4 Elements of a Successful Sales Campaign

In the world of sales and marketing, “campaign” is a commonly-and-broadly-used buzzword. This blog will explore how a campaign should be defined as in the sales sense, and 4 elements of a strong sales campaign.

So what exactly is a sales campaign? It is is a planned sales strategy for converting leads into customers. It uses one or more channels, primarily cold calling and email, to reach a pre-defined list of people, generally with an enticing offer and a time limit. 

Campaigns are valuable sales tool that when used right, can be very successful for driving sales and increasing visibility and awareness. Good campaigns are goal-oriented, focused on the prospect, and differentiate from the competition.  

Read on for the 4 elements of successful sales campaigns:

1. Their goals are SMART

   • Specific: The main goal of your campaign should be well-defined, with set expectations, and clearly understood by all involved (i.e. sales/marketing).
   • Measurable: Goals need to be assigned metrics so you know when they have been reached, or when you are far away from the goal and need to reassess.
   • Attainable: The goal needs to be reachable given the resources you have to dedicate towards it.
   • Relevant: Campaign goals need to support overall business goals.
   • Timely: Campaigns work best when they have a beginning, and an end, which motivates the sales team, and gives a sense of urgency to the prospect.
   • Sample SMART goals:
     • Increase sales by X% this quarter with an outbound cold calling campaign and time-sensitive offer that resonates with my target prospect. With an expected conversion rate of X%, my sales team will need to make X number of calls and send X number of emails to reach the goal.
     • Acquire X amount of new accounts of X size in X number of months through developing and offering a referral program to my existing customers of similar size with an offer that benefits both the new account and the referrer.

2. They have a defined audience

   • Before building out a campaign, you must define who it is that you are targeting to build your contact list:
     • Are you targeting accounts of a certain size, or in a certain region?
     • Do you want new business, or to grow your existing accounts?
     • Are you selling an entry-level product to introduce people to your company, or are you looking for more sophisticated buyers to purchase your most expensive offering?
   • Once you’ve defined who it is that you will reach with this campaign, develop personas for each:
     • Who are the decision-makers, and what are their job titles?
     • What is the decision-making hierarchy? Who else will be touched by your campaign?
     • What are your prospects pains, interests, motivations?
     • What messages do they want to hear, and what messages should you avoid using?
     • What time of day is best to reach them, and how do they like to be contacted?
   • The more you know about your target prospect, the better you can tailor a campaign to them that will yield results.

3. They incorporate qualification

   • Qualification starts before a phone call is made or an email written. Using the above-mentioned SMART goals and prospect personas, determine what makes a good prospect for your specific campaign and how you will qualify.
   • A common qualification method is BANT: Budget/Authority/Need/Timeline:
     1. Budget: What budget does a good prospect need to have?
     2. Authority: What titles should the campaign be reaching?
     3. Need: What needs would a good prospect exhibit?
     4. Timeline: What is an ideal purchasing timeline and what is the buying process?
   • Some of these criteria can be fully or partially determined through research before you even add a contact to a list or reach out. The rest need to be uncovered within 10 minutes of the first call, and throughout the buying process.

4. They differentiate from the competition

   • It’s highly unlikely that you’re the only company in your marketplace executing sales campaigns. Chances are, your competitors are already on it.
   • In order to win in accounts where a competitor is, you need to know your competitors on a granular level:
     • Are they already running sales campaigns? How do they work?
     • What channels are they using to reach the prospect?
     • What kinds of offers are they using?
     • What competitive landmines might they have against you?
     • How are they positioning and winning against you?
     • How can you position and win against them? 

Campaigns that include these 4 elements are positioned to do well. Once a campaign is running, its metrics need to tracked internally, to allow for continual campaign optimization, a higher return, and guidance for future campaigns. 

Well-executed campaigns are an important part of a strong overall sales strategy, and a sales tool that can drive and motivate your sales team. Need help with your sales strategy or campaign development? Contact SRi for a complimentary consultation to get started.