So, you found a great idea for your business and you’ve launched your mompreneur journey. Now you’re ready to get customers. Sadly, they won’t come on their own — especially if your business is virtual. You must reach out and attract them to your business! Usually, you have a specific goal: a certain product you’re selling, a Facebook group you want them to join, and so on.

To make that happen, you need a marketing campaign — a well-defined, effective process where you connect with your target customers. This is where it pays to be specific!

Not sure where to start? Don’t worry, I’ve got your back. Read on to learn how to build a successful marketing campaign in just 7 simple steps.

1. UNDERSTAND THE PURPOSE OF A MARKETING CAMPAIGN

First, let’s review the basics. Marketing is simply when you’re putting your product or your service in front of potential buyers, so that you can make a sale, land a client, get an ambassador of your products or services, etc. Your marketing techniques are how you get it in front of them. How do you get them to know who you are?

Marketing generally falls into two categories: there’s the year-round marketing you do to build your brand presence, such as posting on social media and running your website. But you may have particular goals in mind. Essentially, you put all of your marketing plans together for a specific purpose. That’s a marketing campaign, and it’s usually designed to do one of the following:

  • Push a certain product or service
  • Generate buzz about your brand
  • Get followers for your social media channel
  • Promote a sale or special offer
  • Establish yourself as an authority

The key difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing campaign is that the latter comprises several different tactics. You’re putting multiple strategies (e.g. social media, email newsletters, etc.) together. So it’s not a one-and-done — it is a string of marketing activities to get your product in front of people.

But here’s the thing: there used to be a time when you needed seven touchpoints to get someone to pay attention to what you’re selling. Now, because of our digital access, we have become more impatient. Our attention is very short. So now, it’s more like 12 or 13 touchpoints. These are any sort of marketing content that connects you to a potential customer.

Examples of touchpoints:

  • A social media post
  • A Facebook messenger message
  • A blog

However, just because someone sees one of these touchpoints doesn’t mean that they’re going to buy your product right then and there. Usually, you have to introduce yourself to them more than one time. It’s like meeting someone at a party: you may need to learn their name a couple of times, then chat a bit before you even consider getting to know them further.

A marketing campaign is an opportunity to put together a bunch of touchpoints to be able to get your product or service in front of your ideal client.

Without further ado, let’s go through the steps to build a successful marketing campaign.

2. CULTIVATE YOUR LOCAL AUTHORITY

First, you need to work your local network. There are two aspects to this: local SEO and community outreach.

Local SEO is making sure that your website is optimized to show up in Google’s local results. That includes Google Maps listings as well as the sidebar that pops up for local businesses. Make sure you’ve claimed your Google My Business listing, and add your city and address to your website.

If you are physically out and about in your community, you want to make sure that you’re presenting yourself as an authority. You’re presenting your products in front of people. To do that, show that you’re involved. Give people a reason to talk. Some effective tactics are:

  • Running ads in local publications
  • Writing guest columns in local publications
  • Sponsoring community organizations, festivals, sports leagues, etc.
  • Joining clubs and professional organizations that match your expertise

Anything you can do to get your name and brand elements out there consistently helps build recognition. A brand awareness campaign might include sponsoring the Little League so people see your logo, then getting some press coverage of your business, then pounding the pavement at networking meetups and handing out your business card. These are all different tactics for the same purpose of boosting your brand. And eventually, people will see your name or logo and think, oh yeah, that’s [Your Name’s] business!”

3. MAP YOUR TRAFFIC

Building brand awareness is a great start. It’s the first part of “Know–Like–Trust,” the three ingredients to landing customers. But there’s more to it than that. Your potential customers seeing you as an authority, they’re recognizing your brand now. And so they’re looking at your product as something that they potentially want to buy.

But where do they go from there? Are you sending them directly to your website? Are you sending them to your Facebook group to become a member, so you can nurture that relationship? Are you asking them to join your email list?

You have to guide them. Your marketing campaign should be specific about where you want that traffic to go. And from there, you can add more touchpoints. The key is to add value at each point. No one wants to be sold to every time they talk to you.

Let’s say you run your awareness campaign and you’ve got people interested. Your guest column ended with your website URL, so that’s where they go. And when they land on the homepage, they see what your product is. Perhaps you offer a free trial or a discount in exchange for their email address. And once they’re on that list, you can send them how-tos, interesting facts, whatever suits their interests. Eventually, after you’ve made those 12-13 touches, you can pitch a sale. That whole funnel must be mapped out first, or else people are just going to have random encounters with your brand.

