The Campaign Is Live. Is Your Business Ready?

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The Campaign Is Live. Is Your Business Ready?

A few weeks ago, I noticed a new pizza and chicken brand while driving around my neighbourhood.

What caught my attention first was the branding. The colours stood out, and the new location was hard to miss.

I didn’t think much of it at first.

Then I started seeing the brand everywhere.

Social media adverts. Outdoor advertising. Offers. One message that caught my attention was free delivery within a 7.5-kilometre radius.

Eventually, the marketing did exactly what it was supposed to do.

It made me curious.

I decided to look for the brand online and find out more about the new branch.

That’s when I noticed something interesting.

The new branch wasn’t listed on the brand’s social-media profile. The other branches were there, complete with their phone numbers, but the new location wasn’t.

And it got me thinking:

How many customers see an advert, become interested, search for the business and then give up because the information they need isn’t available?

We spend a lot of money getting people to notice our businesses.

But sometimes, we don’t spend enough time making sure that once they notice us, they can actually act.

The campaign doesn’t end when the advert goes live

I think this is something businesses need to think about more carefully.

We often treat a campaign as the advert itself.

The billboard goes up.

The social-media posts are published.

The promotion is announced.

Then everyone moves on to the next task.

But from the customer’s perspective, the campaign has only just started.

They see the advert and become curious.

Then they search for you.

They check your website.

They look at your social media.

They search for a phone number.

They look for your location.

They want to know your opening hours.

They may want to place an order.

Every one of those steps is part of your marketing.

If any of them fails, some of the money you’ve spent creating awareness has been wasted.

Your collateral is part of the customer experience

Before launching a new branch, product or campaign, businesses should have a simple collateral checklist.

Is the new branch on the website?

Is the location correct?

Is the phone number correct?

Are the opening hours updated?

Is the branch listed on Google?

Are the social-media profiles updated?

Does the advertised offer apply to that location?

Can customers actually order or enquire?

These aren’t particularly complicated things.

But they matter.

Because the customer doesn’t know that the marketing team forgot to update the Instagram bio.

They don’t know that the website hasn’t been updated because the new branch was opened in a hurry.

They don’t know that the number belongs to an old branch.

They simply experience the inconvenience.

And sometimes, they move on.

Your phone number is part of your brand

This goes beyond new branches.

How many businesses still have old phone numbers on their websites?

How many have social-media pages carrying numbers that no longer work?

How many have moved offices but never updated their address online?

How many have changed their operating hours but still have the old ones published somewhere?

These may look like minor administrative issues.

They aren’t.

Information is part of the customer experience.

If I want to buy from you and can’t figure out how to reach you, that’s not just a communication problem.

It’s a lost business opportunity.

Marketing creates expectations

This is perhaps the most important lesson.

Every advertisement creates an expectation.

If you advertise a new branch, I expect to find it.

If you advertise free delivery, I expect to know how to order.

If you publish a phone number, I expect someone to answer.

If you announce an offer, I expect to understand how to access it.

Marketing is therefore not simply about creating awareness.

It is about creating an expectation and making it possible for the customer to fulfil it.

The bigger the promise, the more important the supporting information becomes.

Try the five-minute customer test

Before launching your next campaign, forget that you work for the business.

Pretend you are a completely new customer.

See the advert.

Now search for the business.

Can you find the correct location?

Can you find the right phone number?

Can you understand the offer?

Can you find the opening hours?

Can you place an order?

Can you get directions?

Can you reach someone if you have a question?

If you can’t complete that journey easily, your campaign may not be ready.

And the good thing is that this test costs almost nothing.

You simply need to experience your own marketing the way a customer would.

The campaign is only as good as what happens next

We often celebrate impressions, reach and visibility.

And those things matter.

But awareness is only the beginning.

The more important question is:

What did the customer do after seeing your marketing?

Did they call?

Did they visit?

Did they enquire?

Did they order?

Did they find the information they needed?

Because ultimately, the job of marketing isn’t simply to get people to notice you.

It is to make it easier for the right people to act.

So before you spend another shilling getting people to notice your business, take a few minutes to check what happens when they become interested.

Update the phone numbers.

Check the addresses.

Update the branches.

Test the links.

Review your social-media profiles.

And, most importantly, walk through the customer journey yourself.

Because sometimes the biggest problem with a marketing campaign isn’t the campaign.

It’s what happens after someone responds to it.

Don’t just make your business easy to notice. Make it easy to find, easy to understand and easy to buy from.