Marketing Campaign Planning: A Step-by-Step Guide from American Express, Slides of Marketing

Download Marketing Campaign Planning: A Step-by-Step Guide from American Express and more Slides Marketing in PDF only on Docsity! 1 How to get your new campaign off the ground Step-by-step ideas for planning a new marketing campaign 2 ©2007 AMERICAN EXPRESS : PREPARED BY SIEGEL + GALE PROJECT DIAMOND A step by step guide from American Express® As one of the world’s established card providers, American Express has years of experience working with retailers and service providers to create innovative marketing campaigns to drive new business. This guide passes on some of that experience to you. It can work as a quick reference to remind you how to enhance your marketing. It can also be used as a practical guide, providing a step-by-step process to help you plan a new marketing campaign for your business. We hope you find it useful. CONTENTS () 1. Set objectives 2. Research your customers 3. Evaluate the competition 4. Set a budget 5. Consider communication channels 6. Develop the right messages 7. Project the right image 8. Don’t forget the legals 9. Monitor and measure 5Top tip: Your USP might be something as intangible as friendly bar-staff or being near to the station. Competitors – good or bad – can help you to understand so much about the business you are in and to consider ways you could market yourself differently. Ultimately, it may help you to realise what makes your business unique. Who or what are you up against? How many competitors can you name? Scribble them down in a list and then take some time out to take a look at what they offer. If it’s a local store, you can do this by visiting. If not, check out their websites, or ring with a query and see how well they deal with your enquiry. Think about: • Their name and logo • The reputation you think they have • First impressions when you interact with them • Breadth of product or service and how it compares to yours • What kind of marketing you think they are doing • The type of customers you think they attract • What they seem to be doing better than you • What you do better than them • What makes you different Learn what you can Most businesses can pick up some real tips from competitors. Perhaps their signage is better than yours? Maybe it seems easier to buy from them online? However, a word of warning. Just because they run advertisements on buses, doesn’t mean it works or that it would necessarily work for you. What makes you unique? Having looked at a number of competitors, can you write down what makes you unique? Defining what marketers call a Unique Selling Point (USP), will help you when you come to create messages for a marketing campaign. A USP should be a benefit to your customer. SWOT Analysis It may sound like something from a Police movie, but SWOT stands for ‘Strengths’, ‘Weaknesses’, ‘Opportunities’ and ‘Threats’ and helps you to take an objective view of your business. All you need to do is write down a list against the headings. It’s not difficult, but it can be incredibly helpful: • Strengths – what you do well, compared to competitors • Weaknesses – where there’s clear room for improvement • Opportunities – things that may happen outside your control, but may offer new business possibilities, for example the introduction of ‘all day opening hours’ for pubs. • Threats – things out of your control that could negatively impact your business, like a major office closing down for a local sandwich store A SWOT Analysis sheet is available in the Appendix on page 15. What makes you unique? Taking a look at your competitors is always illuminating. It may also help you to define what makes you unique.3 Evaluate the competition IN A NUTSHELL • Investigate the competition • Compare what they do with your own business • Use this knowledge to create a USP for your business 6 Top tip: Only spend what you can sensibly afford. Estimate the available market Budgeting is all about being realistic. Start with how much business is really out there for you. If you’re running a top-end clothing store in a provincial town, make a guess at the number of people who might wear your kind of merchandise. If you run a landscape garden business, how many reasonable size gardens are there? Work out the possible returns Marketing has to give you a return on investment, i.e. you need to get more profit back than you spend on promotion. Try to work out how much money you make from a typical customer. How much should you aim to make? At garage servicing business, AutoFix, they know that every new customer they win for an MOT could come back at least once a year. AutoFix may decide that their marketing campaign costs could be as high as the initial profit from those customers, because they’ll make more in the years to come. Be realistic about possible outcomes Response to a marketing campaign can vary between receiving no responses at all to receiving a response rate as high as 30% when giving an incentive to loyal customers. For direct mail campaigns to new prospects, typical response rates are often around 1.5% to 2.5%. Take an annual view Many businesses, or particular product lines, have seasonal peaks and troughs. Booksellers reportedly do half of all sales in the six-week run up to Christmas. Look at the whole year, decide when and how often you would like to promote, and allocate money to each period. Consider cashflow If you haven’t got the ready cash to spend on a marketing campaign, you need to think carefully. It is a risky business – there are no guarantees. If cashflow is a problem, but your business is desperate for new customers to improve the situation, you need to find really cost-effective ways to get out there on a shoestring. Don’t risk your business on a big splurge that may not work. How much can you afford? Setting a marketing budget enables you to consider practical campaigns, and stops you getting carried away with ideas that can never give you a return on investment.4 Set a budget Activity Is it relevant? Cost of media Cost to produce material Total cost Advertising TV Radio outdoor posters Signage buses/underground other transport Newspapers magazines Directories Online Sponsored