Perhaps more than any other marketing strategy, a digital advertising campaign requires remarkable attention to detail for it to be successful. That’s because there are several components to put into place, with no one component functioning on its own.
Now, before I share with you six key points for doing that, let’s spend a minute with the benefits digital advertising offers. We are regularly asked about how an organization can get in front of the right audience. Well, digital advertising not only allows you to do that, it can also connect you with a precise individual! It still amazes me at how specific our placement team can get. Rather than buying space or time for a digital ad, like we do with traditional media, we’re buying behavior which means your message attaches to exactly who you want to reach and goes online where they go! So, when we were placing digital ads last fall, we didn’t have to worry about our client getting bumped from air time due to election ads, we were connecting their digital ads directly to individuals who we knew from their past online behavior would be interested in our client’s campaign messages.
Besides being less expensive than traditional media, digital is interactive in a way that allows for multiple layers of engagement. Which makes it especially important to connect all the dots in advance. Here are six essential details for planning a successful digital campaign:
- Have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish and who you want to reach. This may seem basic, but you’d be surprised how many organizations initiate a campaign without establishing a strong foundation by asking why at key points throughout the development process. Because we can so closely pinpoint who sees your ad, it’s important to know more than simply their age and gender. For instance, what topics might they have searched online in the past that connect with your message?
- Obviously, you have something you want to say, but it won’t accomplish anything unless it’s relevant to the wants of people you want to reach. One of the best ways to fight your way through competing noise is to compose a message that clearly connects the solutions you offer to your audience’s needs.
- Compelling visuals that help tell your story are another tool for attracting attention. Specifically, moving graphics and video that not only capture the viewer’s eyes, they effectively reveal content in layers.
- Like billboards, digital ads require very compact, intriguing messages. No doubt you have a lot more to say, so what sequence of actions can be planned that leads viewers from your digital ad to the full story? I can tell you from experience that we’re all so used to responding that even in a campaign where the message is self-contained, we’ll click-thru for more information. Plotting your audience’s exposure to information must be thought through in advance to avoid a missed opportunity.
- So, you’ve captured their attention, you’ve intrigued them with the promise of valuable information, be sure that in the end you give your audience something of substance. This may be the most important detail of all, because if where a visitor lands doesn’t deliver, it will be very hard to regain their trust when you have another campaign.
- A wonderful feature of digital advertising is you don’t have to wait for a final outcome to monitor results. In fact, we monitor analytics throughout a client’s campaign to optimize its impact. Be sure that logistics for accessing analytics and monitoring assignments are worked out in advance of your launch.
Connecting all the dots is the name of the game for digital success.
I’m Kelli Newman and this has been a Minute with Messaging™. To learn more about how your organization can benefit from Newman & Newman’s digital advertising strategies, I invite you to contact us through our website at NEWMANandNEWMANinc.com.
