Setting the digital advertising objective

Although this seems obvious, it's alarming how little an objective is considered when embarking on an advertising campaign. Beautiful, striking creative is designed, and then strategically placed in all the right places where it will be seen by all the right people. Great. But did it achieve the objective? Chances are the objective was never really part of the discussion to start with. Actually, ascertaining exactly what was achieved is another matter entirely.

And then along came digital...

And then along came digital...The strategic thinking is still there, as is the planning. Media buyers push for the best possible rates in the most suitably targeted environments. The same beautiful creative is designed, albeit in a more confined space.

And there it is: all the great technology to track everything from ad view, right through to confirmation of the objective. Thus, it becomes simple to outline an objective when it's all trackable.

How exactly, is it all tracked though? What does a click-through rate mean when it doesn't account for sales, or competition entries, or leads? And it blurs even more. What about all the digital environments that don't offer a sales rep? Google Adwords is a do-it-yourself environment. Twitter? Facebook? No sales reps there either.

And what of those that don't offer any advertising as we know it, and thus have no media cost involved, yet still offer the opportunity to correspond or interact with potential interested parties? Having a clear objective set up front is the only sure way to take the next step. And the rest?

digiVOX, in partnership with Bizcommunity.com, has set out to answer this, and many more questions, through a series of one-day training workshops for those involved in digital media planning, or sales.

Art of digital media planning

The first in the series of workshops is entitled The Art of Digital Media Planning, and is aimed at those responsible for investing marketing budget into the digital space. To be held in Cape Town on 15 October 2009, the workshop will look at each step of digital media marketing, from strategy through to planning and buying, implementation and results.

Adrian Hewlett, chairman of OPA SA, will provide an overview of the face of the South African online market. Andrea Mitchell will share 12 years of online marketing experience and will cover topics such as setting objectives, compiling the media plan, and reporting. André Britz will cover the steps to produce an effective digital media plan, while Jonathan Allan-Barret will discuss insights regarding unified messages across all platforms, and how to select the right channel to reach objectives.

For more information, go to www.thestartingline.co.za or SMS “online” and your email address to 33009 (R1.50 per SMS).