“Details matter, it’s worth waiting to get it right.“
Steve Jobs
Details. In our last blog, we discussed how paying attention to the little details goes a long way in achieving success. Attention to detail will help a business go from good to great. But now we’d like to dig into this concept a little more deeply.
Every business—no matter the size—is going to have marketing campaigns. These campaigns may be online or in person. It doesn’t matter. Regardless, attention to detail is going to be important.
Marketing campaigns are designed to entice customers to do business with you. Marketing is always transforming and evolving, so what may have worked ten years ago won’t necessarily work today. The little details will add up and go a long way into elevating your campaign from “okay” to “great.”
Ideas
To illustrate what we are talking about we’ll take a look at a marketing campaign we worked on recently with a client.
It all starts with an idea (or ideas). Brainstorming is an integral part of the process because you will discover options you didn’t even realize at first glance.
We were working with a client recently for a 2020 holiday marketing campaign. It began with brainstorming ideas, which itself began with the formation of a list of goals. We took the list of goals and came up with ideas on how to achieve them. This breakdown helped us organize ourselves.
This process took about five weeks. During those five weeks we spoke back and forth with our client, and as we did the ideas were whittled down to just three.
Brainstorming Ideas for the Best Results
Details, as we have mentioned before, are super important when running a business. They are what elevate all that we do from “good” to “great.” It would have been easy to simply run with the first idea that came to us at the beginning of this process; it would have been easy to forget the brainstorming and just go with that first idea, but would it have been the smart thing to do? Probably not.
Instead, we really “hacked away” at the ideas we were thinking about. We paid attention to the little details and honed them into three really great ideas that we could move forward with.
In the case of our client, we wanted to give back to the community during these difficult times. Through thought, analysis, and discussion around the aforesaid goals we were able to discover a way to achieve them that made sense.
We Need to Think About Every Aspect
This objective—giving back to the community—is very admirable. Discounts undoubtedly drive sales, but there are other things to think about.
If we discount too heavily the brand may appear to be a discount service provider and jeopardize the premium, high quality offerings of this client. If the discount isn’t enticing enough it won’t drive much interest. Should the discount or package be too confusing, a potential customer may move right past the offering altogether.
These are just a few things that were discussed. We found a way to offer a variety of packages to cater to the “bargain shopper,” a way to encourage gift certificate purchases, and a unique package that also involves a collaboration with another local small business to provide wider support in the community.
These vetted ideas, coupled with analysis of past campaigns, helped formulate a well-thought-out campaign.
Plan
After the ideas were formulated, our attention was then given to the creation of the marketing plan. Attention to the details was paramount in this step, too.
We had to ask ourselves a series of questions. Of course, each business will have different questions that pertain specifically to them, but they will generally be similar. Here are some of the questions we asked:
- Who were we going to target these holiday specials toward?
- How do we reach these potential customers?
- What, if any, budget is there to place on paid promotions?
- Which free channels could be utilized for distribution?
- What fine print or restrictions should be determined?
One of the things the client wanted to do was to have a flyer created and be printed to be placed around the surrounding area. This is a great way to get eyes on the specials, and it is a great way to partner with other area businesses. This led to another area where the details really mattered.
Creating a Campaign in Accordance with the Brand Story
We already had brand guidelines determined for this client, so it was important to make the campaign unique but in accordance with the brand story that we’d worked hard to create. This brought up a new set of questions we had to ask ourselves, such as:
- What image(s) did we want to help convey the feelings of the packages and of the season?
- Do the colors communicate the emotional response that might lead to further reading or conversion?
- Is the copy easy to read, is the typeface large and clear enough?
- Is the copy clearly written with no errors?
Attention to Detail: An Example of Aesthetics
We got together with the team, and we produced several designs with different photos and several edited descriptions and titles of the specials. We also determined that a separate web page should be created on the client website to allow further descriptions and restrictions to the campaign.
It was determined that the flyer was too cluttered with all that information! We wanted the flyer to have a clean aesthetic that would be pleasing, and the extra fine print cluttered it in a way we didn’t like.
This is where attention to the details and a thorough vetting can really pay off. Taking the time to have open discussions and dedicating the right resources to getting it all right is worth the wait. In the end we created a flyer that the client liked that was of the highest quality.
Debrief
There were many questions posed in this blog. While these were not all the questions asked during this process, listing some of the questions here can help to illustrate the thought and dedication to getting the details right.
It can also show that even with all the thought and analysis in the world we don’t know for sure it if will be successful. This is where a debriefing can continue to increase the likelihood of success in the future.
After the 2020 holidays are over, you can be sure that we will be getting together with this client to evaluate the efficacy of the specials created, the marketing campaign, and all of the details therein. During the debriefing we will ask:
- Did we formulate the right products?
- Have we effectively communicated those products?
- Did we invest in the right marketing channels?
It will be our challenge to identify the missed opportunities to continue improving and make the next campaign that much better. As we learn how to make them better, even if they were good before, continual improvement is always our goal.
Conclusion
This is just one example of how the details matter in a marketing campaign. There are a multitude of questions to ask, but these questions help facilitate quality content.
The details are important. If we just move forward with the first idea that pops into our heads, then we are cheating ourselves. We won’t know what is beyond that first ideas. Perhaps that first idea isn’t as great as we first thought. Do we really want to look back and regret the decisions we’ve made?
And, moreover, once we’ve settled on the “right” idea the attention to detail doesn’t end. There is so much more to look at. The aesthetics of the campaign, the wording of the campaign, and so forth.
For example, the title of your campaign is very important. It is going to be one of the first things your customers see, and you want it to hook them into caring.
A boring title will essentially turn them away. You could have the best special in the world, but they won’t find out what it is. Likewise, if you use a cliché for a title your audience will disengage because “What’s so special about a cliché? We’ve heard them a million times before.” Be creative. A catchy, unique title is an important detail we can’t overlook.
Nevertheless, attention to detail is important. When it comes to advertising and marketing campaigns never forget to pay attention to every facet of your project. It could mean the difference between being seen and being invisible.