5 Tips on How to Maximise the Impact of Your Next Promotional Campaign

In 1988, a TV spot featured a man running across the Golden Gate Bridge. And as the feel-good music chimed in, the camera zoomed out to reveal the breaking of dawn. The man, marathoner Walt Stack, then says he is running 17 miles every morning – an impressive feat considering the withering of our muscles and the decline of our stamina as we grow older. The commercial then blinks to a black screen, showing only three words – “Just do it.” It was 1988 when the campaign took off. Nike, one of the biggest sports brands in the world, successfully showed that if someone can do it, then you can do it too. This marketing angle resonated so much that even as the generation who first saw the commercial transitioned to grandparenthood, the campaign proved very much alive until this day. So how did Nike achieve such a feat? How did the campaign’s impact survive the test of time? Is it possible to recreate such a success? Behind every successful product is a robust promotional campaign. Coming up with a great product is half the work. Selling it to consumers fills the other half.

Let’s dial back down for a bit. Even if we’re talking about a campaign smaller than Nike’s, creating an impactful promotional campaign can be a daunting task. But if you know the bases that you need to cover, this challenge can turn into a trove of opportunities for your brand. These five tips will help you maximise the impact of your next promotional campaign.

BE CLEAR WITH YOUR GOALS

When it comes to any endeavour, even in marketing, you always have to begin with the end in mind. You need to determine and specify what kind of Targets can range from the generation of new leads, increased retention or brand awareness, increase in sales, or maintaining relevance. All of these goals demand different approaches, budget caps, and materials so it’s important to know the direction of your campaign. Knowing what you need to accomplish also lessens the chance of your efforts to go on different ways or do a lot of things at the same time. Focusing on a single approach can help you maximise not just your time and effort, but your budget as well. Another way to help your campaign is to find the measurable component of your goal. Quantifying a goal to an extent can help you objectively assess the impact of your campaign. This can be an increase in sales, the number of people reached, or the number of times your brand was searched on the internet for a span of time. Remember, you can only know the impact of your campaign if you have a standard to assess it with.

LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

As they said, “war favours the informed.” Even the most seasoned marketing team can miss the mark when they don’t have the right data to work with. Your approach should be data-driven, not just by sales data but with research data as well. Always remember that your consumers are humans. And as humans, we have different perspectives, communication styles, motivations, wants, needs, and expectations. Even with the most expensive TV spots or internet advertisements, if the audience isn’t hearing, seeing, or experiencing what you offer, you might as well pack up the entire campaign.

In Nike’s 1988 campaign, they did what they call “empathic research.” This data-gathering approach delves into what evokes a certain emotional reaction from consumers. According to Blinkist Magazine, one of the companies that also benefited from knowing their customers was Pampers. As Pampers saw a decline, they commissioned research to see what their customers feel about their product. They found out that it wasn’t about the “dryness” their diapers offered, but about how “soundly” babies slept. They then pivoted accordingly and recovered. To put it briefly, if you’re running a promotional campaign in Australia, are you going to communicate with them like an American? Well, just take a look at what happened to Starbucks.

DEVELOP A PROMOTIONAL MESSAGE FOR YOUR PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN

Ultimately, the question that your brand should be able to answer is, “what is in it for me?” As businesses, we are all here to provide solutions for our customers. If they need tastier bread, one can offer that. If they want wider internet access, one can offer it too. But how will they know what you’re company is set out to do if you won’t tell them? Building a promotional message will tie up your campaign to a single theme. Promotional messages are important because it’s a way for your consumers to understand what your product is all about. You can lay out what solutions you offer and craft a call to action so they’d know how to access your product. It should be concise, clear, and engaging. Once your message sticks, it will be easier for your consumers to spread the word to their friends as well.

STRATEGY, STRATEGY, STRATEGY

Much like a ship headed out to open waters, you can’t just unfurl the sail and call it a day. To attain a goal, you should be able to craft the process and the steps that can help you attain that. A promotional campaign isn’t just spreading the word. It’s problem-solving, resource management, people engagement, creative project, and systems implementation all in one. Campaigning is managing the different parts of marketing logistics. It’s deciding which methods to employ and how. It’s determining what kind of communication style will be used that can be easily received by your audience.

Knowing how your campaign system will run will make or break the entire project. It is important that you create a plan to stick to your budget so you can gain more than you’ve invested. You also need to determine which parts you’ll delegate and outsource to make sure you deliver everything on time every time.

USE THE RIGHT TOOLS IN YOUR PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN

Speaking of delegation and strategy, a good promotional campaign makes use of the proper tools for the job. When you cook, you have specialized tools fit for different purposes. You won’t use a meat mallet to slice a vegetable. And you certainly won’t use a peeler to mix your ingredients together. The same goes for promotional campaigns. Knowing what tools you have can be the difference between succeeding and failing. For data gathering, you can always rely on surveys and lead generation. When phrased correctly, survey questions can provide valuable insight into your consumers’ experience with your product. For advertising mediums, you have physical spaces and digital ones. These two, while seemingly different, are not mutually exclusive. Having physical and tangible advertisements can coincide with digital campaigns. When used correctly, these two can even complement each other. Digital media can be social media, video advertisements, or internet banners, among others. Speaking of physical mediums, one of the best tools for an impactful marketing campaign is the use of promotional products. Promotional products can give your campaign an edge that no other tool can give – the power of reciprocity.

Basically, people are much more inclined to act positively towards your goal when they receive something good from you. Freebies, such as mugs, shirts, or caps, can make someone feel that they need to return the favour. This can come in the form of availing your product, telling it to friends and family, or just considering it while waiting for the need to arise. Besides these valuable returns, promotional products can also give you something more like contact details and the chance to speak.

We can take you through it step-by-step through our free “Plan A Promotion service”. You can check our store for quality products that can help maximise the impact of your next marketing campaign. We also offer kits for welcoming new employees or for giveaways. Keep these tips close as you create the next biggest promotional campaign. Remember, making a product great isn’t just about how good it is, but how good you sell it.

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