How To Create An Effective Awareness Campaign

This is the safest place to start if you want to get anywhere in building an awareness campaign.

To define your objectives you must first start by understanding your business goals – measurable outcomes that a company wants to achieve over a defined period. These goals will guide your campaign’s strategic direction and help determine your overall priorities.

Business goals are often aligned with the company’s mission and vision.

One example of a company with well-defined, widely recognized business goals is Google.

We all know what Google is and what it's known for, but if you want to get specific, Google’s overarching mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible to the world. This goal is reflected in everything Google does, and especially in its awareness campaigns.

Don’t know what I’m talking about?

Well, I’m sure you’ve seen the special versions of Google’s logo that change with any occasion.

That’s one of their awareness campaigns, also known as Google Doogles. They use this to celebrate holidays, events, and notable figures – which promotes awareness of those important historical figures or cultural moments, and that’s perfectly in line with Google’s specific goal of promoting education and engagement.

Specificity is important. Your awareness campaign will see little success if your audience doesn’t get a clear understanding of what you’re trying to promote, or what your message is trying to convey.

You need to clearly define what you want to achieve. Avoid fluffy, vague objectives that serve nothing besides filling the space.

Specify your desired outcome.

Sure, you could say that you want to “increase sales”, but what does that even mean? When do you want this to happen? And how much of an increase are you looking for?

Instead, you could say that you want to “achieve a 15% increase in monthly sales by the end of the quarter”, and that would get everyone on the same page instantly. It’s simple.

What is not so simple, however, is determining the key metrics that will indicate the success of your marketing efforts. These could be things like sales, customer acquisitions, brand awareness, website traffic, conversion rates, or customer satisfaction.

Whatever it is you choose to go with, you will need to include specific targets for these metrics that will allow you to measure your progress and success. Quantifiable metrics make it easier to track performance and assess the effectiveness of your campaign’s activities.

Lastly, your objectives should be realistic and attainable.

You need to consider your resources, budget, and the amount of time you can dedicate to this campaign when setting your goals.

If you’re a small business expecting Disney-level success, then it should go without saying that whatever results you’ll get – good or bad – will leave you feeling frustrated and demotivated regardless. Don’t chase after pipe dreams and aim to grab the nearest branch instead.

When you’re sending a message, either by text, email, or whatever – you’re always going to be specific about who the recipient is. If otherwise, then I’m sure you’ve gone through the embarrassment of sending your boss a message meant for your mom.

You don’t want that kind of thing happening in marketing, especially not when you’re building an awareness campaign.

Imagine trying to launch an awareness campaign about teenage pregnancy to a bunch of pre-schoolers – at best, you’d get confused looks, and at worst, you’d get a lawsuit.

Identifying your target audience is a crucial step to ensure that your message reaches the right people.

If you’re at this point of the whole post, then you should have a clear outline or at least an idea of the goals of your awareness camp. Understanding what you want to achieve will help you identify the specific audience that aligns with your objectives.

And then, you develop personas. Detailed personas that represent your ideal customers or your target audience segments. You should consider demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and preferences – which you can extract from analyzing your existing customer data. What you should look for are patterns and trends to identify characteristics common among your customer base.

Where else do your customers shop?

Who are your biggest competitors?

Chances are, your target audience also shops with your direct competition, so spend time doing your research here.

If you do not have an existing customer base, however, you can still conduct market research. Utilize surveys, interviews, focus groups, and other research methods to gather insights into your industry and target market.

The third way to target market is by affinity or association. I like this approach and use it a great deal for myself and my clients.

Let me give you a personal example: I’ve been a member of the National Speakers Association, one of two trade associations for lecturers and seminar leaders, since 1978. I have gone out of my way to be visible in the association, through a variety of means, and I’d guess my “name recognition” hits about 70 to 80 percent of the total membership, about 4,000 people.

These 4,000 people and I have much in common: first, obviously, I know them, and, more importantly, they know me. I can call attention to our affinity by addressing them as “colleagues” and “fellow members.” We share the same business activities, experiences, concerns, and problems.

Because I am a known, respected success in this business, the members are interested in what I have to say and in whatever I recommend.

The value of tailor messaging your campaign is being able to resonate with your target audience. You speak to their needs, address concerns, and highlight how your product, service, or message aligns with their interests.

If you’d like to dig in just a little deeper, and perhaps even crack the “secret formula” for finding your target customer, then I’d recommend listening to my “How To Find Your Ideal Customer” podcast, which you can gain access to by joining us and becoming a Diamond Member.

I think that most business owners and marketers do not spend enough time and attention on trying to interest someone specific.

Yes, I know I’ve already discussed this in detail just moments ago, but again I feel the need to emphasize that – the best way to get anyone to pay attention to you is if they think you’re speaking specifically to them.

If a person hears or sees themselves in a message, they will instantly stop in their tracks because something has appeared of great personal relevance and interest to them.

Every product, every service, and every business either appeals, or has the potential to appeal, much more strongly to a certain definable group of people than it appeals to all people, yet most marketers get to their grade-A Prospects only by lucky accident — by throwing out their message to everybody and letting the right people find it.

This is like getting a message to your aunt in Pittsburgh by dropping 100,000 copies of your letter out of an airplane as you fly over Pennsylvania. I call this “blind archery.”

And so, when crafting your compelling message, you must aim to be specific and responsive. Take everything I’ve said early and apply it when you aim at your target audience, so they can respond the way you need them to.

The best strategy I know for being paid attention to starts with focusing on who is going to pay attention, rather than what it is that you want them to pay attention to.

