Previously, we shared about a couple of key principles in designing a successful marketing campaign.
To recap, we highlighted that being specific about your target audience and getting creative will set you on a good footing. Let’s pick up from where we left off.
The next principle that we are about to introduce will help set your business apart from most competitors. When it is being executed successfully, it will bring about greater customer loyalty in the long run.
3) Create a sense of exclusivity
In the process of planning a marketing campaign, we would often desire to create a strong sense of resonance in the hearts of your customers. By creating a sense of exclusivity, your customers will feel valued and be naturally drawn to the product. A recent campaign launched by Nutella that enables their customers to personalise their own labels has achieved much of this desired effect.
To create a sense of exclusivity, one way to go about doing so is to create promotions that target a select group of customers (i.e. your best customers or top spenders). Examples of such promotions could be, private dining sessions, close door events, exclusive discounts for new dishes launched etc. The outcome of such promotions will not only increase sales but it will also help to build stronger customer relationships.
Other factors that you could take into consideration could be setting specific conditions for promotions that are valid for a limited time period or making certain products available at a selected number of outlets, or it could be creating a premium product that is limited in quantity.
You may also consider launching ‘exclusive’ promotions on social media platforms. For example, promotions which are only available to Facebook fans or exclusive deals only available on Instagram. Apart from arriving at your intended objective of generating hype for a product or promotion, you will also achieve the secondary objective of increasing your page likes and followers.
4) Consistency
This may sound contradictory to what we have suggested earlier about being creative. For a campaign to be successful, other factors like longevity, stickiness, creating maximum value for your resources deployed, have to be taken into consideration as well. While creative campaigns will capture the attention of your customers, if you would like to bring home a message or enhance your brand identity, it will require your campaigns to be consistently designed and executed.
If you would still be able to recall, some of the most successful marketing campaigns that are launched are those which are consistently reinforced in the minds of your customers. For example, we are pretty sure that most of you guys are aware of Canadian Pizza’s perpetual 2-for-1 deal. What started out as being a promotion initially has now emerged as a regular feature and strong value proposition for their business. Another good example to share is how Starbucks would offer their Christmas drinks year after year (Most people would consider a promotion as an activity that involves price reduction or discounts but these drinks are being sold at an even more expensive price than their regular drinks).
While creating a sense of buzz over new products and campaigns may be a concern for most marketers, making sure that regular promotions stick and feature in the minds of your customers are just as important, if not even more important. Having a certain promotion at a fixed period of the year consistently will also create a sense of anticipation among your customers.
You will come to a revelation that having regular promotions is actually very budget friendly. This means that you do not have to spend precious time thinking of new creative ideas or throw in the extra marketing dollars to raise awareness for a new campaign. If your business currently does not have regular marketing campaigns or promotions, you might want to start conceptualising one right now!
5) Word of mouth
“Word of mouth generates more than twice the sales of paid advertising in categories as diverse as skincare and mobile phones.” – McKinsey Quarterly
We are well aware that word of mouth is one the most powerful marketing tool. So the question is: ”How do we go about generating it effectively?”
Think about this, when do you talk the most? Most people talk most when they are comfortable with the topic and it is usually about them. They will share their own personal experiences about what made them feel good or look good. With this knowledge in mind, one of the best ways to go about getting the word out is to create a physical and tangible experience for your customers that makes them feel good about your business. These experiences can take the form of quality food, great customer service, unique ambience etc. An important point to note in relation to this is that you got to ensure that the experience is consistent and sustainable as it is key to maintain the trust between you and your customers. You’ve also got to help your customers maintain the trust within their circle of friends since they would be accountable for making such a referral.
You may even wish to go the extra mile by offering discounts to your regulars who brings their friends over to your restaurant for a meal. Helping them to look good and showing that you appreciate their gesture will go a long way in building your pool of loyal customers which in turn will help to generate and build and strengthen the word of mouth marketing for your business.
We hope that our sharing has been useful, especially for those who are might be in the midst of planning a marketing campaign. This list is not, by all means exhaustive but it is definitely a good starting point.
