Why Giving Clients What They Want Isn’t Always the Best Strategy
As a digital marketing company, it’s our job to help clients achieve their marketing goals. However, sometimes what a client wants, isn’t always what they need. The client may “want” to do a Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign but what they “need” is to generate more enquiries and depending on their target market, budget, location, number of searches for their keyterms and the competitiveness of the current PPC landscape, that might not be the best way to go about generating new enquiries. So how do we handle that? We start by honing down on what they want and strip this back to the desired outcome.
What is the Desired Outcome?
The desired outcome is the ultimate goal of a digital marketing campaign. It could be to increase sales, raise awareness of a brand or to cover a product launch, or generate leads. Understanding the desired outcome is crucial as it determines the entire strategy. We need to know what our clients want to achieve, so that we can design a campaign that aligns with their goals.
For example, if a client wants to increase sales, we could focus on developing a multi-stream marketing campaign that targets potential customers and persuades them to buy the product or service. On the other hand, if a client’s goal is to raise awareness of their brand, we could design campaigns that creates buzz and curiosity, attracting attention and engagement. To be able to do this successfully, we need to understand the target audience.
Who is the Target Audience?
Knowing the target audience is essential for creating a successful digital marketing campaign. Without understanding the audience, it’s impossible to create content that resonates with them. We need to know their age, gender, interests, and pain points. This information helps us to create targeted content that speaks to our chosen demographics and encourages them to take action.
For example, if the target audience is young adults interested in fitness, we would create content that speaks to their needs and interests. We could design a campaign around a fitness challenge, post content with tips and advice for that age range (with CTAs) or offer them an incentive to try out the client’s facility. By understanding the target market, we can design a campaign that resonates with them and motivates them to act.
Why Giving Clients What They Want Isn’t Always the Best Strategy – Drop the Ego
Brand recognition is crucial, but, unless you have built a global brand with loyal followers who have long since bought into the brand – it is not the most important thing to the audience. Clients may want their logo to be front and centre in all marketing materials, but that’s not always the best strategy. The truth is the audience does not care as much about the brand as the client does. Instead, they want to know how the product or service can benefit them. They want to know “What’s in it for me?”.
We need to focus on the audience’s needs and create content that speaks to them. We would of course include the client’s logo in order to start creating brand recognition and authenticity, but it doesn’t need to be the main focus. Dropping the ego and focusing on the audience, results in a much more successful campaign.
Be Clear
Clarity is essential. We need to make sure that the audience knows what solution or service is being offered and what the main benefits are. The message needs to be clear right from the start. If the audience doesn’t understand what the product or service is or what the company does and how it can help, they’re unlikely to buy into it.
We should also give additional value that enhances the desirability of what’s being offered. For example, if a client is selling a product, we could provide tips on how to use it or how to get the most out of it etc. By offering additional value, we can create a more engaging campaign that is useful and resonates with the audience, all the while positioning the client as an expert in their field.
Educate Clients
It’s crucial to educate clients on the latest digital marketing trends, best practices, and what’s working and what’s not. Sometimes, clients may not be aware of the latest marketing industry trends or the most effective strategies. By educating them, we can help them make informed decisions and provide them with better solutions that will benefit them in the long run.
Use Data
Data is a crucial component of any successful marketing campaign. By using data analytics, we can determine what’s working and what’s not, identify trends, and can incorporate data-driven decisions. Using data helps us to back up our recommendations and provide clients with evidence-based solutions that are more likely to succeed.
For example, when embarking on a series of email campaigns, don’t forget to review the results. Analyse the open rates, click through rates and the response (presuming there is a call to action that can be tracked), you will soon see which campaigns are more appealing to your selected audience (A/B Split testing is invaluable for this kind of analysis). Don’t forget the negatives, they can help you too, make sure you note unsubscribes and unopen rates, when you see figures beyond the norm, analyse the content and title, these negative figures can help you to determine if have you strayed off course with the target audience.
Communicate Effectively
Communication is key in any client relationship. We need to ensure that we communicate clearly and effectively with our clients. It’s important to set expectations, provide regular updates, and be transparent. By fostering this transparent and open relationship, we can build trust with our clients and ensure that they feel comfortable taking our advice. As a small marketing agency, we take pride in being a part of our client’s team and that’s when we are really able to shine. As part of the team, we get a better dialogue with all the stakeholders; they, after all, know the product or service best.
The same applies to your marketing messages, communication should be consistent and effective. For example, there is absolutely no point in posting sporadically to an Instagram account, this ad-hoc activity is unlikely to grow loyal followers eagerly looking forward to your next post.
Test and Refine
No digital marketing campaign is perfect from the outset. We need to test and refine our strategies continually. By testing and refining, we can identify which areas need improvement and make the necessary adjustments. By testing and refining our strategies, we can ensure that we’re providing clients with the best possible solution.
For example, knowing the target audience and having a good idea about their preferences and pain points is all very well, but that is after all based on just a bit more than presumption. Until the campaigns are running, we can’t actually see how the audience will respond, use the knowledge gleaned from your data to tweak your campaigns, keep honing and refining them. This is a continuous task, the world continues to turn, people continue to grow, change and develop and so should our marketing campaigns.
Why Giving Clients What They Want Isn’t Always the Best Strategy
So, you see, giving clients what they want isn’t always the best strategy. It’s our responsibility to use our expertise to guide them toward the right solution, even if it means dropping their initial wishes. Sometimes what the client wants just isn’t going to produce what the client needs.
If you want to find out specifically how The Last Hurdle can help market your products or services, get in touch.