Laura Stavlas
As a marketing firm, clients often ask us how Mellonaid will not merely improve their marketing strategies but sharpen that laser-point mark of success—the return of investment (ROI). For the amount of effort, time and finances that go into marketing, tangible results matter. While some innovative ideas may increase user activity, not all marketing paths lead to such measurable success. In order to answer the question of how to increase ROI on marketing campaigns, we must first look at the greatest goal of a campaign.
The single most critical aim of every marketing campaign is to provoke an impactful response in an audience. This sense of influence is what transforms brand loyalists into brand advocates—people who don’t just love your brand but promote your brand to others. The first step is to always provoke the audience into making the choice to trust your brand.
But wait…how do you actually convince your audience to take action?
Mihali Stavlas, Mellonaid’s CEO serving on the National Council for the American Marketing Association, says:
“If you want to move people into action, you must first find out what moves them. Go beyond the surface. Ask more questions. Listen carefully and read between the lines. It may sound commonplace and simple, but you’d be surprised at how fast people are willing to jump into action, before studying and analyzing the best route. Measurable results require thoughtful planning. And asking the right questions.”
If the point of marketing is to compel people to act, then the biggest mistake a marketing campaign can make is to not know or understand its target audience.
How well do you know your target audience? We’ve put together some questions to ask yourself as you consider sharpening up your next marketing campaign.
At Mellonaid, we use qualified analytics and quantified data to research users, viewers and audiences at large. It’s a science that requires scrutinizing details. However, there is also some work you can do now to start this process as well.
To better get to know your audience, consider the following questions in your research:
1. What do they most want from your brand?
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that you know what your customers want; user trends and preferences are constantly shifting. Understanding what they want and when and how they want it is what we find out for you. As you identify strategic insights on user preferences, you will be empowered to better serve them. It may surprise you to know that many users are uncertain of what they want or are unaware of how their preferences have shifted, until you ask them.
2. What do they expect your brand to do for them?
Mihali said it best in the following quote: “Go beyond what they expect and the longevity of the relationship will go beyond what you expected.” But exceeding expectations is not happenstance; it requires scrutiny and detail-oriented communication. It necessitates research, data, observation…and effort. But it is worth it.
3. What is going on in their “world”?
The failure to be current with important news, cares and whereabouts within the world of your customers and audience is a sure path to marketing failure. As Mihali says, “The right message at the wrong time is the wrong message.” The right message at the wrong time could end up backfiring and make you appear insensitive, dull, arrogant or all of the above. To stay relevant, you have to get to know what’s going on using smaller interviews with individuals in that sphere. Research the data. Your attention to their world will pay off by allowing you to offer a more meaningful message yielding greater success to your marketing campaign.
