A Surefire Promotional Template Campaign To Launch Your Product Or Service
As a new market player, when you are trying to launch a new campaign for a new service or product, you need to have a very well planned promotional campaign. Please note, that in this article, we are not talking about regular marketing campaigns, but a promotional campaign only. If you are confused between the two, please note that albeit promotional campaigns are part marketing, they are much more intense in research and execution. When you have to launch a new product/service as a new market player, you are in a competitive environment. It will not be easy for you to convince new buyers the way existing companies can through their ongoing marketing campaigns.
Here are the 7 steps to help you launch your promotional campaign:
1. Chalk Your Target
The first part of your promotional campaign is to locate your target audience or market. Run a survey to understand who is going to benefit from your product or service? Ideally, this should have been established in the beginning, but it is still not too late. Figure out if your prospective users are the general public, office goers, students, or specific social communities or business owners? Chalking your ideal target can determine the overall success of your product/service.
2. Mark Your Channels
Where will you find your audience? Are they general Facebook users or do they engage with community experts on LinkedIn? Does your product require you to meet professionals in person to pitch your service or can you fully rest on digital communication? Do you need to advertise your service/product in local newspapers or on TV channels? Most of the time, this kind of activity is assigned to a full-fledged advertisement house. Try out agencies that are relatively new and won't cost you a fortune.
3. Craft Campaign Content
Once you have your promotional budget ready, your focus should be on content. As a product person, if marketing is not your forte, and your startup is initiated on a shoe-string budget, I recommend taking the help of freelance consultants with whom you can team up to focus on the brand sentiment your messaging will communicate. Messaging is likely to hit off well if the execution is accomplished successfully.
4. Curate Your Influencers
An important part of a successful promotional campaign is influencer marketing. Influencers are those who can influence your target audience to consider your product/services. For startups, consider local community champions to mobilize brand presence. Sponsor small events that your service/product caters to. Pick a cause you care about, like Nike for athletics, and curate your own influencers, who could be housewives or high performing professionals and who will not charge you, but promote your offering passionately in return for the exposure you can give them.
5. Allocate Promotion Budget
This involves chalking out cost breakdowns for territories and channels. Your budget may depend on the state or marketing channels using various marketing tools. Plan a sustainable strategy that’ll not end up as a flash in the pan, burning your pocket beyond recovery. Affordability, percent of sales, and competitive parity are the key components you need to factor in the strategy. For a well-rounded promotional campaign, you shouldn’t shy away from self-promotion.
6. Document The Deal
Once your marketing communications are assigned, it is time to document the entire course of action formally. In this promotional-plan document include situation analysis, timetables for executions, any exceptions to a decision made, etc. In this document, you are also expected to document your strategy for analyzing the effectiveness of the whole campaign post-implementation.
7. Monitor Your Campaign
After you have an extensive document accomplished, you can’t abandon it for next time. Promotional campaigns are required to be monitored for a long and ongoing basis. As per the deadlines assigned to each task in the documentation, analyze the Return On Investment and the effectiveness of the execution. Analyze the outcome, but be patient because as a new market player your messaging will take time to reap the results that you desire.
Conclusion
The 7 steps to launch your promotional campaign are tried and tested through experience exceeding a decade. You are free to customize this template to suit the needs of your specific product/service, as decisions evolve and your marketing assumes precision. Just remember one thing, while you are at it, do not forget to celebrate your little accomplishments because your service/product is going to exude the confidence your celebration seeds in.