For the last 9 months I was Data Analyst in an advertising agency in Romania, trying to figure out what delivers results and what doesn’t in the Romanian online world. I was in charge of both social listening and analyzing online campaigns ROI for clients coming from different industries and backgrounds.
I’ve learned a lot and compiled my own list of dos and dons. Most important, I learned that getting lost in data is as easy as turning a flick. We forget what and how we communicate and focus on numbers in a spreadsheet. The message is lost among CTRs, TRPs, CPL, CPA, percentages and averages. But I will not bicker, but focus on the list I mentioned and point out some dos.
Set Goals From The Very Beginning And STICK TO THEM.
This is not easy — you need to have a campaign strategy from the very beginning (if you are a Data Analyst, do ask for this before the campaign starts or at least ask for the campaign brief), main KPIs (set in accordance to campaign brief) and media plan (this might be particularly hard if the media agency does not understand what a Data Analyst does and why it’s useful to collaborate).
Do make sure you, the client and the media agency (or any other party involved) are aware of the main KPIs. All of you should take responsibility for them and promise that neither of you will stray from them during the campaign. Because most likely clients will have more than one objective and more than one KPI in mind, media agencies will try to push on metrics that do not necessarily bring ROI to your campaign (impressions, empty clicks and interactions pop to mind).
Whenever any of you strays along and asks more of your campaign than it was designed to do, go back to the initial goals and reassess — was it included in the initial list of objectives? If it was not, decide together if it must be, if it is relevant for your campaign and your brand. But take into consideration that most of the times the same message does not trigger the same result and therefore you might have to change creatives/key messages as they were not created with that objective in mind and therefore cannot and will not deliver on the new KPI.
Pay Attention To What People Say Online. Do Social Listening Before, During And After The Campaign.
The ancestor of social listening was press monitoring and clipping — it was an easy way for agencies (mostly PR agencies) to prove they did their job. Today monitoring reactions after the campaign is simply not enough; you can do so much more. Finding out what people already say about your industry/product/brand can give you insights into what message can or cannot work. Monitoring consumers reactions during the campaign can help you react and optimize campaign (for example, tweak message if it’s not understood, shift media budgets to reach touch-points you had not taken into consideration). And, yes, looking at reactions post campaign can help you understand what went well, whether people understood your message and engaged with your brand in a relevant way.
Take Into Consideration The Context Of Your Message
Context determines message efficiency. It might sound crazy simple, but a lot of marketers forget this. If you’re not sensible to when and how your message reaches your audience you most likely will miss the mark. For instance, scheduling a campaign focused on sales 1–2 weeks before Black Friday or Christmas can prove extremely inefficient — people are waiting for sales and will not squander their budget if they can wait for massive sales.
Ads Do Not Sell On Their Own. Really, They Do Not.
However surprising this may be for brand managers who are still used to blasting brand message and then measuring sales, adverts cannot convince on their own anymore — you will most probably need to consider setting an entire ecosystem in place , from in-store/HORECA promotion to events and TV and online communication.
Set up an attribution model for your marketing strategies and involve all communication agencies in the process. And this one is extremely complicated as you need every person fully committed, willing to collaborate.
If you do manage to do this, give me a call/private message and tell me how you did this. Please.
Romanian 
English