“No man is an island”…. and no marketer works in a vacuum.
If you’re managing a marketing campaign you know how busy it is. You’ve got to make sure all the elements of the campaign come together. Is your messaging right? Have you got the media mix correct? And there’s a heap of deadlines to meet. But did you think beyond the marketing elements, to all the people within your organisation who will be impacted by your campaign? It’s important to work closely with your internal stakeholders to get them on-side. It will improve the success of your campaign and provide a positive and seamless experience for your customers.
My advice is to understand the workings of the different departments within you organisation. Get to know key people and take an interest in their jobs so you know and understand the impact of a sudden increase of sales or enquiries. Campaign management can be a lesson in diplomacy, with many people to please.
Here are a few departments and internal functions you need to consider when rolling out a campaign, particularly a high profile one:
Call Centres: consider the time of day for your campaign. If your call centre isn’t open on a Sunday, don’t run a TV commercial on Sunday unless you can negotiate with your call centre to put on staff that day. Provide scripts for handling calls and Q&A for any tricky questions.
Complaints Handling: if this is a separate function to your call centre, make sure the people handling your customer complaints are aware of your campaign. No-one likes to think anything going wrong – but it’s best to be prepared, just in case
Mail Room: if you’re running a direct mail campaign, think about return mail. Ask your mail room what they can handle. If your volumes are going to be large – arrange for your mail house to handle return-to-sender mail.
Order Processing : Check that your order processing team can handle an influx of new orders, give them plenty of time to arrange extra staff if necessary. If you’re using a new form or there’s something out-of-the-ordinary for your campaign, be sure to make sure it will work with existing processes.
Warehouse/Dispatch: Check you have adequate stock and/or people to pick, pack and ship orders.
In-Store: if you have retail stores, make sure your floor staff are aware of your campaign. You can be sure customers will come in to stores and ask questions. If there are any last minute changes to the campaign, you’ll need to keep store staff informed.
Web Enquiries: whether you’re running an on-line campaign or not, you need to be prepared for the fact that customers will visit your website. Besides ensuring the details of your campaign appear online, you need to make sure that whoever handles your website enquiries is aware of your campaign and is equipped to handle an increase in activity.
Reception: even if you’re not using your main reception phone number for your campaign, inform your reception staff that they may receive calls and where they should be directed.
Sales teams: your sales staff will be impacted the most by your marketing campaign. It’s important to work closely with the sales people to ensure they are fully informed of the campaign offer and any special order processing arrangements if necessary.
Senior Management: although their daily work is not usually directly impacted by a marketing campaign, you should give your senior management team a briefing about any high profile campaigns. This will ensure they are across it for general conversation both in business and socially.
Have I missed anything?
Have you ever forgotten to include an important person or group of people in your campaign planning? What was the impact?
