how to best spend your media dollars.
The Ingram Micro Partner Marketing portal is a great way to get started implementing some of these more effective marketing strategies. We’d love to help you with the heavy lifting on your campaigns, like how to properly leverage the various digital channels, including email, digital signage, social media ads and more. It’s our job to be experts and (more importantly) to pass that expertise on to you. Our comprehensive product information and training content can build your sales team’s expertise, credibility and, ultimately, profitability.