Launching a new marketing campaign is like conducting an orchestra.

You need to carefully plan and organize every move in sequence. Each step builds on the last. And each isolated element comes together to produce something special.

But if you’re missing any part, then the whole performance will crash.

Here are 3 warning signs that your marketing campaign will fail.

Image courtesy of seanrnicholson

1. You Don’t Have an “Anchor”

The most important part of any marketing campaign is the goal.

This sounds obvious. But at some point, you will have to make a decision between two good alternatives. And you’ll have to make a trade-off.

Your goal acts as an “anchor” for every decision you make. It will guide your tactics and bring you back to one main purpose for each campaign.

And in social media campaigns, there are typically 3 major goals you’ll find:

The objectives you prioritize have to support this one goal. And the metrics you use to track success also have to be properly aligned.

For example, if acquiring new leads is your goal, then it really doesn’t matter how many new social mentions or Twitter followers you get. No matter what social media experts might say.

Instead, social media might move into a “support role” to help answer questions and get people to opt-in and become a lead. That way you can focus on actionable metrics like conversion rates for different landing pages.

2. Your Content isn’t “Promotable”

The first key to online marketing is getting your target customer’s attention.

Interesting, unique content can act as a magnet and pull people in. But only if it’s “promotable”.

For example, the homepage of most organization’s isn’t very interesting. It’s generally too vague to really get anyone interested, and too focused on promoting themselves.

Instead, “promotable” content is more descriptive and targeted, so it will appeal to a specific market segment. And it focuses on their problems, benefits, and interests. Not the organization’s.

What else makes content “promotable”?

• First, it needs to be easy-to-understand and share. So strip your idea down to the core and focus the message you’re using
• It provides utility to people, or addresses their pain points.
• It’s branded to differentiate it and make it easier to remember
• Finally, it’s timeless so it will last forever.

Exceptional marketing campaigns aren’t limited. You invest so much time, money and energy into creating them, that they should pay you back for a long time.

That means you turn your marketing campaigns into marketing assets. So they’ll appreciate in value and continue to grow.

But first, it will need a “foundation”…

3. You Don’t Have a “Foundation” for Long-Term Success

Most marketing campaigns only result in temporary benefits.

You get excited about new traffic spikes, but then falls off quickly – never to return again.

We become too focused on the short-term gain, instead of the long-term strategy.

Specifically, most people overlook a “foundation” that will turn their one-off campaign into a “marketing asset” that appreciates in value.

Here are 5 elements that every marketing campaign plan must consider:

1. Where the “hub” of your marketing campaign sites on your website
2. What keywords you use to describe it
3. The on-page copy and how you describe the campaign in detail
4. The attention-grabbing devices you use to maximize engagement
5. And the final calls-to-action used to ultimately get what you want

Creating new marketing campaigns doesn’t have to be difficult or complex. In fact, the simpler the idea the easier and faster you can pull it off.

These 3 warning signs might sound simple and small. Even basic to most.

But people still don’t do them.

And then they wonder why their campaigns return mediocre results.

Small elements can have a big impact. And success is the by-product of small pieces working together. So if your marketing campaign is missing any vital pieces, then your results will suffer.