Should you keep, change or stop a marketing campaign?
A campaign deserves a decision based on the job it was given and the evidence available. Attention, enquiries and sales tell different parts of the story. Before changing the budget or creative, establish where the campaign is helping and where the route to worthwhile business is breaking down.
Editorial responsibility: Nardus Oelofse, Chief Consultant.
By Chase & Marshal
Return to the original purpose
Define the audience, offer and action the campaign was intended to support. Was it generating enquiries for a particular service, encouraging repeat purchases or building awareness ahead of a launch? The evaluation should reflect that role.
Check whether the objective was realistic for the buying cycle and budget. A campaign cannot be assessed fairly against a target invented after it started. If the original brief was vague, establish a clear question for the next review and improve the measurement around it.
Inspect the quality behind the numbers
Look beyond total clicks or leads. Review whether the people responding match the intended audience, whether they understand the offer and whether the opportunity is commercially suitable. Ask the sales team what happens after the enquiry.
In an illustrative service campaign, a low cost per enquiry may conceal many requests for work outside the offer. A more specific message could generate fewer enquiries while creating better sales conversations. The outcome to watch is the progression of suitable opportunities.
Locate the weak point before changing everything
Follow the path from audience and message to destination, enquiry handling and sales outcome. High engagement with weak enquiry conversion may suggest a different issue from strong enquiries that receive slow follow-up. Each needs a targeted response.
Consider tracking limitations, the time required for a sale and other activity influencing the customer. Attribution rarely explains every influence perfectly. Use the available evidence carefully and state uncertainty rather than giving a campaign credit for all revenue occurring during its run.
Make a specific decision
Continue when the evidence supports the commercial purpose and there is a reason to expect further value. Change a defined element when a plausible weakness can be tested. Stop when the offer, economics or audience response no longer justify further investment.
Record the reason, the change and the next review condition. Include media, production, management and sales effort in the assessment where relevant. This makes campaign review a disciplined allocation decision and helps the team learn from each investment instead of reacting to the most recent daily result.
Questions answered
How long should we give a campaign before deciding?
Allow enough time and response to evaluate its intended role, while monitoring clear problems immediately. The buying cycle, budget and volume determine the useful review point. Set that point deliberately rather than using one universal duration.
Related
Sources
Sources supporting the factual statements in this article. Findings should be read within their stated dates, geography and scope.
- Business Operations Survey - Stats NZ DataInfo+. datainfoplus.stats.govt.nz. Publication date not supplied.
- Selected Services Survey - Stats NZ DataInfo+. datainfoplus.stats.govt.nz. Publication date not supplied.
Make the next campaign decision with evidence
If a campaign is producing activity without a clear commercial answer, we can help inspect the journey and decide what to keep, improve or stop.
