A Guide to Different Types of Marketing Campaigns

Whatever sector you operate within, marketing campaigns are crucial for boosting the visibility of your business and attracting new clients. If you're a branding and marketing rookie, however, you may not realize there are many different forms your campaigns can take. To help you choose a campaign type that meets your goals, we've put together a guide to marketing campaigns below.

What is a marketing campaign?

A marketing campaign is a collection of strategies designed to meet specific goals, such as raising brand awareness, driving sales, or educating potential customers about your goods or services. Successful marketing campaigns tend to use a variety of platforms and tools that appeal to key demographics – from social media and influencer deals to search engine optimization (SEO).

What are the main types of marketing campaigns?

Marketing can take many forms, and you may wish to combine different campaign styles when launching a new initiative or growth strategy. Generally speaking, though, you can place campaigns in the following categories:

1. Search engine marketing

Search engine marketing involves targeting potential customers with paid advertisements. When people search for a phrase or keyword relevant to your business, a link to your site will appear near the top of their results. This is a helpful strategy if your enterprise is relatively new and you need to drive quick traffic.

2. SEO

Not to be confused with search engine marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) is all about attracting organic traffic (i.e., traffic obtained without the aid of paid advertisements). It's an increasingly popular field, with 70% of marketers viewing SEO as more effective than PPC. To ensure your content ranks highly on search engine results pages, you need to follow a range of golden SEO principles, including:

• Enriching your content with relevant keywords
• Adding high-quality metadata
• Improving the speed at which pages load
• Boosting the navigability of your site
• Adding internal and external links to your content

Search engine algorithms are constantly updating, so the rules of SEO change regularly. If you want to ensure your site remains high on Google's rankings, your SEO campaigns must be well-researched.

3. Brand awareness

The purpose of a brand awareness campaign is to spread the word about a given company. If successful, such campaigns should help potential customers understand what your business has to offer, your values and company culture, and why your services are superior to those of competitors.

4. Social media marketing

Social media campaigns take place on several platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok. You can publish all types of engaging content on these platforms, including web links, videos, competitions, paid ads, polls, and more. Of course, the types of content you post and where you choose to post it will depend on your key audiences. Younger customers, for example, are likely to be more receptive to bitesize content on TikTok, while older professionals may prefer long-form articles posted to LinkedIn.

5. Rebrands

If your business feels stagnant and uninspiring, a rebrand could help to reel in new clients. Rebranding campaigns should aim to modernize your products or bring your values in line with contemporary culture. Potential rebranding strategies include redesigning your logo, overhauling your website, and pushing out fresh content about how your company's goals are shifting.

6. User-generated content

User-generated marketing campaigns are built on audience participation and involve encouraging users to upload social media content they've produced themselves. You could, for example, ask followers to take selfies of themselves using your products, offering special rewards in return.

7. Email marketing

Email represents one of the most lucrative marketing channels, with an average ROI of $42 for every $1 invested. You can use email campaigns to promote anything from special offers to new product launches, so feel free to get creative and make the most of your mailing lists.

8. Public relations

Public relations (PR) campaigns are designed to get your business into the pages of high-quality media outlets, therefore boosting brand visibility and leads. Popular PR techniques include writing press releases and providing commentary for newspapers.

9. Referral marketing

Did you know that 83% of online shoppers in the US make purchase decisions based on their friends' social media posts? Referral marketing is designed to harness the power of personal recommendations, offering loyal customers rewards in exchange for spreading the word about your brand.

10. Product launches

Product launches are events designed to generate a buzz around a new product. These events may take place in-person or online and can take a variety of different forms. A good way to attract interest is to offer early access codes to a select group of loyal customers who are likely to post content about your product on social media.

11. Partner marketing

Partner marketing involves teaming up with another company to promote products and services. The logic behind this form of campaign is to give both businesses access to each other's existing audiences. You will, of course, need to team up with a company that is not a competitor yet appeals to similar demographics to your brand.

12. Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing represents a growing trade, with businesses making over $5 for every $1 spent on partnerships with influencers. This type of campaign strategy involves teaming up with popular personalities on social platforms such as Instagram or TikTok, offering them cash or products in exchange for exposure on their channel.

13. Conversational Marketing

Conversational marketing involves interacting with your customers in real-time using automated chatbots. These chatbots use behavioral signals to deliver personalized messages to web visitors and social media users, encouraging them to engage with the brand in question.

14. Video marketing

Videos are more digestible than regular written content and, if you're lucky, could even go viral. Key ingredients of a winning marketing video may include:

• A coherent and compelling story
• A short and sweet runtime – you need to hook users' attention straight away!
• Educative and trustworthy content
• High-quality images and sound

Start building stellar marketing campaigns today!

As you can see, there are heaps of different marketing campaign types to try. Remember to track the results of your campaigns to help you figure out which strategies work best, and don't be afraid to double down on the channels that drive results!