A 5 step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

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Introduction

5 This guide provides five steps to improve your campaign success. It’s practical and visual, equipping you with real know-how to immediately apply to your campaigns.

#1

A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

1

Choose your audience (carefully)

Who are you targeting with your digital marketing campaign? This is much harder to answer than it sounds, so here is a very simple exercise to help you to focus when discovering your target audience. Follow these steps: a. Make a list of your best clients b. Make a list of your worst clients c. Identify the key characteristics between them Example:

Best clients

Worst clients

Andrew Smith Pam Jacobs

Dirk Da Silva Linda Adams

Between the ages of 31 - 50 Own a house Small business owners Technical Business affected by load shedding

Between the ages of 21 - 30 Very cost conscious Just shopping around Renting a house Not technical

When you know which age range and behavioural characteristics you’re targeting, it’s time to decide where to target your potential leads

#2

A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

2

Choose your digital channels

When you know who you’re targeting, choosing your channel becomes much easier. The following channels are successful for:

Channel

Positive

AdWords - Search

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AdWords - GDN

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Facebook

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LinkedIn

#3

•

Negative

Great intent-based marketing. Reach people at the exact point of interest. Based on CPC pricing.

•

Great for targeting people earlier in the buying cycle. Great for brand building.

•

Massive audience. Great demographic, life stage and interest targeting. Great for brand building.

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Great for title, role or interest targeting.

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•

•

•

•

Can get very competitive. Demand has to exist for service or product.

People may not yet be ready to buy. Lower conversion rates.

People may not yet be ready to buy. Lower conversion rates.

CPC’s are very high (R20 - R30).

A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

3

Clarify your objective (with everybody)

After choosing your relevant channels, it’s time to ensure all of your campaign stakeholders are on board with the execution of your campaign. Getting consensus with the project sponsor, project owner, brand managers, sales team, etc. is necessary for campaign success. No matter how well your campaign performed, if it did not meet stakeholder requirements, it will be deemed a failure. In order to get everyone’s buy-in, you can remove the subjective element from the conversation – with campaign performance modelling.

Campaign performance modelling can be done in Excel and consists of building a model that outlines what the results of the campaign will be before you’ve even begun the campaign. You can then present your model to all stakeholders and debate what the results should look like, asking questions such as:

• Is the most important metric impressions or leads? • Are we looking for quality or quantity?

Using this model, you can adjust the bidding strategy (to brand-based CPM, for example), which will significantly reduce the number of leads. This is visually communicated – keep reading…

Here’s an example:

ROI schedule You present a campaign on AdWords for R20 000 per month. Based on the cost per click (R10) and the conversion rate (3%), you will receive 60 leads.

Legend Blue cell indicate input Original AdWords model Budget for AdWords Cost per click Clicks Conversion rate Leads

Current R 20 000 R 10 2 000 3,00% 60

< This is your budget for AdWords < This number you can find in AdWords keyword research tool < This is the rate which people convert on your website from a click to a lead

Current Budget for campaign R 20 000 < This is your campaign budget Cost per impression R 150 < This is the cost to advertise on News24.com Impressions 133 333 Click through rate 0,2% < The CTR on News24.com A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns #4 Clicks 267 www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB Conversion rate 2,00% < This is the rate which people convert on your website from a click to a lead Leads 5

3

Clarify your objective (with everybody)

The Head of Branding wants to advertise on News24. The model is updated to reflect this request. It will show that: • The number of clicks will fall substantially • The number of leads went from 60 to 5 A metrics-based debate can now take place until consensus is reached. It’s important to stress that there are trade-offs.

ROI schedule For example: Legend Blue cell indicate input News24.com’s inventory is priced at a Cost Per Impression rate and AdWords Cost Per Click rate. Current is Budget for AdWords R 20 000 < This is your budget for AdWords Cost per click R 10 < This number you can find in AdWords keyword research tool This means that the effective cost per click will be MUCH higher on News24 than on Clicks 2 000 AdWords. This will lead to a higher cost per conversion. Conversion rate 3,00% < This is the rate which people convert on your website from a click to a lead Leads 60 See below Budget for campaign Cost per impression Impressions Click through rate Clicks Conversion rate Leads

Current R 20 000 R 150 133 333 0,2% 267 2,00% 5

< This is your campaign budget < This is the cost to advertise on News24.com < The CTR on News24.com < This is the rate which people convert on your website from a click to a lead

Then choose the key KPI for the campaign, such as: • number of leads • cost per lead • cost per qualified opportunity

#5

A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

4

Make the conversion point easy

There’s a limited media inventory available and it’s getting more expensive by the day. The market in South Africa is small, so make each impression and click count by improving your opportunities for conversion. Make sure the message in your ads is reflected on your landing/entry pages • Message consistency is key, so use similar headlines in your banners, keyword ads and on the landing page. • Using Google Analytics, look at the landing page bounce rate once the campaign has started. If it’s more than 70%, you have a problem. Identify why users are clicking away from your page and rectify this. Make sure your banners are legible If text is illegible remove it • The call to action is the star of the banner not the image • Less is more, don’t squeeze copy into each available space • Make the banner about the audience and not you •

