In Part 1 of this blog series, the question was asked: How do businesses use local media sites to effectively market their business? This is a digital marketing strategy question that is heard frequently and it is for that reason we set out to find an answer.
Over the last year, I interviewed 25 local businesses to find similarities in how they successfully used local digital media. The following are a list of best practices to achieve results based on the responses from the participants of that survey.
A common challenge faced by both businesses and traditional media sellers surrounding digital is determining what works. What produces results?
Start with a strong plan:
- Know what you want to accomplish before you start.
- Understand how success will be measured.
- Decide on the messaging of the campaign before you begin.
- Determine who the target consumer of the message is and where they place value.
Create a campaign that will work:
- Combine multiple forms of media – don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.
- Understand who the target consumer is – go beyond age, gender and geography.
- Be sure that the messaging is consistent online and offline.
- Recommend the right budget to achieve the campaign goals – start at a minimum of 10% of the overall budget and increase from there.
Determine success:
- Set the expectation of success before the campaign starts – if success will be measured by sales or in-store traffic, make sure that your strategy drives that behavior. Know how you will measure the performance of the campaign – beyond a click through report. Most businesses are not measuring success this way and most consumers do not click on ads.
- Examine site analytics before, during, and after the campaign to determine the site traffic generated by the campaign. Determine if the traffic and behavior of the users once on the site is in line with the objectives of the campaign.
- Make sure that the creative is in line with the expectations of the campaign – if the success will be measured by sales; ensure that you have a strong offer.
- Be sure that the response path you want the consumer to take is clear in the creative.
Ultimately, most marketers and business owners are still looking to drive sales and awareness for their businesses. As consumers become more and more connected, the job facing marketers and business owners becomes ever more challenging.
Those who can learn from successful campaigns and apply those findings to offer insight will be successful in helping businesses navigate the digital waters.
Want more information?
Alina Diaz is a Senior Consultant at The Center for Sales Strategy