links Online Banners Online other Activity Is it relevant? Cost of media Cost to produce material Total cost Direct Response Post Email Leaflet drop Face to face SMS mobile Other Sales promotion Point of purchase Sponsorship/partnership Sponsor event Sponsor local community Partner promotion with complimentary business Activity Is it relevant? Cost of media Cost to produce material Total cost Public Relations Articles Events Word of mouth Online Support materials Website Brochures Give-aways etc. Budget total This template is availabe in the Appendix on page 16 IN A NUTSHELL • Work out possible returns • Look at the whole year • Set a budget you can afford 7 Top tip: Always consider the cost of creating the marketing materials you will need, as well as the cost of the media. So many choices There are numerous channels to choose from. Just within advertising, we have TV, radio, outdoor posters and signage, buses, underground and other transport, newspapers, magazines and print, Yellow Pages and other directories, plus online options like sponsored links and banners. Start with the limitations You know what you’re trying to achieve (from section 1), who you’re trying to reach (from section 2), what your competitors do (from section 3) and how much you think you have to spend (from section 4). This may well help you to define possible channels: For example: The Sip n Dip café bar is trying to persuade loyal customers to spend more. Their channels might include leaflets or printed cup holders wrapped around every take-away cup, loyalty cards, in store signage, possibly an email sign up followed by an email campaign, local leaflet drop or advertising in the local newspaper. The Cut Above hair salon is going to target young mums. Posters in nurseries, leaflet drop to family houses, advertising in mother/child editorials in local press, and an article about mothers and me-time might be appropriate channels. A ‘bring a friend’ loyalty promotion is also being considered. Green Shoots, the online garden supplies business, is going to try advertisements in the Sunday papers, because competitors are advertising there. They are also going to spend money on improving internal marketing on the website to cross-sell, and may also launch an email newsletter. They will continue with online advertising. AutoFix wants to attract 50 new customers for MOTs and servicing. They know it has to be cars over 3 years old – probably within 2 miles of their garage. They have just £2,500 to spend. They’ve decided to send people in funny costumes to hand out leaflets to people parking older cars. They will also include an offer in a Yellow Pages display advertisement. How are you going to reach your audience? There are so many ways to reach an audience. Advertising, sponsorship, sales promotion, direct mail, public relations, word of mouth. It’s time to decide which might suit your campaign best.5 Consider communication channels IN A NUTSHELL • Consider all the options • Find out rough costs for each channel • Narrow it down to a few you want to pursue Reaching American Express Cardmembers As an American Express Merchant, you can promote offers direct to hundreds of thousands of American Express Cardmembers, through our online Selects global platform. Find out more at americanexpress.co.uk/merchant 10 IN A NUTSHELL • Can you support your claims? • Do you have the terms and conditions covered? • Are you sure your customers will be delighted with what you’re offering? Top tip: If in doubt, don’t publish until you’ve checked. Careful what you claim It’s fine to talk to your staff about being the “best hairdresser’s in town”, “the fastest coffee servery”, “the most trustworthy mechanics” or having the “cheapest garden supplies on the Internet”. As soon as you go into the public domain with claims, be it print, radio, TV or online, you will be expected to substantiate the claims. If you can’t, it could mean throwing all your materials away, or facing a potentially expensive legal battle. Avoiding issues The best way to avoid issues is not to make comparative claims unless you are absolutely sure of your ground. Instead you can say: ‘Sensational Perms’. ‘Quality coffee, fast’. ‘Trusted mechanics’. ‘Fantastic value garden supplies – price guarantee’. Industry rules, local rules Many industries have particular rules about what you can and can’t say and what evidence is required for a claim. For example, American Express advertisements have to comply with rules including those set by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). It is also necessary to comply with the Advertising Standards Authority rules. In addition, your local trading standards will have a view on what is acceptable. Leafleting, posters, on-street campaigns Many local councils have rules about where you can give out leaflets, or put up posters. Many shopping centres and train stations will charge you a fee. Check before you kick off any campaign. Legal issues on offers and competitions If you decide to run a competition or prize draw there are lots of mandatory rules and terms and conditions that you must print on your materials. You can find the details at the Institute of Sales Promotion website: isp.org.uk. Be as clear as you can It’s not just about the law. The last thing you want your marketing to do is to create a misunderstanding with your customers that could lead to bad feeling or mistrust. To avoid this, always be clear about what you are offering, any deadlines, and any exclusions. Working within the law The golden rule when working with any promotional materials is never knowingly mislead the customer. Only make claims on promotional materials that you can clearly support. 