The key to a successful marketing campaign: 80% research, 20% hard work
Oftentimes, we, as marketers, are eager to jump right into the creative process, tempted to simply skim over or even skip one of the most basic and essential steps of every campaign: the holy research. However, that would be a deadly sin: thorough research is crucial to developing any successful marketing plan.
Here, at Loopaa, we know just how much a meticulously done analysis can help us in crafting the best fitting strategy for each project. Therefore, after the initial briefing, in which we set the main goals and objectives, we take some time to search, inspect and analyze all the available information on that client.
What do we look for when we do the research?
First and foremost, we will analyze the client itself, in order to fully understand:
- the clients industry;
- his USP (unique selling proposition);
- his strengths and weaknesses;
- his target audience;
- basically, his very reason for being on the market.
Once we’ve done that we will conduct an in-depth research of the products or services he wants to advertise, so that we may find out:
- why that client decided to center his business around those items;
- which are their main features and benefits;
- why should the customers choose those products over those commercialized by the competition;
- how can those products or services better the customers lives.
Now that we know all that, it’s time to shift our attention towards the consumers, towards the target audience. We try to gather as much information as possible about:
- demographic and psychographic factors;
- why would/ wouldn’t they buy those products or services;
- which is the desired reaction after the use of those products or services.
The next step is to research the client’s existing marketing strategy, both at a national level and at an international one, in order to see what he did in the past, how and why he did those things and to assess what should be ditched and what can be improved. In this case, we will take into account:
- which is the main strategy used;
- which are the preferred media outlets;
- which are the main messages transmitted;
- how are they transmitted;
- which are the strengths and the weaknesses of the strategy.
You might think that this is it, that we gathered all the necessary information; you would be terribly wrong. Before we can dive into developing the campaign concept, we have to study the competition. We can’t develop a successful marketing plan without knowing:
- who are the main competitors;
- which are their strong and weak points;
- which is their strategy;
- which is their target audience;
- which are their main selling points.
Aaaand, we’re still not done yet. No, we’re not kidding. Research is really THAT important, so we have to take into account absolutely everything, including what other businesses did in order to promote their products or services, even if they are not similar to our client’s. After all, the more examples of best practices we know, the easier it gets to come up with an original, creative plan to promote a business. Hence, we will search high and low for:
- best marketing campaigns in a certain field;
- best ways to advertise a certain product;
- cutting-edge campaign ideas;
- most creative ways to advertise;
- new advertising tools and techniques.
Only after we finish conducting all these scrupulous searches and analysis we will embark on the creative journey, the part where all the magic happens and out of which are born the marketing campaigns.
The best clients are those who know beforehand all the answers to the points above; even so, we do our own research to get familiar with the industry, and get the feel of what we are selling.
If you are looking to work with an agency, help them out (or help us) to get to know your business better and give you the best campaigns. Never skip the research!
Yours dedicated,
Teodora Demian
Copywriter
