Overview
3…2…1….takeoff! Your email campaign has successfully launched, so what comes next?
Although hitting the launch button may give a sense of accomplishment, the work is not done yet. What were you trying to accomplish with this campaign? Did it generate the results you desired or did it fall short of your expectations? These are some of the questions to consider once a campaign has launched.
In this blog, we’ll break down what a successful launch phase looks like and how companies can improve marketing performance by better managing campaign launch activities.
What is the launch phase of the campaign production process?
After all the campaign planning and execution, the launch phase is when the campaign is finally ready to go live. The launch phase can be broken down into three steps:
1. Schedule
Once your marketing campaign (emails, landing pages, interaction flows, etc.) passes the QA process and you’ve ensured everything looks good – now your campaign is ready to schedule! Marketing Operations should confirm the date, time, and audience size with the requesting stakeholder before scheduling. If activating, final approval to activate the campaign should be obtained as well.
2. Launch
Once the requestor has given approval, Marketing Operations can schedule or activate the campaign and update the task status in the team’s PM tool accordingly. After the campaign has officially been deployed, an update should be provided to the relevant stakeholders. For example: “Hey team, the April Newsletter deployed this morning at 9 am ET. Here is a link to the performance report”
3. Report
The final step and most important in the process is ensuring that tasks are created for performance reporting and campaign review. Reporting should be templatized and configured to track desired campaign conversions. The final reporting structure needs to be communicated into the team’s campaign performance tracking pipeline. Metrics (clicks, opens, etc.) will be safely stable by about 7 days, but the metrics will fully finalize around 14 days after emails have been sent out.
Why should companies improve post-launch activities?
By better managing campaign launch activities, companies can improve their marketing performance by ensuring that campaigns are well-planned, effectively executed, and optimized for success. This will help to drive greater ROI from marketing investments and achieve business objectives more effectively.
Companies should focus on improving and streamlining their post-launch process to avoid wasted efforts on campaign production. If you’re hitting the launch button then forgetting about the campaign and not analyzing results, you could be missing out on opportunities.
A campaign production process without a defined post-launch strategy runs the risk of repeating the same mistakes. If your newsletter is consistently underperforming, what makes you think the same approach will generate better results next month?
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” However, with a defined post-launch strategy, your marketing team can use the insights of past campaigns to improve future campaigns.
Reminder: Make sure to take these considerations into account and confirm there’s alignment across the team on the process before launching a campaign.
How can companies improve marketing performance by better managing campaign launch activities?
You can enable closed-loop reporting and ensure campaign performance is being accurately monitored after launch by applying the following steps:
Set up tracking
Set up tracking and measurement systems to collect data on campaign performance. This could include setting up Google Analytics or other tracking tools to measure website traffic and user behavior, or using your marketing automation software to track leads and conversions.
Define key performance indicators (KPIs)
What are you trying to achieve with your campaign? Define KPIs that align with your campaign objectives and use them to measure campaign performance. KPIs could include metrics such as website traffic, engagement rates, conversion rates, and revenue generated.
Monitor performance
Monitor campaign performance regularly to ensure that it is on track to meet KPIs. This could involve setting up dashboards or reports to track performance, and regularly reviewing this data to identify trends and areas for improvement.
Analyze results
Analyze campaign results to identify what worked well and what didn’t, and use these insights to optimize future campaigns. This could involve conducting A/B tests, analyzing audience behavior, or reviewing feedback from customers.
Optimize and improve
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Don’t let the poor performance of a campaign derail your team, instead, use the insights gained from analyzing campaign results to improve future campaigns. This could involve refining messaging, targeting different audiences, or experimenting with new tactics.
Who should handle post-launch activities?
The specific roles and responsibilities for campaign launch activities may vary depending on the size of your marketing team. If you have a dedicated Marketing Operations team, they are typically responsible for launching campaigns and reporting.
Project managers or marketing operation leaders can create a launch checklist for team members to validate before launching a campaign. Depending on the type of campaign, it may be necessary to coordinate with the sales team on follow-up too.
Conclusion
With the final launch and reporting in order, the production process is complete! From intake to launch, it is important to define each stage of production to improve the overall efficiency and quality of the campaign.