Make the conversion process easy If the conversion process is easy you will receive more conversions (downloads, leads or sales), which means your campaign will be more successful. You can achieve this through: having a clear headline and offer • having a snapshot of the product or service you provide • asking the minimum information on the lead form (Do you really need the person’s postal code and ID number?) •

To measure success, use Google Analytics and benchmark against these ratios: ebook or content download – 9% • brochure download – 5% • consumer lead – 5% • B2B lead – 2% • ecommerce transaction – 2.5% •

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A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

5

Setup measurement and conversion tracking

Digital marketing campaigns overflow with data, but it’s rarely used in a scientific way to improve campaigns. Use this data wisely to make campaign improvements. Here are the basics to get this in place: Use Google Analytics to measure conversions from all channels 90% of websites in South Africa have Google Analytics installed, but very few actually use the conversion functionality. This information will allow you to see which channels produced conversions (leads) or just good quality traffic to your website. Here is a step by step process in Google Analytics of how to add code to your website and set up goals in order to track conversion and capture lead data.

Click on Admin and then click on the option “Tracking info”.

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A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

5

Setup measurement and conversion tracking

Click on the option “Tracking code” from the drop-down.

Your tracking code will appear and this what you need to copy and paste onto your website or landing page.

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A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

5

Setup measurement and conversion tracking You can then set up different goals depending on how many forms you have, in order to capture the correct data.

Click on the red button + NEW GOAL

Name your Goal, choose “Destination” from Type and then click “Continue”.

#9

A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

5

Setup measurement and conversion tracking Choose “Begins with” from the Destination drop-down and then add in your Thank You page URL and save.

Using the utm_source=email will help show you potential customers who visit your website via emails you have sent them, or links to your website from emails you have sent them. An example of these links would be hyperlinking your website in your email signature.

This can be done for Facebook, AdWords or LinkedIn as well. Just replace =email with =facebook, =adwords or =linkedin. Add the utm_source=facebook to your Facebook ad link in order to capture specific data from Facebook. Do the same for AdWords and LinkedIn.

Use each platform conversion tool to get into the specifics. Analytics is great to get an overview of your conversion data. With a scientific approach to marketing, the devil is in the details, so use each advertising platform’s conversion tool to allow you to optimise: • the adverts • the banners you’re using • the keywords you’re bidding on • the conversion rate • which audiences are delivering ROI on Facebook and LinkedIn Here is a step by step process in Google AdWords of how to add code to your website and set up goals in order to track conversion and capture lead data.

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A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

5

Setup measurement and conversion tracking

Click on the top option “Tools” and select “Conversion” from the drop-down.

Click on the red button + CONVERSION.

Choose to track website conversions.

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A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

5

Setup measurement and conversion tracking

Name your conversion and then choose “No value tracked”. Save and continue.

You can now copy and paste the code onto your website to begin tracking contacts who complete your forms.

#12

A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

5

Setup measurement and conversion tracking

Once your conversion tracking is up and running, you can view the converted clicks in the highlighted column.

Here is a step by step process in Facebook of how to add code to your website and set up goals in order to track conversion and capture lead data.

Click on the option “Tools” and select “Pixels” from the drop-down

#13

A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

5

Setup measurement and conversion tracking

Click on “Create Conversion”.

Choose to “Track Conversions With Standard Events”.

Choose the option to “Email Pixel Code”.

#14

A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

5

Setup measurement and conversion tracking

Enter the relevant email address and click ”Send”. Facebook will email the tracking code, which you can then copy and paste onto your website or landing page.

Once the tracking code is up and running, you can view your conversions in the highlighted column in the Facebook Advertising interface.

LinkedIn LinkedIn does not have anyway of tracking conversions in terms of pixels or code like the other platforms. However there is a little trick you can use. Using the utm_source=linkedin in your ads link you can manually track customers who have clicked on your ad from LinkedIn and then filled out your form. For now, this is the best way to capture data from advertising on LinkedIn.

#15

A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB

Conclusion

In conclusion A successful digital marketing campaign doesn’t happen overnight. There is a lot of time, effort, and important data that goes into. It is imperative that you carefully choose your audience based on what has worked (and hasn’t worked) for you in the past. When you know your right audience, you can choose the right digital marketing channel. Your target audience will populate either one or all the different marketing channels, so choosing the correct one will save you time and money.

Clarifying your campaign objective more clearly with everyone involved means you’ll achieve faster, easier buy-in from your stakeholders.

Make each click count by making the conversion point as easy as possible so you don’t scare people away with complications. Setting measurements and tracking is one of the most important steps because you’ll have the data to prove whether your campaign is a success or not. You can take this data to various other stakeholders and show them how the campaign is doing. Following these steps will allow you to create a digital marketing campaign that’s on the right road to success.

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#16

A 5 Step guide to improve your digital marketing campaigns www.clickmaven.co.za I [email protected] I 011 726 1074 I The Media Mill, 7 Quince Street, Milpark, JHB