There are ads on every platform, and brands are now turning to more powerful marketing techniques, including ones that are provocative and draw a ton of attention to their brand. The challenge is getting the right kind of attention. But how a campaign is perceived often depends on the viewer. People have different perspectives based on their varying experiences, beliefs and principles. Go too far in one direction and your campaign can send potential customers running in the other direction.
By choosing provocative marketing approaches, there is a very thin line between success and failure. Even global brands have their fair share of marketing campaigns fail epically. So how do you avoid a marketing blunder?
Playing it safe is the easy answer. But it also means you could end up with a boring marketing result, and that could be a fiasco. Instead, there are several things you need to remember when creating your campaigns to avoid marketing failure.
1. Stay true to your values
Many marketing mishaps could be avoided if the company stayed true to its values. Experimenting and trying new approaches and methodologies can spark creativity and lead you to new discoveries that can boost your brand. However, sometimes companies try too hard with a campaign or insert themselves into a conversation that doesn’t align with their brand mission. This can create all sorts of problems, from awkward customer reactions to, ultimately, major marketing backlash.
It can be a good thing to keep up to date with current trends and try to be relatable or even go above and beyond and think outside the box. There are some controversial campaigns that have paid off and had an impact. But always anchor your campaigns in your company’s mission, values and principles. This way, you don’t just throw out random cryptic messages, but rather share your perspective and your story, even in the most drastic way.
Consistency bases your campaigns on something, which makes it easier to understand compared to an off-brand campaign that will leave your customers wondering, “where did that come from?”
2. Understand your audience
Marketing is a way of communicating with consumers, encouraging them to trust your brand, your company and your products. Therefore, it is only important for businesses to have a thorough understanding of who they are trying to reach. This way, they can craft a better and more understandable message that will speak to their target customers, which can prevent mistranslations, miscommunications, and other major marketing mistakes.
Create a campaign that expresses the needs of your audience. By target the right crowd, your most provocative marketing campaign will always have the best chance of triggering a positive response. Be very mindful of the audience you are trying to attract. Get to know them, their language, their culture and what they appreciate the most.
Learn from up-to-date data to have a solid foundation on how you can identify your customers and personalize your campaign. Use your provocative marketing campaigns to not only make noise and get people to buy, but to spark their curiosity, spark their creativity, and make them remember and trust your brand.
3. Be involved in the decision
Whether you have an in-house marketing team or hire an agency, company management should be involved in the decision to develop and implement the marketing campaign. This also plays a major role in keeping the campaigns on brand.
Your marketing team shouldn’t just be an easy scapegoat if the campaign goes south. They should be part and an extension of your brand. Therefore, business owners and managers should always have a say or a say in the campaigns that will be rolled out, especially those that are provocative.
If you are a business owner, make sure your ideas and thoughts are represented. Pay close attention no matter the size of your campaign, whether it’s a giant billboard that the public will see or custom logo stickers that people will use. Poor monitoring or supervision could lead to marketing strategy failure. Especially for a provocative marketing approach, make sure everything is tracked and regulated, so you have full control and can make adjustments or corrective actions if necessary to avoid any backlash.
4. Say no to bad ideas
Although marketers are creative and strategic people, not every idea they may have is always brilliant and effective. Sometimes marketers have to come up with lots of bad ideas before they strike gold. More so, they are also human and may overlook certain information or data at any given time.
If your marketing team comes up with an idea that doesn’t seem right to you, say so. Don’t accept a bad idea because you think you should or because you feel lucky. You have to be strategic even during the ideation stages and filter the good ideas from the bad to find the best approach that will work.
It’s not enough for a marketing campaign to simply be intriguing and discussion-provoking. You need to make sure that you always put your brand in the best possible light, in the most transparent and authentic way. Give constructive criticism and, if possible, back it up with data. Communicate clearly where you think improvements can be made. Identify what is missing or what should be minimized.
5. Get Feedback
Don’t always take a marketing idea at face value. Always look for reviews to get new insights. It’s important to consider all aspects of your campaign, from ideation to strategizing, execution and follow-up. Consult with marketers or have a dedicated marketing team to create a comprehensive marketing plan, especially if you’re taking a provocative approach. Research related marketing techniques thoroughly to find possible results. Use marketing campaign test to get insights into your campaign’s performance and measure its effectiveness.
If you’re a small business, you can collect feedback from other members of your marketing team or company. You can also ask a third party to peek or even talk to your customers to see how they react to the campaign. This could help mitigate any potential backlash from the campaign announcement.
Arouse the right emotions
Most of the time, marketing campaigns can be trial and error, but there are always mistakes you can’t afford. The mistake of mispositioning your provocative marketing can easily ruin your brand and your company’s legacy. Avoid this by combining strategy and creativity.
In its essence, marketing is both an art and a science. Use data and trends and combine them with a bit of pizzazz to deliver campaigns that will elicit emotions from your target customers and spur a positive response that will establish your brand going forward.