Does your Search specialist input into the briefing of your creative agency for your next print, TV or radio campaign? No? How about your Email marketer?
Probably not and why would they? That’s offline. These guys focus on clicks not branding, right?
In many businesses there is a distinct line separating the Online (technical) marketers and the Offline (creative) marketers. And that’s a big mistake.
Qualitative versus Quantitative (or both)
Think about it. The Creatives discuss the brand, its values, the messaging and then create ‘above the line’ ads to raise awareness or shift perceptions and hopefully, eventually, increase conversions and revenue.
The brief comes from the business. The ads come from the minds of the Creatives.
What’s missing from the process is the audience. Budget allowing, you’ll show your ads to focus groups – maybe a total of 10-100 people depending on the size of your wallet. This will give you valuable ideas and insight, but still requires some interpretation.
Understanding which words your audience will respond to is difficult. Especially when the feedback is qualitative.
What is missing is the quantitative data, and it’s sitting right under your nose.
If you’re running PPC or email campaigns, you already know the words that encourage the click / action:
- The high click-thru Adwords headlines and copy
- The headlines and call to action on your highest converting landing pages
- The subject lines of emails with the highest open rates
And of course, you’ve been running conversion tests on the whole process to identify the best copy, message, offers, guarantees, etc. Let’s not forget, there’s also your Analytics package, which shows you the words customers are using to find you through search engines in the first place.
This data is extremely valuable to the development of your offline campaign.
Blah, blah, blah
With all this data to hand it’s important to ensure you work with Creatives who appreciate it. Creating a visual / aural work of art is great, but it’s not enough.
If your ad is full of words or phrases unfamiliar to your audience then you’re simply not going to connect with them. Use their language. What do your customers call your products / services? How do they refer to it in conversation? What does your data say?
Once you’ve figured that out go through your ad scripts and throw out anything that smacks of marketing talk.
Your agency might not appreciate it, but your customers – and your conversion rate – will.