Campaigns are a great way to get exposure for your organization that brings awareness not only to the brand but also to an issue. Campaigns can range from product launches to issue awareness, but regardless of the type of campaign, you should begin by thinking about the story you want to tell and what messages you want to convey. Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind:

  1. Know Your Target Audience – To get the most out of your campaign, you need to know who you are trying reach. Look at what you are offering and think about who would be perfect for the product, service or message. Once you know who you are going after, you can begin to design a plan around how to reach them so they can see you, begin to learn who you are and start liking you. Identifying target audiences focuses your efforts and makes it easier to capture someone’s attention because their needs and goals are front and center.
  2. Messaging for Your Audience – Determine the specific campaign messages you will publicize to your target audiences. Are you communicating a success, inspiring a decision, identifying an issue? Regardless of the purpose, effective messages capture the attention of the audience, are easy to understand and remember, and include a call to action. Be sure to create a clear and simple call to action in your message to tell your target audience what it is you want them to do.
  3. Identify Effective Communication Channels – Once you know who should receive your message and what your message should be, you need to determine how to best deliver it. There are many new and different ways of getting news about your organization to your audience. Think beyond the standard press release and take advantage of multiple channels. In fact, it is critical to do so. Americans consume news across multiple communications channels, and it’s important to reach them where they consume news. You can create social media posts and invest in paid social efforts, develop print collateral, place digital ads and print ads, and pursue earned media such as interviews and op-eds. Remember to leverage promotional opportunities already available to you, including your website, blog, e-newsletters and even your e-mail signatures.
  4. Amplify Your Message with Visuals – Couple visual appeal with your hard-hitting and well-planned messaging. A strong visual can tie together your core messages, your images and your brand.
  5. Measure and Analyze – Before launching your campaign, clearly identify your objectives and goals and predetermine the metrics you will measure to determine success. These metrics are called Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Make sure you and your team (including your marketing agency) have agreed upon goals and a list of KPIs before launch. Gather data based on your KPIs throughout your campaign using tools like Google Analytics, tracking URLs or phone numbers, and social media and e-newsletter analytics. Continually analyzing what worked and what didn’t allows you to make adjustments to your strategy or reinforce what’s working.

Successful campaigns provide opportunities for your audience to engage with your message and showcase remarkable outcomes.

Article written by Callie Flack, Creative Strategist.

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