The Campaign - The Execution

From the moment one decides to send a marketing campaign for a product to the actual recognition of the campaign’s results, there are many steps all interconnect and this is something that I have seen ignored on more than one occasion.


One has identified the ideal prospect, carefully confirmed their contact details, written the best copy in the word and planned a fantastic layout with colour, links and what not.    And now one is about to send the campaign, there are still some companies out there making use of direct mail (DM), and why not, I, for one, think there is still much to be gained from an old fashion DM campaign if properly executive.      


More and more marketers will go for the online and email options, and no doubt the world is relying heavily on the web as a source of information. We are reaching a stage that it is possible to say that if it is not online it doesn’t exist!      


What I have seen on more than one occasion is marketing campaigns prepared in a traditional way and delivered by email. One can easily imagine the results: the layout so carefully planned was totally unsuitable for the paperless support and all because someone forgot to workout the flow of the copy for email and online pages viewing characteristics.        
One doesn't have to go back to college to learn how to adapt the view of the copy to new supports. We all use them, so think how do you read your emails? Do you use full screen, the reading panel, or do you minimise it? Do you read the full email or browse through it? Do you print it? Do you forward emails to friends and colleagues?      


Now think of your web browsing patterns: are you one of the 'click as you read' or read and then look for the button to click? How often do you go back to the initial page and continue where you left it?


these are fairly basic questions but if you bear them in mind when designing your campaign you'll see how different their copy and layout turns out.    


I thought of uploading some samples, but then I thought that it would be much better to have a 'campaign surgery' here. So, why don't you send me some of your samples for review? Just make sure to remove all personal, confidential information!

The Campaign - The Schedule

A campaign schedule is simply a timeline setting up the milestones of the campaign: from its conception, launch and analysis. It should be done, even if only in a very drafted format, at the very beginning of the project, when one has decided to set up a marketing campaign.

It helps to have a list of things to check when setting up a schedule. Here is a list of some one the things I always bear in mind. You will notice this list is for a B2B campaign and it is delivered by email:

1. List of all major public holidays in the year: Christmas, Easter, Summer Holidays. A global business should also include Ramadan and the Chinese New Year.
2. What days of the week the busiest: Monday.
3. What day of the week are people least responsive (I call it Procrastination Day): Friday.

Because I am a very visual person I colour these days in my campaign calendar and I use them for two purposes:

• I will prepare offers that make a special mention to them: for example, a Christmas special offer, or a Busy Monday offer, or send a more 'entertaining offer.'
• I avoid sending big campaigns on the run up to those days or straight after: For example, I never send the winter campaign in December - I know people are busy with office parties, planning the family gathering, or closing the year - or the first week after - we are all flooded with emails and work. I don't want my main campaign to be lost amidst the others.

Look at your inbox, depending on the day of the week you find yourself reading this, you'll find it more or less full. On Monday, how long do you dedicate to each email? How many do you flag to go back to at a later date and then forget to do so? Those emails end up being deleted when they become too old.

Tuesdays have proved to be the best day to send campaigns. Everyone seems to be more responsive.

Do also consider the time of the day when the email is sent. You want it to appear in your prospect's inbox first thing in the morning. Any good email delivery system will allow you to schedule the time when the email is sent. If possible make sure that all your emails are sent before 8 o'clock. Think of it, we all pay more attention to our first emails. Then we change from one task to another.

And finally, if you send the campaign earlier in the month, you have more time to repeat it if something fails to work as planned. For example, if the initial results failed to reach target, you could send a reminder.

So, a quick summing up of what I do:

1. I send my campaigns the first Tuesday of the month, except December and January. I follow the same rule for Easter, Ramadan and the Chinese New Year.
2. I schedule the campaign to land before 8 o'clock - my prospects' local time.
3. If I am not happy with the initial response, I resend a reminder on the 3rd Tuesday of the month.

I hope you find these tips helpful.