How Clear Are Your Goals?

Defining and communicating goals is the first step in any advertising campaign. Find out why this crucial opening move isn't as easy as it sounds.

It was a bold step. The mid-sized company for which I was working decided to invest in an ambitious new advertising campaign aimed at its B2B clients.

They went to the trouble and expense of engaging a major advertising agency. They agreed to place full-page, glossy ads all over the business press.

Our CMO presented proofs of the final versions at our national sales conference and they received a standing ovation. Everyone was full of confidence that this was a turning point for our corporate brand.

CMO Called the Ad Agency Onto the Carpet

Three months after the campaign launched, our CMO called the account executives from the agency onto the carpet. He'd just received the quarterly sales figures for the period during which the campaign took place.

He informed the agency that, despite all the money our company had invested in the campaign, there was no change whatsoever in the volume of sales leads our team had generated. Obviously, the campaign was an abject failure.

The agency replied that our CMO had never specified that the goal of the campaign was to generate sales leads. As a result, the ads were never designed with that in mind.

What Other Objective Could There Possible Be?

At that point, our marketing leader blew his stack. After all, what other goal could there possibly be for an ad campaign? He dismissed the agency and pulled all the ads from the publishers.

I've reflected on this experience for many years now. The most obvious lesson from it is the basic management principle that Seven Habits author Steven Covey calls, "begin with the end in mind."

No matter how obvious we think a goal is, we need to define it clearly and communicate it to everyone involved. After all, "if you don't know where you're going, any map will do."

Is Short-Term Sales the Only Purpose of a Campaign?

The other lesson is more subtle. Is driving short-term sales the only purpose a marketing campaign should have?

While the mission of marketing is to drive revenue, a specific advertising campaign can contribute to that mission in a wide range of ways. Lead generation is only one of the contributions advertising can deliver.

In the case I just described, the agency was under the impression they'd been brought in to improve brand awareness and visibility. They generated their content accordingly. The fact that the ads were well-received at first shows that they struck a chord with the sales and marketing teams.

Brand Awareness Usually Doesn't Produce Short-Term Results

What our CMO didn't take into account is that advertising to create brand awareness usually doesn't produce tangible short-term results. Brand awareness is usually only the beginning of the customer journey in the B2B marketing world. Tangible results from that approach take time to emerge.

There are several other possible campaign goals. You may want to generate traffic for a website or a social media page. That traffic might then be a great source of those sales leads you're after.

B2B companies may also want to position themselves as thought leaders. This was also something that our ill-fated campaign had incorporated into the ad copy. That's another reason why the proofs resonated with internal staff without instantly ringing the phone off the hook.

Encourage Customer Retention and Repeat Business

Another reason for an ad campaign might be to build customer value. We could tailor the messaging to encourage customer retention and repeat business.

We might also try to foster referrals. These are usually very high-value leads for the sales force once they start to roll in.

The point is advertising campaigns have a wide range of potential goals. So, to deliver the intended result, we need to precisely define what we want a campaign to achieve and clearly articulate that to everyone involved, especially on the creative side.

As the saying goes, "If you aim for nothing, you'll hit it every time."