Creating a successful marketing campaign is no simple task. Even the most seasoned agency professionals will sometimes see lackluster results after carefully planning a comprehensive strategy. When a campaign sputters and fails to achieve traction with target audiences, it’s time to take a hard look at tactics and outcomes to figure out what went wrong and what can be changed to turn things around.
As leaders in their field, the members of Forbes Agency Council know what an effective campaign looks like, how to assess the many moving and interrelated parts of that complex picture, and how to ensure that every piece of their strategy works together to meet the campaign’s ultimate goals. Here, 15 members share potential game changers that could help companies salvage underperforming campaigns and generate better results.
Forbes Agency Council members share potential game changers for underperforming campaigns.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Ensure An Accurate, Maximized Data Flow
The first place to start with any underperforming digital marketing campaign is the signal: the data flow from a website to the ad platform(s). Test your tracking and analytics setup regularly to make sure it’s receiving the accurate, maximum flow of data. A simple user interface update can remove or alter a key tracking event, such as “add to cart” or “purchase,” which can undermine the performance of your campaigns. - Gilbert Corrales, Leaf
2. Test Multiple Creative Iterations Using Different UVPs And Offers
A marketing campaign might not be generating good results as a result of targeting the incorrect audience or providing a bad offer. This can be fixed by testing multiple creative iterations using different unique value propositions and offers. Today’s advertisers have multiple opportunities to A/B test creative and copy quickly and easily on platforms such as Google Search and Facebook Ads. - Christena Garduno, Media Culture
3. Analyze And Test Every Component Of The Campaign
Each component of a marketing effort needs to be set up for testing and analyzed, including the brand message, creative, ad format, media channel, investment spending, offer, consumer experience, timing and seasonality. It may not be just one thing that a brand can switch to make an impact. It is never too late to set up a test structure to optimize brand performance. - Carl Fremont, Quigley
4. Refocus Your Messaging For The Campaign
Typically, if a campaign isn’t generating optimal results, the messaging simply isn’t resonating with your target audience. You could consider doing a focus group or survey to review options for your messaging and even the creative. You will likely find the messaging needs adjusting, and from there, you can refine your social, email and general content strategy. - Elyse Flynn Meyer, Prism Global Marketing Solutions
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5. Reach Specific Audiences With Influencers And Affiliates
One game changer brands can incorporate includes using vetted influencers and affiliate partners to directly reach specific audiences. By working with influencers/affiliates, brands can amplify custom content and track reach and referrals through platform and post metrics. This ensures brands are reaching desired audiences how they want to be reached and with messaging that aligns with the audiences’ values. - Chris Toy, MarketerHire
6. Revise Your Customer Journey
If the path from point A to point B is unclear, then your prospects may be falling off halfway through as a result. Make sure your campaign has a clear destination. For instance, is the goal of a social media campaign to draw clients to your website? Or are you trying to increase engagement? Clarifying your goals can completely change the outcome. - Hannah Trivette, NUVEW Web Solutions
7. Adjust Your Message And Target Audience
The first two places I look to bolster the results of a campaign are message and audience. Presuming the product itself is solid, the most common levers to adjust are what’s been said about the brand and who it is intended to reach. Although the medium is important, sending the wrong messages to the wrong group of people is a recipe for disaster. Get those elements aligned, and improved results should follow. - Dave Wendland, Hamacher Resource Group
8. Try Explaining The Message To A 10-Year-Old
If you explain the message to a 10-year-old, do they get it? Often, marketing copy is too complex and loses impact. Less is more, as it needs to pack a punch. Think about how the words align with the imagery and even the sounds. Think about whether the campaign is right for the channel, platform and audience. Put your audience front and center and give the people what they want! - Julia Linehan, The Digital Voice PR Agency Ltd
9. Test As Many Campaign Elements As Possible
We often see that clients only run one campaign with one target group and maybe one or two creatives. But the key to superior campaign performance is to test as much as possible: platforms, campaign goals, audiences, bidding strategies, ad copy and creatives. This creates a wealth of possible combinations. This is the only way to maximize the full potential of a campaign. - Markus Hetzenegger, NYBA Media GmbH
10. Find A Proper Attribution Model, Then Make Changes Based On KPIs
All campaigns need to be data-driven. Assuming that your campaigns are all data-driven, then you need to decide on a proper attribution model for gauging results. After you have launched a data-driven campaign with an attribution model your team agrees on, then you can make changes based on different key performance indicators. If you want more brand awareness, focus on reach. If you want sales, focus on conversions. - Krishan Arora, The Arora Project
11. Analyze Content Performance And Home In On The Audience
Analyze your content performance and home in on the target audience. Research what content is resonating the most. Take some time each month to review your content performance and identify which posts receive the most engagement. Once performance metrics are analyzed, you can adjust your content strategy accordingly to maximize performance. - Durée Ross, Durée & Company, Inc.
12. Use Tech And/Or Performance Experts To Adjust In Real Time
The key is to adjust in real time using technology and/or performance experts. Which creative assets are generating the most engagements? Placements? Ad types? Contextual environments? Optimize and make adjustments accordingly—don’t just wait until the end of the campaign. Work with a partner who will provide reporting, feedback and strategy recommendations throughout the life of the campaign. - Lon Otremba, Bidtellect
13. Improve Performance Based On Underperforming Metrics
If your campaign doesn’t generate results out of the gate, you can improve performance based on the metrics that are underperforming. For example, if they won’t click, you probably have either a messaging problem or an audience segmentation problem. If they are clicking but not converting, you probably have an offer problem. Adjust your messaging, audience targeting or specific offer accordingly. - Tom Shapiro, Stratabeat
14. Focus On More Personalized Offers And Multichannel Experiences
If you aren’t doing so already, start focusing on more personalized offers and on personalizing experiences across more of your channels and touch points. Work to create a more consistent experience and messaging for an individual everywhere that they interact with your brand, and increase your ability to understand which offers work best with which individuals and segments. - Greg Kihlstrom, GK5A
15. Step Back And Rethink Your Audience Strategy
If a campaign isn’t generating results, step back and rethink your audience strategy before you change creative. We see that subtle pivots in the audience targeting can result in a more refined, nuanced approach. Marketing is iterative. Change the audience and quickly get your campaign on track. - John Assalian, Viewstream
