Five Essentials for Campaign Success

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to design and implement a multi-year advertising campaign for a large membership organization. The experience became one of the most transformative projects of my career. Since then, I have been asked by several executives how we built it, why we pursued it, and whether a similar approach could work for their own brands.

The process was not without its challenges. From shaping the initial concept to securing buy-in from leadership and a global network, there were countless lessons learned along the way. Many modifications were made along the way, but the vision remained the same.

Here are my five lessons learned and tips to consider before launching an advertising campaign:

Determine what you are solving for: What is the issue or issues you hope to solve? Hold a strategy meeting with your executive leadership team to determine whether the issue is short-term or long-term; what business approach you currently have to solve that issue and determine the revenue expenditure vis-a-vis anticipated return on investment. Identify the metrics that will define success or failure, weekly, monthly, and quarterly, and decide where your stopgap should be if things start going off course.

Maintain your vision and adjust smartly. Set a clear end goal and define what success looks like from the start. Along the way, you will need to adapt. Audiences shift, tools evolve, and opinions will pour in from every direction. Listen carefully, but stay true to your core vision. Flexibility in execution is key; compromise in purpose is not.

Never fear visibility. Creating any type of public facing campaign for an organization will raise the stakes for them both internally and externally. Such increased visibility will result in a lot of interest and a lot of conversation. What naturally follows on from that is criticism. The more public you are, the more critics you will face. Do not fear the opportunity to engage directly with your critics. Authentic engagement builds trust, even in moments of disagreement.

Expect the unexpected. No matter how well you plan a launch, something will ultimately go wrong; in our case, an erroneous social post. How did we recover? We jumped into the conversation created by the post and continued to reach out to those offended online and offline. And we kept the launch going. End result, we had new champions emerge and new potential partnerships (and more engagement). How you handle a setback determines your campaign’s credibility far more than the setback itself.

Stand strong together A campaign must belong to the entire organization, not just the communications or marketing team. From the earliest stages, ensure that leadership, staff, and partners understand the vision and feel ownership of it. When everyone is aligned and believing in the purpose, the message, and the potential impact, the campaign gains authenticity and strength. That buy-in is critical for a campaign to transform from a project into a lasting movement.

Launching an advertising campaign is both exhilarating and daunting. But with clarity of purpose, adaptability, resilience, and conviction, it can become more than a marketing effort. It can become a movement.