360-Degree Marketing Campaigns: 5 Things to Consider
Marketing campaigns are the bread and butter of many marketing departments. Yet few take the time to think about their approach to campaigns, often relying on ‘how things have always been done’ as the best way to propel their business into future success.
However, great marketers are always assessing new and exciting ways to promote their brand its key messages. One way that many businesses are now doing this is through the adoption of 360-degree marketing campaigns. In this article, we are going to explore these types of campaigns and the 5 most important aspects to consider when running them.
What is a 360-Degree Marketing Campaign?
So, what is a 360-degree marketing campaign and how is it different to a normal marketing campaign?
“A 360 marketing campaign is about a cohesive message. To put it simply, a 360 marketing plan is an integrated campaign with focused messaging spread across multiple points of customer contact.” – Forbes
More specifically a 360 campaign is about delivering a coherent marketing message across all touchpoints with your customers. This is unlike a typical marketing campaign where you may push different messaging in order to achieve one goal. With a 360 campaign, although you will use multiple customer touchpoints and may tweak the message slightly to suit the channel – ultimately you be using the same message across the board.
What Should I Consider?
360-degree marketing campaigns are all-encompassing and require careful consideration to ensure they are executed correctly and the best ROI is achieved. In this section, we will explore 5 key considerations you must make when running 360 campaigns.
#1 Set Clear Objectives
You cannot plan the route until you know the destination. Similarly, before you start planning your 360-degree campaign you need to be clear on exactly what it is you are trying to achieve.
This can be wide-ranging depending on the individual goals of your business.
For example, the objectives of your 360-campaign may be as precise as promoting one specific product or service that you are launching. Alternatively, your campaign may focus on communicating a wider message such as highlighting the fact that you are a business that cares about the environment and sustainability.
When setting objectives for your 360 campaign you need to ensure that you are able to assess progress and know when your goal has been achieved. The easiest way to do this is to follow the SMART framework, ensuring that all campaign objectives are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Timely
#2 Use Data to Drive Decisions
Without the worlds biggest marketing budget, it is impossible to be active on all channels, to all people at once. Instead, a 360-degree marketing campaign is all about appearing to be everywhere to your target audience.
So, rather than spending a fortune on advertising on every website, billboard, magazine and social media platform going, use customer data to understand where best to engage with your target audience.
For example, upon studying those you are trying to target you may find that they are highly active on a specific social media platform such as Instagram or on a specific website. Once you have this information, you can then strategically target these channels to give the illusion of always being there to customers.
Another powerful tool in this approach is remarketing. This is where you collect data on your audience through a platform such as your website and then use that data to target them wherever they go such as on Facebook, Instagram or via display ads on specific websites.
#3 Understand Your Funnel
Using data will help you understand where your target audience ‘hangs out’. However, to effectively communicate your message you will also need to tailor and tweak it to ensure that it is applicable at the various parts of the customer funnel.
Take for instance, that you identify that potential customers typically become aware of your business via social media. They then visit your website to find out more before eventually deciding to buy.
Knowing your funnel and the various touchpoints throughout it will allow you to develop a strong approach to ensuring that messaging is delivered in a way that is both helpful and relatable to your audience. For example, you wouldn’t deliver messages that are too heavy in information during the stages where potential customers are just beginning to gain awareness of your offering.
#4 Consider Your Options
Although data and your funnel will help you identify where best to focus your marketing efforts, it is also important to remember that 360-degree marketing campaigns are all about communicating a message via all touchpoints. So, even if a marketing method isn’t necessarily a key part of your funnel, it can be worth including it in your campaign to ensure complete coverage.
Consider integrating your campaign message into any of the following areas:
- Your website (home page, product pages, about us page etc)
- Brand content (blog posts)
- Influencer content
- Events
- Social media
- Print media
- Public Relations (PR)
#5 Know What to Measure
Setting SMART objectives will help you quickly and easily assess the overall progress of your 360-degree marketing campaign. The ‘measurable’ part of these goals should be clearly defined and easy to assess.
You may need to measure various results in order to assess the progress of one goal. For example, if one of your goals is to grow awareness of your brand within a specific niche, then you may measure metrics such as likes, comments, shares and page views to give you an idea of the success of your campaign.
360-Degree Marketing Campaigns: Summary
Running a 360-degree marketing campaign takes a considerable investment of resources. However, it is arguably the most powerful way to deliver key brand messages to those who matter most.
A 360 approach requires a consistent approach and a wide-ranging skill set. Therefore, marketers should ensure that they consider all aspects and tools at their disposal when developing a 360 campaign strategy.