A conversion campaign primarily aims to achieve a conversion as the outcome – hence the name! Advertising platform StackAdapt explains it well by stating, “The ultimate goal of any overall campaign strategy is conversions. Even if a campaign is focused on awareness, the end goal is to garner more interest in a product or service and get sales.” If you have successfully gained awareness and have a solid brand base, executing a conversion campaign may be an ideal option for your business. In this blog, we will expand on the different types of customer conversion campaigns with the hope that you may feel inspired to get converting for your own business!
Email marketing campaigns
In the latest Digital Consumer Trends Index Report, it was found that email marketing is still the top channel for those in Australia receiving updates, incentives and rewards from brands, with “50% of consumers making a purchase from an email they received in the last 12 months.”
So what exactly is an email marketing campaign? Put simply, it includes a series of emails sent to a specific database highlighting a new service or product. HubSpot explains it as “This planned content is distributed…with the goal of accomplishing a specific goal…such as nurturing leads.”
Since its establishment in 1969, Rip Curl have had the opportunity to build up and nurtured its email database (well, maybe not in the ‘60s and ’70s!) This means that they would have a robust email list that they can communicate with regularly. It is important to note that although they have a long list of contacts, it doesn’t mean that their audience is engaged when they see an email from Rip Curl sitting in their inbox.
To ensure they maintain interest and continue to engage their audience, the global surf brand created a great example of an email marketing campaign in a bid to convert its customer base. The release of their new SearchGPS Watch sparked the campaign, which saw an exclusive email being sent to their loyal subscribers with the following message:
“JOIN THE REVOLUTION. SearchGPS Watch exclusive subscriber release.”
They continued this email with recognition of their subscribers, acknowledging that they have been with the brand “every step of the way” and offered them first and early access to a limited quantity of their new watches. Of course, the email is wrapped up perfectly with a clear and easily accessible call to action, which is “SHOP NOW.”
Image source: MailUp
Looking at the email pictured above, we can acknowledge that it isn’t the most creative or overly designed. Still, it ensures that Rip Curl prioritises their customer retention by thanking their customer base and subtly ‘rewarding’ them with early access to their new watch. Today, most consumers would see right through this email and know that this offer would be short-lived, as the watch will likely hit shelves within a matter of weeks of this email being sent out. However, the emotive response this email aims to garner in conjunction with the sense of urgency would have likely struck a chord with the die-hard Rip Curl fans and surfers alike.
When developing your email marketing campaign to encourage conversions, remember to keep the following things in mind:
- Subject: Make sure your email subject is interesting and engaging. Ask yourself, “Would I open this email?” If the answer is no, then head back to the drawing board.
- Emotion: Speak to your customer’s emotions. It doesn’t mean you have to make them feel sad – or worse, cause a surge of fear – but talk to how you feel about them and how you want them to feel about your brand. Entrepreneur and global businessman Seth Godin put it perfectly when he said, “It’s easier to love a brand when the brand loves you back.”
- Value: Ensure you are offering something of value. If your customer feels like they are getting access to something exclusive and unique, they are more likely to click through and purchase. Offering a 10% discount every few months won’t always do the trick as this will become the ‘norm and your audience may then expect more from you in the future!
- Call to action: Make sure your prompt to convert is clear. This can be executed with a well-designed email or a clear and bold button at the end of the email. Whatever it is, ensure it is clear and straightforward. Don’t crowd it with too many links or directions to other landing pages or social platforms.
Search engine marketing campaigns
Search Engine Marketing, otherwise known as SEM, is a paid advertising method that allows for your business, services, or products to appear when potential customers are searching for an item within the same category. Hootsuite reported that “…35% of product searches [started] on Google, and the average Google search lasting only a minute” with this in mind, it is essential that your SEM campaign has a solid strategy and plan in place to ensure that conversion is a likely outcome.
The world-renowned chocolate brand Snickers partnered with Google to bring to life the very clever “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry Campaign”. They aimed to reach the audience base of office workers through a cleverly crafted Google AdWords (an SEM platform) campaign using commonly used spelling mistakes. Snickers got access to the top 500 misspelled search terms and partnered this with a unique algorithm that generated a list of over 25,000 misspellings of the top searches. Some of these misspelled words included wether, vacum, wierd and facw (let’s be honest, you’ve misspelled one of these words before!) The aim here was that every time someone typed an incorrectly spelled word into Google, the top search ad that would appear was none other than a Snickers ad! Within three days of the SEM campaign running, Snickers had gained over 500,000 views through their ads.
Image source: Famous Campaigns
Image source: Direct Marketing News
While most businesses would never condone an ad going live without it being spell checked multiple times, on this occasion, it really paid off for Snickers. This is because they reached over 500,000 people within three days of the campaign going live. In addition to this, they would have had an extremely low ad spend. Their ad spend would have been lower as it is uncommon for businesses to bid on misspelled words for their SEM campaigns; therefore, the competition for these terms would have been low or potentially non-existent.
This type of SEM campaign is unique because Snickers worked closely with Google to capture a series of terms that are curated to their campaign specifically. However, there are some key takeaways that you can consider when planning your next SEM campaign. These include:
- Goals: Be clear on what your conversion goal is for the campaign. Is it to get more calls, encourage sign-ups or get more purchases on your website? Whatever it is, ensure you use it as your foundation and guide as you build your campaign.
- Audience: Be clear on whom your audience is based on their persona. This can include their age, sex, location, salary and more. You have a clearer approach to selecting applicable keywords if you know whom you are targeting.
- Keywords and themes: Google is helpful when you arrive at this stage as it will provide you with a range of themes based on your website content. But “Keep in mind you’ll be competing against many other companies for the same audience when choosing keywords for which you want your ad to show up.”
A conversion campaign can take multiple forms and what we have covered today are two interesting examples for your inspiration. We want to encourage you to do your own research here, too, find examples that appeal to you and align with your values and passion. This is when a conversion is likely to happen. Of course, you might even end up buying something! If you are still struggling for inspiration and would like some support with creating a conversion campaign, please reach out to our team at Oraco – we would be happy to help build it with you!
