New Media Rules

Your competition’s pouring money into digital marketing. Should you? Start by looking at your business and your customers. Then do the math

May 1, 2007  

by Colleen Biondi

Twaddle and Driediger of Metrographics agree. You always start with the campaign goals/objectives, key messages (Alliance’s positions the church as an antidote to stress, a response to a frantic boom/bust environment and a remedy to feeling disengaged from the community) and identification of your target market. Then you determine how that market accesses information. “This will dictate the media you use,” says Twaddle.

For Alliance, a more traditional bent – direct mail – was selected because the church knew exactly who it was going after (people who had dropped away from the church or who were not church-goers, but might be looking for connections – new immigrants, for example) and where they lived (catchment areas of key churches). Plus, direct mail was seen to be cost-effective and, with Metrographics’ plan to have people bring in postcards to their local churches in exchange for small gifts such as gospel readings, very measurable.

B ut an impressive measure may not mean your campaign has met its goals. Using the Alliance example, if 250 direct-mail cards are brought into a Lethbridge church one Sunday, will that translate into the goal of increased attendance over the long term? Or if your website hits spike after an ad is placed in the local newspaper, is that as a result of the ad or in spite of it? Many factors impinge on the success of your messaging and savvy marketers will acknowledge that and attempt to examine every facet of their work through a multi-layered lens.

Big-budgeted companies may try the cross-pollination approach and use every advertising stream/channel. And it is true that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. But be careful – if you have too many streams or such a small budget that very few dollars are attached to any given stream, you may dilute your message. Rather, consider trying a few channels or a step-by-step plan.
Digital media is indeed growing by leaps and bounds, offers Twaddle. Neither a panacea nor applicable in every case, it should always be an option in your advertising toolbox. So how do you decide what portion of your budget should be designated for online advertising? Should you embrace the Internet, stick with traditional channels or go with a mix of both? Which plan will give you the best bang for your buck?

Consider the following 10 tips (and check out the chart on p. 46) to help you decide what advertising strategy is best for your company and in what proportion:

1. What is the goal for your campaign? Keep your eye on the ultimate objective.

2. Articulate your unique selling points. What can you offer that no one else does?

3. Find a reputable consultant. Ask colleagues for referrals and check references. The search engine optimization niche, warns Nagassar, is unregulated.

4. Define your target market. Ask a sample of customers how they access information.

5. Set measurable goals.

6. Make time for the creative segment of your campaign, as well as the execution.

7. Consider both traditional and non-traditional media options.

8. Determine if you met your goals.

9. Capitalize on what worked.

10. Be prepared to change your plan.

Irving Rein and Philip Kotler, authors of the 2006 book High Visibility: Transforming your Personal and Professional Brand, recommend “brand generation, testing, refinement and realization.” The market is in flux, so companies need to shift advertising gears regularly based on the maturing of the marketplace, competitive threats, changes in social mores and access to new communication channels.

Finally, don’t be afraid to admit that you have made a mistake and to learn from that mistake, recommends Jewett. “Nobody launches a perfect campaign.”

Current Issue