4. IDENTIFY YOUR CALL-TO-ACTION

At each touchpoint, each step of the sales funnel, you’ll usually have a call-to-action (CTA). This is what people do to move forward to the next point. The CTA is not always a sale — in fact, it should usually NOT be asking someone to buy. Save that for later. Here are some examples of CTAs that simply help you nurture that relationship and take them from “Know” to “Like” and eventually “Trust”:

  • Join your Facebook group
  • Follow you on Instagram
  • Subscribe to your email list
  • Visit your website

Just remember, the instructions need to be clear, and you must show them why they should want to take that action. Perhaps by joining your Facebook group, they get exclusive access to free webinars and expert panels. Or your Instagram is full of valuable tips and tutorials.

Once you nurture them and they have that Know–Like–Trust factor, it’s the perfect opportunity for you to not only have a customer but also a client for life.

5. QUALIFY YOUR LEADS

Anyone who’s interested in your business but hasn’t yet purchased from you is called a “lead.” Here’s the harsh truth: not all your leads will buy, and honestly some of them aren’t worth your energy.

If you have a marketing campaign with multiple touchpoints, those who are not looking for your product will drop off immediately. Those who are semi-interested in your product, but just need a little convincing are warm leads. Some of them may have a need for your offering, but they just want your freebies. We call them tire-kickers. You don’t want to waste time or money on them.

Nurture the people who have the mental, physical, and financial capacity to truly appreciate your products. And eventually, you’re left with the people who stick around — your qualified leads. And once they buy from you and end up loving your product or service, they’ll become your brand ambassadors and spread good word-of-mouth about your business.

6. KNOW YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER

Before you start running your campaign, you must have a strong idea of your target audience. Sometimes this is called the ICA, or your ideal client avatar, and sometimes it’s called a persona. However, your marketing campaign often needs to be even more specific than your general ICA.

Sometimes, you have products within your umbrella that are not specific to your particular niche, but rather another niche within the niche. Let’s say you are a baker and you say, well, anybody who wants to buy cakes is my ideal client. That’s a bit broad, so usually you niche down a little more: you’re targeting people who want gluten-free cakes or cakes made with organic ingredients, for example.

But when you do a marketing campaign, you don’t want to make these various touchpoints so broad that nobody buys your cakes. That’s when you want to niche down on whom exactly you are looking to target in this marketing campaign.

So, if you sell cakes, and Thanksgiving is coming up, you may want to target those who are planning special meals for Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving. Know your audience: These people who haven’t seen their friends in 18-19 months, they’re looking for yummy food, and they want specially decorated cupcakes for their Friendsgiving celebration. That’s narrowing it down enough that you can put together your campaign and even come up with a compelling slogan.

Perhaps you have a Friendsgiving ideas Pinterest post, then an email newsletter about Friendsgiving, then a special promo code e.g. FRIENDS21 for 15% off or such. That’s what will resonate with your target audience, who will think, “Yes, I NEED that for Friendsgiving!” as opposed to a generic “Buy my cakes” message.

7. PLAN IT ALL OUT

Once you’ve identified your campaign’s purpose, niched down your target audience, and mapped out the funnel, it’s time to actually pick your strategies. The key is to figure out where that ICA is hanging out and what type of touchpoint best grabs their attention. You also want to make the campaign fairly automated so you’re not having to chase down leads at each step. Let’s go through some of the basic types of marketing tactics:

Press and Publications

  • Be a guest on a podcast.
  • Run a podcast or radio ad.
  • Send out a press release.
  • Write a guest column.
  • Publish on Medium.

Print Advertising

  • Distribute brochures or handbills.
  • Hand out business cards.
  • Put up flyers.

Digital Marketing

  • Social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, Clubhouse, etc.)
  • Email marketing
  • Video content (explainer videos, social media videos, video sales letters, video ads, etc.)
  • PPC advertising
  • Webinars and livestreams

Once you’ve identified your tactics, you’ll generally follow this checklist for each:

  1. Find your audience.
  2. Create the content.
  3. Set up the next step of their funnel (e.g. if you send out an email blast asking them to follow you on Instagram, your Insta page should be live.)
  4. Distribute the content.
  5. Track your results.

In sum, when you break down each step of your campaign, what are the steps that are needed? What is it that you need to accomplish your campaign goal? Then: prep, set up, and launch. Make sure all your content and promotional material is created so that you’re not promoting something that doesn’t exist or isn’t properly assessable. You want your target audience to go to a landing page or a sales page — and be able to buy your product! Also, ensure your payment system is set up properly so that they can pay for their purchase.

Obviously, this is a lot of work to do, so be sure your resources are in place as well. Are you doing it all yourself? Do you have a team? Know who’s responsible for each task, when the deadlines are, and so on. Good project management is the key to successful marketing campaigns!

WRAPPING UP

And there you have it! Remember, each business — each mompreneur — is individual and different. What might work for one doesn’t work for another. So just make sure that you’re creating a marketing campaign that is good for you and will give you the most bang for your buck. And plan, plan, plan… never wait until the last minute to start pushing something. Happy marketing!