The markers of a good marketing campaign
It's the day after my first marketing campaign has concluded and it's time to look at how successful it was. In my original post, the goal was to raise around $5,000 with 15 viewers a day with at least 1 of them being new. I was using google analytics to track the success of some of these statistics. We also used not just the site, but also Facebook to collect donations.
Goal 1
We did not meet our first goal. Just under $3,000 was raised for this campaign, so a little over 50% success rate for the original goal. So why wasn't this campaign successful. I have a variety of theories. A major one would be using primarily Facebook to drive traffic. While we had posts on other social platforms (twitter and instagram, no snapchat), they were disjointed and not uniform. Perhaps a more 'ad-based' approach would have been more successful. Uniformity helps brands achieve recognition after all.
Another potential reason we didn't meet this goal was current events. With fires raging in California and relief efforts in full swing, there was a lot of competition on this Giving Tuesday. A small animal rescue can't compare to a national crisis.
Competition is fierce. Bigger brands can invest more and will often be more successful. Consider how much you're willing to put into your campaign.
My final theory we didn't meet this goal was a lack of advertising. No money was invested into planning, implementing, or advertising this campaign. It was done out of people's goodwill. That's not to say it wasn't time well spent, it's just that when you put money into a project (namely online advertising targeted to a specific audience) you often get better results.
Goal 2
Now lets take a look at our second goal, 15 viewers a day with at least 1 being new. Unfortunately, we failed this goal as well. The only day that successfully had 15 users was the day our campaign ended (28 total, 26 being new). While this was the day we were trying to have the most traffic, it is important to build up traffic over time to encourage users to come back.
A bounce rate of 78% is really the only statistic we need to see to know this page was not as successful as it needed to be. Users spent about 42 seconds looking at the page and then deciding to not do anything else. Which means while we were able to capture their attention, we weren't able to convince them to donate or explore the rest of the site. So how can we fix this?
The solution to this problem is not as clear as it was with goal 1. Usually when people spend their money, they expect a good or service in return. With donations, all you get is a bit of good karma. For the next campaign, it might be helpful to talk about how donating helps the individual rather than a stranger or an animal they may have never met before. While it may be a problem that copy can solve. I have a sneaking suspicion that stronger imagery might also help.
For the next campaign:
• Invest in online, audience specific advertisements on social media and websites
• Generate more uniform posts including copy and imagery
• Consider focusing on the individual and not the organization
• Invest in Snapchat, Pinterest, and other types of social media more.
As an addition to this post, I hope those who read my blog will start to offer suggestions for content they'd like to see. So please, drop by the comments section. I am always looking for feedback and critique, not just on this post, but all of them.