If you’re a one-legged golfer with asthma, who’s also missing a thumb on your left hand with bad vision but wants to play on the senior tour, and you somehow got an envelope that said: “If you’re a one-legged golfer with asthma … this is for you”, that piece would be completely profound and relevant to you.

Of course, you’d be inclined to believe in whatever the envelope wants you to do because you think that whoever sent the envelope must really know you.

If you’re going to present yourself, your business, and your product, then you need to figure out a reason why your particular version of a product or service should be of interest.

So, for example, let’s say you’re trying to sell your audience a garden hose. Why should they have any interest in a garden hose?

Then you move to why should they have any interest in a garden hose that has an automatic doohickey on it that conserves water, and when you're done with it, it coils itself back up. And then why should that particular person have an interest in a garden hose?

And finally, the reason why that particular person should have an interest in that particular garden hose at this particular minute. That's essentially as good of a way to dissect and then assemble a marketing message as any.

The next thing should be something you are at least conceptually familiar with, and it’s your unique selling proposition.

I won’t get too into it, as I do have a book called “The Ultimate Marketing Plan” that explains it well enough (you should give it a try if you want to learn more), but essentially your unique selling proposition needs to clearly articulate the benefits of your product, service, cause or message.
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​Focus on the impact and value it will have on your target audience.

Additionally, you’ll want to have response instructions or a CTA.

You’d be surprised how many people can mess up something that seems so simple to you, whether it’s making a donation to a specific organization, visiting a website, or whatever. It’s important to clearly state what action you want your audience to take.

A strong CTA will guide your audience towards the desired outcome.

And lastly, please—I don’t care if you are marketing Hostess Twinkies, garden hoses, industrial widgets, or any one of a zillion commodities or services that you and everyone you know has accepted as dull and ordinary and mundane, maybe even trivial—there is a way, and you must find it, to present that message in a truly interesting way.

I’ve made an entire bookcase worth of books dedicated to marketing.

I’ve written countless articles, hosted seminars, and participated in too many podcasts to even count.

All of this to support my message and my mission: to be responsible for getting how-to-succeed education into the hands of more people than any other individual or enterprise.

Developing creative content for your awareness campaign and beyond is crucial for capturing and retaining attention.

If you haven't figured out what medium suits your business yet then you can experiment with various types of multimedia content.

You can use A/B testing with videos, podcasts, books, articles, and any kind of other interactive content – all these formats can enhance engagement and make your message stick. See what resonates best with your audience and continuously refine your content based on feedback.

Additionally, you should ensure that your content is accessible to a diverse audience. Design and write content with simplicity, and make sure the tone stays consistent with your brand.

Forming a partnership with fellow influencers in your field can significantly amplify the reach and impact of your awareness campaign.

Take it from my collaboration with ClickFunnels and their founders, Russell Brunson & Todd Dickerson.

It makes perfect sense because his audience has over 5 million subscribers who are using our marketing methods, without knowing where most of them originated from, and my audience has many successful members already using ClickFunnels to run their online businesses.

But this wasn’t a move that happened overnight. It took literal decades to select who we were going to allow to continue the mission of our brand.

So, regardless of how many people offer, or who the most popular influencer is, you should still stop and clearly define the characteristics you’re looking for. Consider factors such as audience demographics, engagement rates, and their alignment with your business’ values.

Russell’s audience and my own were already under each other’s influence. Ideally, you want to replicate this by identifying influencers who have a potential connection with your target audience.

Then, you craft a personalized outreach message that clearly explains the purpose and benefits of the collaboration.

Highlight how their specific expertise can contribute to the success of your awareness campaign, and communicate the value of the proposition for the influencer.

Be it exposure, content creation opportunities, or other incentives – you must ensure that the collaboration is mutually beneficial.

As much as I’ve harked on and on about the importance of market match, it won’t really matter all that much if you’re not where your market is.

If your target audience is all dentists and your ads are on the catalogs for chiropractors, there’s not much of a market for you there to match with either way.

This all comes down to researching your target audience and identifying where and when your campaign will make the most impact. Where does your ideal customer hang out? Do they prefer reading the news in newspapers or watching newscasters on the TV?

The list of possible media you might use to present your message is long — from Yellow Pages ads to imprinted snow scrapers to TV infomercials.

There are two fundamental truths about all media.

First, while different products, services, businesses, and professions will rank media differently in terms of productivity, efficiency, and appropriateness, you should never unnecessarily or arbitrarily limit your options. You should use all that you can make work.

Second, success principles, such as those governing the effective presentation of messages, do not change from one medium to the next. A lot of people think they do and act as if they do, but they do not.

There is one medium every business should use, and every marketer should learn to use it successfully.

That is direct mail.

I have a specific book related to this subject called “The Ultimate Sales Letter”, and I urge you to get it, read it, and use it. The sales letter is the most reliable, dependable, practical marketing tool for anyone and everyone.

And, to give you one important tip about it right here: of all the direct-mail formats you can choose from, a personalized letter — what we call “A-pile mail” — is the most reliable.

An awareness campaign not only allows you to get your business under the spotlight – it also shapes how potential customers perceive your company.

With the right campaign, you can have direct influence over what people think when they see your product, and you can make sure that customers remember your business for all the right reasons.

If you’re interested in learning more about awareness campaigns and other marketing strategies, you can do so by registering for our NO B.S Newsletter or by joining our Diamond Membership for an even deeper understanding of marketing, with monthly masterclasses, Q&As, and more!