Campaign recaps are the norm when it comes to digital marketing. In an integrated marketing campaign, those results are usually separated out even though we design the campaign to work together. All too often, the digital portion of a campaign recap is simply a beautified spreadsheet or PowerPoint that includes creative images and a handful of metrics like impressions delivered, clicks, click-through rates, and sometimes view-throughs. These types of reports do very little to show how the campaign is actually achieving the goals of the client—and when that is the case, they can result in a cancellation or non-renewal.
The goal of a campaign recap is to sell the results back to your client so that you can retain and grow that piece of business. You want to make it clear that you are driving results—making the connection between the numbers and the emotions of your client. So how do we move beyond the simple delivery of numbers, to effectively sell the results of our integrated campaigns?
Here are three easy steps to get you there:
It’s impossible to effectively sell back the results of your campaign if you don’t start with a good understanding of what matters to your client. You need to know what they will be looking at to evaluate if their investment in the campaign you developed is working for them.
Are they looking to increase sales, drive traffic online or in-store, acquire new sign-ups for their newsletter, capture leads, increase the awareness for a brand, product or service? Once you uncover what their goal is, you then need to understand how they will measure that goal, where are you starting from, and where they want to get to with the campaign.
Now consider the performance metrics you can point to throughout the campaign to show that you are achieving the campaign goals. In order to determine the key performance indicators or KPIs, you need to think about the consumer and the path of the consumer. The goal here is to have a couple of metrics that you can use to determine the effectiveness of the campaign beyond a simple click.
Let’s use the example of increasing sales.
Most of us will go online when we want more information about a product or service after being exposed to an advertisement, so in addition to the number of clicks on your creative, you should also consider highlighting increases in overall site traffic or traffic to a specific landing page or section to show that you are driving the right kind of activity to achieve results for your client. Don’t just share overall numbers, but look to see if there are spikes in traffic that correlate with your offline campaign as well to connect the dots of how your offline components are also driving online activity. You might also look at how people are getting to their site. Look for increases in search and direct traffic as well.
Another KPI you might identify is online conversions. Even if your client doesn’t sell their products online, you might recommend to them that they establish conversion goals based on actions that consumers take on their website that will lead them to a sale, such as subscribing to a newsletter, engaging in an online chat, requesting more information or scheduling an appointment.
Since most of us do not sell our clients products and services on our time off, we need to demonstrate that we are driving the right people with their message, that they are taking action and that it is what is needed for them to increase their sales based on how well they convert interested consumers to paying customers.
Lastly, once you have all of the data that supports the KPIs you identified, you need to translate it into a format that resonates with your client. Keep it simple and focused on the client and their goals, and explain how the numbers support the achievement of those goals. Resist the urge to share a bunch of numbers and metrics that don’t support the goals and KPIs you identified for the campaign. Remember that you need to use the data to support the campaign goals in a way that is clear to the client how you are achieving what is important to them. You should go beyond the numbers, build a story that demonstrates how your campaign drove their goals, and use this opportunity to make recommendations on how you will continue to drive results.
When you sell the results of your campaigns, it's much easier to sell renewals.