It’s no secret that many large companies are pulling their million-pound advertising budgets after not seeing enough ROI.

When you put substantial budgets behind campaigns without setting out a sensible strategy, or building flexibility into budgets and plans to adapt, then it’s not surprising that the results aren’t there.

It’s this ‘hitting-send-and-hoping-for-the-best’ mentality that is doing nobody any favors. Another issue is that with many brands suspecting that they’re advertising to bots, ad figures aren’t necessarily correct.

Also Read: Why the Ad Fraud Fight Needs a Global Approach

Sense Check

By first analyzing who you want to reach and how your audience ‘ticks’, you can start to build a more strategic approach that engages users effectively and reaps better results. Some agencies get distracted by new and shiny tech, but why spend loads of time and money on a Snapchat campaign when most of your customers aren’t likely to even have the Snapchat app?

In contrast, some agencies become too targeted and stick to the same channels or outlets, never really exposing themselves to new or alternative audiences. It’s a balancing act that can be achieved by analyzing insights gained from previous campaigns, a well thought out strategy, an ability to adapt during the campaign based on results.

So many teams forget to sense check their work, or put the time into gaining feedback from customers – probably as they are so concerned with pleasing the client and meeting immediate needs, rather than looking at the bigger picture. Getting customer feedback on campaigns is invaluable, yet so many agencies don’t invest the time or common sense into doing this. Digital tools, such as OnePulse, are a great way for companies to find out people’s thoughts on content… imagine if Pepsi had done that with its now infamous Kendall Jenner ad.

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Flexibility

Many people think you need to create content for every channel, but why bother if those channels aren’t efficient for you or your audience? Test and learn as you go, researching what content, channels, timings and approaches work best for you – giving you better knowledge for the future.

Building in flexibility to the project can allow you to shift focus or budgets from one channel to another depending on which is working better for you. It doesn’t need to be a case of the campaign being set in stone, building in flexibility to be reactive will bring better results.

Feedback

When it comes to marketing, some companies forget it’s all-encompassing – from face-to-face experiences to phone calls to Twitter. It’s important to factor in appropriate training of staff across every single touch-point, and build this into your strategy too, wherever suitable.  Do you want your staff to act a certain way, drive home certain messages or be active on social media? Customer experience and marketing are becoming increasingly entwined, so neither should be viewed in isolation.

Taking a much more sensible, considered approach by factoring in previous successes and failures will be much more beneficial for everyone than a hit-and-hope approach.

Also Read: Separating The Fake From The Factual – Why AI Is Revolutionizing Marketing?