One common question we get from business owners is “what exactly is a marketing campaign” and we wanted to write it out so we can help anyone who may be wondering the same thing.
A marketing campaign is:
- When a piece of advertising is created
- When this piece of advertising is distributed to a targeted audience
- The advertisement has a start date and end date
- When the ad campaign has a desired outcome that directly impacts the businesses’ revenue
Now let us get into how a marketing campaign help your brand and or business increase its revenue.
As a small business owner, you are in charge of everything including your businesses marketing campaigns! You are pulled in a million different directions and you are constantly putting out fires within the business. Many small business owners neglect marketing because they do not have the time to add the workload of having to manage marketing campaigns. Neglecting marketing can be the death of a small business.
Other small business owners find the time to dedicate to their marketing and those owners often find that managing ad campaigns can be just like owning another business and that there is a lot to learn in creating successful ad campaigns. Managing their ad campaigns is time-consuming and they quickly realize that it is better to hire a professional to handle their marketing campaigns.
Many business owners are good at running their business but not so great at running ads. There is a lot to learn when it comes to marketing. Anyone can do it but can they do it in a way that will generate revenue for the business?
What qualifies as a marketing campaign?
Examples of marketing campaigns
Nike
Nike has one of the most notable slogans in the world “Just do it”.
Nike introduced the “just do it” ad campaign in 1988. It was an ad that ran on television and it caught fire. This ad campaign had made Nike Billions of dollars since that ad campaign. The “just do it” slogan is still used to this day by Nike in new ad campaigns.
Dos Equis
The name Johnathan Goldsmith probably does not ring a bell to you but if someone was to say “The most interesting man in the world” you would remember Johnathan Goldsmith’s face and the Dos Equis” brand of beer. For 10 years Johnathan Goldsmith was the face of Dos Equis.
Wendy’s
Wendys in 1984 launched an ad campaign on television named “Where’s the beef”. It was a catchy phrase and it was a big win for Wendy’s because people who saw the ad remembered it.
Wendy’s has become one of the most popular franchises in America and when someone says “Where’s the beef, everyone knows that they are talking about Wendy’s. The power of a successful ad campaign can yield results for many years.
Allstate
In 1979 Allstate launched its “You are in good hands” campaign and it was a huge success. The slogan has been used since then.
Folgers
Folgers launched an ad campaign that added a jingle to their commercial and this campaign was a huge success. Having one line from a song added to the ad creative can resonate with the public. The ad campaign was called “The best part of waking up”. Click the link to listen to this jingle.
These marketing examples are a handful of successful ad campaigns from:
- Nike
- Dos Equis
- Wendy’s
- Allstate
- Folgers
There is no magic pill the marketing team takes to create a campaign that is remembered for years to come. It is a mixture of talented marketers and luck.
Types of popular marketing campaigns
- Search engine
- Social media marketing
- Radio and Television
- Direct mail
- Email marketing
Search engine marketing campaigns
The biggest search engine on the internet is Google. With 3.5 billion searches daily they have a stranglehold of the internet’s search volume, Bing is the next popular search engine.
A marketing campaign on a search engine will target keywords. For example, a dentist running an ad campaign on a search engine will target search words like “Dentist near me”, “teeth cleaning”, Dentist in (town name)”.
Search engine marketing is effective because if someone types into their search bar “Dentist in Miami” and a local dentist has an ad campaign targeting this keyword, their ad will come up on the search results. A good ad title can persuade the viewer into clicking the ad and then the ad will direct the viewer to a landing page.
On the landing page, the dentist will try to get this person as a patient. This can be with a video and or a text ad. This is effective because this person typed into their search bar the targeted keyword and needs your services. They have a problem and they are looking for a solution.
A bonus to using Google as a platform to launch an ad campaign is that you can have an ad on Youtube. It works the same way with keywords but instead of having a text style ad appear on the viewers’ search results, your video ad will appear when they are on YouTube. They can search the targeted keyword and then later that day search something different on Youtube and your ad can appear before the video starts.
They have to watch 6 seconds of the ad and in those 6 seconds, you can mention their problem. You already know that they are looking for your services, in this case, they are looking for a dentist. The words dentist and the name of the town should be mentioned in the first 6 seconds of the video. Before they can skip the ad they know that this is specific to them and it is a solution to their problem.
Search engine ad campaigns are effective when done correctly.
Social media marketing
Social media has grown and people’s attention is on it. There are several different social media platforms but Facebook is still number one. If you are targeting a younger audience you may opt for a different platform such as Instagram.
You will have to create a business account on Facebook and create an ad for it. The good thing with Facebook ad campaigns is that you can target interests and age ranges. This feature is perfect for a business that has a product or service that is targeted for a specific audience.
An example of this can be someone selling makeup. You can target “makeup” interests and females between 21-50.
Or if the business is selling car parts that make cars faster. You can target “race car” interest and males from 21 – 50.
This can be effective because you are targeting your ideal potential customer. When you have an ad campaign on a billboard on the side of the highway you do not know who exactly is going to see your ad. With social media marketing, it is targeted to who is your ideal customer.
Radio and Television marketing
According to Google stats, the cost for a nationally televised television commercial cost $115,000.
This platform for your marketing campaigns is going to be expensive.
According to Google stats, a radio ad will cost between $1,000-$2,500 for a week long.
The issue that I have with campaigns on television is that people no longer have to watch the commercials. Most people record their favorite shows and watch it after it has aired. When they do watch the show they can skip the commercials.
Paying for ad time on television is a waste of marketing budget. When you have other options.
- You can target your ideal customer social media.
- You can target keywords on a search engine to get hot leads today.
Choose one of those ad platforms and your marketing campaign will have a higher return on investment.
Direct mail marketing
Direct mail is still used to this day. What do you do to the flyers that come in the mail? They go into the garbage. Some subdivisions have a garbage can next to the mailboxes specifically for you to throw out your garbage.
Why are companies still using direct mail as a marketing strategy? Because there is a small percent of people that will convert into customers from this form of marketing strategy.
Car dealerships love to run marketing campaigns via direct mail. They may advertise the “chance to win a free car” on the front of a flyer that is mailed out to local homes. The person has to bring the postcard into a dealership to check if they won the “FREE” car.
Once they show up to the dealership to find out that they did not win the car, a salesman will invite them to test drive a car since they are already there and the rest is history.
Postage is not much but when you are paying to mail out the postcard to thousands of people it can add up. The mark up on cars is high so dealerships have more room to invest in a big marketing budget.
Email marketing
Email marketing has a better return on investment than direct mail. This is because you are not paying for postage. It is free to send out an email.
But unfortunately, you need email addresses to send your emails to. That is the hard part, but once you build up an email list it is like money in the bank.
When you want to get a bump in revenue you can announce a promotion or sale for your product with an email marketing campaign. It is free and effective!
What type of marketing campaign is best for your business?
This depends on what your goal is. A goal of building a brand name will take time. But for brand building, you will get better results in advertising on social media.
If your goal is to get customers into your business today, you are going to get better results from marketing campaigns on search engines.
Want a free personalized marketing campaign strategy for your business?
Contact LGM Marketing Group to discover what an ad campaign can do for your business today.
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What is a marketing campaign?
1. When a piece of advertising is created
2. When this piece of advertising is distributed to a targeted audience
3. The advertisement has a start date and end date
4. When the ad campaign has a desired outcome that directly impacts the businesses’ revenue
