Stop Overthinking Marketing Campaigns - It’s Not About You, It’s About Your Audience

Chris Gomersall, Founder & CEO, ATOMIZEDEgo. It’s a tricky emotion that spans across all aspects of life and business, particularly when it comes to the creative side of digital marketing or integrating different marketing avenues. Now more than ever before ego can be measured with clicks, likes, and views. Not having enough ego or confidence in certain situations can be damaging but so can too much in others. And this can be a balancing act or maybe even double-edged sword. The important part is when to realize that it’s not about you. When it comes to marketing campaigns it’s only about the audience it’s intended for, not what you want or really even what your client wants. Don’t believe me? Check this out.Where it goes wrongWhen assembling a digital or integrated marketing campaign the first component that needs to be addressed is who the target audience is. Where it gets muddied up is when other influences come in and seem like they compete with this star attribute instead of taking the place of supporting roles. They are usually things like what the competition is doing with their marketing, department or annual/quarterly budgets, length of time running the promotion, or plainly just putting too much personal subjection into the creative side. Focusing on these will only cause division in the message and then ultimately the success of the campaign because it’s not resonating with whom it needs to. Keep the audience first.What it’s really aboutThis is the part where everyone has to subtract his or her ego. The effort would be better spent discovering the brand’s target audience and researching their interests and motivations to then apply to the campaign. Think of the most impactful advertisements you’ve experienced throughout your life - the ones that have stood the test of time and made a brand famous, at the very least, for you. Chances are it was not a blatant sales pitch or a vanilla spot placement. More than likely it was something that was striking and spoke to you on another level than just a call to action of buying a product. It was probably a message using humor, deep emotion, or speaking to a personal passion. This is what should be aimed for when assembling every campaign. This is how your messaging results will not only get brand recognition but also conversions.How to do itOnce the target audience is determined and the research has shown their top personal interests, social media activity, and online reading interests it’s time to apply it. Take this critical information and shape it into something that will reach those people that would value the product the most. Now is the time to take the next steps in the process that was mentioned before but include things like types of media to be used in the campaign and any other variables your brand or company may have, but always put what the audience wants first.Take the time to find the right audience and cater the campaign to them. Remove ego from all fronts and focus on who you are talking to then craft the message to them. This is the singular important point when constructing an effective digital or integrated marketing campaign. Remember that. [author]About the Author: Chris Gomersall is the founder and CEO of ATOMIZED, a marketing software company in Atlanta, GA. Previously, Chris was a Creative Strategist at Facebook and Instagram where he collaborated with the world's biggest brands and agencies‪, filed patents, worked with social anthropologists and data scientists, built prototypes with engineers‬, ‪lead publishing program bootcamps, and more.‬ Formerly the creative lead at Moxie, other agencies include Euro RSCG (DSW), Exile on Seventh (Agency.com), and now, a start-up of his own.[/author]