Campaign management is a vital component of any digital marketing initiative, says Lauren Solomons. To make sure that an initial strategy is not lost, effective campaign management ensures that all steps required to meet an objective are implemented with fine precision.
Strategists strategise, planners plan and buyers buy. So who handles the process of ensuring that these wonderful ideas are brought to life and deliver results? That would be the campaign manager, a person with a varied skill set that allows for effective campaign management, which is crucial to ensure all objectives are implemented and met.
These skills range from creative, to analytical and technical expertise.
When trying to keep up in the demanding world of online marketing, there is one key component that ensures the campaign is pulled together with fine precision: organisation, organisation, and more organisation!
Campaign management entails various critical steps that need to be carried out to ensure that all initiatives are brought together seamlessly.
The power of knowing that all your ducks are in a row is a small reprieve, as there are always those unexpected spanners that are thrown at your works from time to time in a world that is ever changing.
Campaign managers ideally need to have an understanding of both campaign implementation as well as online campaign management. In addition, the right process needs to be in place to ensure all aspects of an online campaign is covered and managed at all times.
Process, process, process
There are various processes involved when a new campaign is set to commence its life online. It starts with a thorough briefing session entailing and focusing on the following: timing, target market and product info. This is essential as all these variables determine the success or failure of a campaign. Most importantly, the objective should be clearly set and never forgotten.
As there are many steps to take in an online campaign’s life cycle, there are twice as many ways to lose track. Having a process that is simple and effective will ensure the manic world of online becomes manageable.
Eating, sleeping and breathing Excel will enable the production of spreadsheets that enable campaign managers to keep track of all crucial information. A close relationship with a calendar service (and all the wonderful reminders it provides) is imperative. It’s also helpful to have a central point which you can refer back to in order to provide a convenient reminder of when and what is happening in your campaign i.e. roadblocks, newsletters etc.
Now that you’re armed with information, your sanity will be preserved.
Technology is your friend
There are many technologies available, all of which offer different distinctive characteristics, one claiming to be better than the other. Each has varying or similar features, namely: frequency capping, conversion tracking, auto optimisation, country targeting, custom reporting, interaction reporting and the list goes on.
Once you’ve sieved through the long list of features and have found the ultimate tool for all your advertising needs you’re ready to forge ahead. But are you really? It’s like buying a new fancy sports car. You get into the driver’s seat and realise you don’t know how to drive the car. Then you are faced with the dilemma to either to spend loads of money learning how to drive the fancy racecar, or hire a chauffeur to driver you around while you enjoy the journey!
Campaign managers are the chauffeurs of the online world. We know how to drive different makes and models, how to handle all the tricky bends and turns and how to avoid collisions.
With all the complexities of campaigns you want to ensure you get the most accurate targeting and reporting to establish whether or not your online marketing efforts are successful.
Campaign Mangers do all the heavy lifting and monitoring and have the capabilities to implement the most technical rich media concepts and nurture it.
Partnering with a digital agency that has both the technical requirements and the team to manage it is crucial to ensuring all great ideas are managed in the best possible way to ensure results.
Lauren Solomons is a senior campaign manager at DigiVOX.