8 Don’t forget the legals Legal Checklist Claim 1: Substantiation: Claim 2: Substantiation: Claim 3: Substantiation: Offer 1: Clearly defined: Deadline? Offer 2: Clearly defined. Deadline? Competition: Rules checked? Terms and conditions included? Prize Draw: Rules checked? Terms and conditions included? Industry requirements? Met? Trading standards? Met? Proofed for errors and omissions Signed off by This template is availabe in the Appendix on page 17 11 IN A NUTSHELL • Try to isolate the effect of your campaign • Consider all the benefits it may have had • Work out whether it made you a profit Top tip: Whatever the result, it will be money well spent if you learn from it. How do you measure the results? John Wanamaker, one of the forbearers of advertising, famously said: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” -marketing.fm, Nov 2006 Some campaigns have easy measurement criteria. How many coupons did you get back? How many email addresses did you capture? How many people visited your website on the special promotional url? Others, like awareness advertising, may be harder to measure, but here are just a few questions you can ask to try to decide what effect your campaign has had: 1. Did we meet the objective we set? 2. Are there measurable items like coupons, or vouchers that are directly linked to the campaign? 3. Can I compare sales figures for the same period, year on year? 4. Have I noticed a difference in sales activity on products featured in the campaign? 5. Have I noticed a change in the type of customers I am now getting? 6. Can I see if spend per customer has changed over the period of the promotion? 7. Was there more footfall/traffic/phone calls/bookings/online visits during the period of the campaign? 8. Did customers give any feedback on specific elements of the campaign? 9. Have we created a sustained change in business or was it a short-term success? 10. Did your campaign cost less than the value of the new business it generated? Involve the team Make sure you include everyone who helped you to create the campaign in the results process. Take their input on how things could be done better. What really worked and what didn’t? Think about what you have learned about your campaign, about your business, about your potential customers and what they really want from you. How did we do? Well done. You’ve done all the hard work and got a campaign out there. Now it’s time to look at what you achieved.9 Monitor and measure Monitoring 1. Did we meet the objective we set? 2. Are there measurable items like coupons, vouchers that are directly linked to the campaign? 3. Can I compare sales figures for the same period, year on year? 4. Have I noticed a difference in sales activity on products featured in the campaign? 5. Have I noticed a change in the type of customers I am now getting? 6. Can I see if spend per customer has changed over the period of the promotion? 7. Was there more footfall/traffic/phone calls/bookings/ online visits during the period of the campaign? 8. Did customers give any feedback on specific elements of the campaign? 9. Have we created a sustained change in business or was it a short-term success? 10. Did the campaign cost less than the profit it generated? This template is availabe in the Appendix on page 18 12 Define your Target audience............ 13 SWOT Analysis................................... 15 Budget.................................................. 16 Legals Checklist.................................. 17 Measuring and Monitoring............... 18 APPENDIX - Templates 15 SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Objectives Objectives at tr ib ut es o f t he e nv iro nm en t at tr ib ut es o f t he o rg an is at io n What this does It might help to take an objective view of your business and write down a list against these headings: Strengths are the things your business is good at. Weaknesses describe areas where you know you could improve. Opportunities are things outside your business that might have a good effect, like a new office opening next to your restaurant for example. Threats are things outside your business that might have a detrimental effect, like new movie- on-demand technology affecting video stores sales for example. 16 Budget Activity Is it relevant? Cost of media Cost to produce material Total cost Advertising TV Radio outdoor posters Signage buses/underground other transport Newspapers magazines Directories Online Sponsored links Online Banners Online other Direct Response Post Email Leaflet drop Face to face SMS mobile Other Sales promotion Point of purchase Sponsorship/partnership Sponsor event Sponsor local community Partner promotion with complimentary business Public Relations Articles Events Word of mouth Online Support materials Website Brochures Give-aways etc. Budget total What this does Consider which items might be relevant for your business. Get rough costs on how much the media might cost e.g. the cost of local newspaper advertising. Then find out how much it may cost to create the materials – be it an advert, leaflet, website or other. Do this for a selection of ideas and then see which you can afford to go ahead with. This is just an example of the things you might consider. You should change the elements, depending on what is important to your business. 17 Legals checklist Claim 1: Special service for mum’s Substantiation: New service created for them  Claim 2: Chill, relax, me-time Substantiation: All part of the service. Everyone trained.  Claim 3: Sensational Perms Substantiation: Using the latest equipment. Experienced stylists. Customer testimonials.  Offer 1: Clearly defined: 10% off, only with voucher.  Deadline? Included on voucher  Offer 2: Clearly defined. Bring a friend and get a free manicure.  Deadline? Included on leaflet. Mornings only.  Competition: Rules checked? n/a Terms and conditions included? n/a Prize Draw: Rules checked? n/a Terms and conditions included? n/a Industry requirements? Met? n/a Trading standards? Met? No dubious claims. All in good faith.  Proofed for errors and omissions Shannon  Signed off by Fernando  Example Claim 1: Substantiation: Claim 2: Substantiation: Claim 3: Substantiation: Offer 1: Clearly defined: Deadline? Offer 2: Clearly defined. Deadline? Competition: Rules checked? Terms and conditions included? Prize Draw: Rules checked? Terms and conditions included? Industry requirements? Met? Trading standards? Met? Proofed for errors and omissions Signed off by Template What this does Create a checklist that ensures your campaign meets all the relevant legal considerations. This is just an example of the legal considerations you might include. You should change the elements, depending on your campaign and your specific business.