I remember being in a concert band in high school. What struck me the most, was that as beautiful as the music sounded, the entire band would fall apart; if not for a skilful conductor to unify the performers, set the tempo, and shape the sound of the ensemble.
Now, imagine yourself, seated in a concert hall, expecting to be blown away by the band shouting, “Encore!” from the audience seat. Yet, if the orchestra disappoints with its jarring tune, you will close your ears and leave immediately to spare yourself from further agony.
Turns out, running Marketing Campaigns is a lot like conducting a concert band. Once customers suffer from a poor experience, they will instantly unsubscribe from that email marketing campaign.
#1: Set your Goals
Back then, my conductor was selective about song selections. If the band was participating in a competition, we would play technically challenging pieces to “wow” the judges. If we were playing for a school fundraiser, he would choose trendy pop music to delight the guests.
Just like a concert band that plays to impress, I set goals to ensure the success of my marketing campaigns. My key goals are:
- Higher registrations and attendance
- Increase Open Rates (OR)
- Improving click-through rates (CTR)
- Reducing unsubscribe rates
#2: Planning is Everything
Similar to how my conductor orchestrates the band by waving his baton, I have to now orchestrate various components for my marketing campaigns.
I imagine my designers to be Flutists, my copywriters to be Trumpeters, my email marketing tool (Marketo) to be Drummers, and my campaign goals to be my French Horn players. And as the conductor, I have to orchestrate them successfully to produce a sweet melody for my customers’ ears.
For all my campaigns, I create a checklist with project timelines to make sure everyone is on the same page. I find Airtable (a project management tool) helpful in planning and delegating tasks.
Tip: Once you tag someone, they will be notified to work on their parts.
#3: Aim to Delight
I remember polishing my instrument until it’s all shiny. As a band, the instruments are the first thing that catches the attention of the audience, and thus they must leave a good impression.
These days, this is how I approach my marketing campaigns – only putting the best messaging and visuals forward. This way, my customers enjoy the best reading experience on whichever device or email platforms they use.
Marketo has a nifty hack for checking device compatibility for all your email campaigns. Once you’re done setting up your email, click the “Deliverability Tools” function to get a quick overview of your email newsletter on every device and email platforms (see below).
I can now enjoy the peace of mind that my emails are well-optimized to provide a pleasant reading experience for customers.
#4: Test, Test, and Test!
Before any performance, my conductor would spend a few minutes tuning the whole band to achieve the right pitch. By testing and adjusting sound qualities diligently, my conductor makes sure that we deliver a stellar performance each time.
Just like how a band has only one chance to impress their audience, I know any errors made are permanent because emails are unretractable. Creating a checklist helps me to avoid making mistakes.
#5: Work Smart, Automate
My conductor wishes that he could play several musical pieces to understand his audience’s preferences better. Unfortunately, he is constrained by performance timings, band members’ stamina, and the short attention span of the audience. All these limited him from giving his audience the performance of their lifetime.
As a Product Marketer, I’m a big fan of Marketo’s A/B testing function which allows me to experiment with my creative ideas, and curate the best content for my audience.
Part 1 – “Which subject line would appeal to my audience more?”
I set out to find an answer using Marketo’s A/B Test. As seen below, I tested 2 different subject lines with a small percentage of my audience. Marketo picks up on the subject line with the higher open rates and sends an email blast to my remaining audience.
And the best part is? This process is completely automated – I don’t have to manually check for the success rates, re-set the delivery timings, or change my audience size.
Part 2 – “How can I increase the attendance rate for my events?”
By sending calendar invites immediately after my customers sign up, I help them to effectively block out time in their schedules.
However, it’s tedious for me to send individual calendar invites one by one. To make life easier for myself, I use Workato to integrate my webinar streaming app (GoToWebinar) and Google Calendar.
Simple, yet powerful integrations between GTW and Google Calendar
Now, whenever my customer signs up for an event, they will instantly receive a calendar invite. As the event commences, they will also receive timely reminders to attend. This whole process ensures that they never miss out on an event that they have been anticipating.
This simple, yet powerful integration has made my life so much easier.
The Finale
Just like the maestro of a band, the marketing operations role is important in orchestrating the different marketing elements – design banners, messaging, online webinars – to produce the sweetest melody to delight the ears of the customers.
With successful marketing operations, customers will be clamoring to get entry tickets to your next event. You might even have to start putting up “Sorry, this event is sold out” signs!