For any company, young or old, there comes a time when the owners must take the plunge and invest in advertising, and there are several factors to consider when doing so.
Companies looking to save some money may use social media and hope for organic growth through their own channels, while larger companies at the other end of the spectrum may sink thousands, sometimes millions, of pounds into marketing and advertising.
In this article, we'll discuss how companies use marketing campaigns and how they judge success.
Increase Awareness
The majority of companies use advertising to drive sales; however, before they get to that stage, their goal may be simply to increase their brand awareness.
We see this with new companies trying to gain a foothold in the market, getting their brand name into the public domain, or even trying to increase awareness of their industry, a problem, or even a solution.
Companies that have gone through a change in ownership or a name change will also aim to do the same.
For example, Buzz Bingo, fresh from a rebranding, sponsored The Voice UK in 2020. The online company offers casino products on their bingo app, allowing customers to play a range of themed online games, including slots, bingo, and table games.
They signed a three-year deal with the show, providing exposure for the company around the UK. After their rebrand, the company's aim was to inform customers of their name change at a time when The Voice was going through one of its more popular stages.
Use your customers
Many companies are always searching for the next trend to jump on, and many see influencers as the best way to increase their market share.
However, a few years ago, Spotify turned the tables and used their customers as influencers of their own. Introducing the Wrapped campaign, which releases user listener trends to their subscribers, the company encouraged them to share the results with their friends.
This resulted in social media platforms that were most notably filled with stories and posts about subscribers favorite songs. Every year, the campaign captivates users around the world and has catapulted Spotify's sign-ups to nearly double what they were in 2015, no doubt in part due to the Wrapped campaign.
Measuring Success
In the past few decades, measuring the success of a campaign has edged closer to becoming an exact science. Companies can use technology to track user click-throughs, measuring how their website traffic converts to sales.
However, they still use older methods such as surveys, cost per lead, or cost per win, which can allow companies to compare one campaign to another.
Analysts still exercise care when looking at results, as several external factors can affect the success of a campaign, such as the news, the time of year, and even the weather.
Jason Goodman-Oalh / Unsplash
As we can see, devising the perfect marketing campaign is a complex process. Technology has made it easier in many ways, especially when it comes to tracking results, however companies still rely on some luck when it comes to growing their brand.
