Campaign Phases
Sherpa’s first priority in this two-month campaign over the summer of 2016 was to understand Barkman’s target markets and engage with them directly as they discover and research their backyard’s potential. Since Barkman doesn’t sell directly to customers but instead to suppliers, our goal was to meet potential customers at each moment in their path to purchase a new backyard upgrade and help guide them through Barkman’s website to a dealer. Our focus was on two specific target markets: “young homeowners,” who are looking to update or build a new backyard living area; and “silver spenders,” who are well-established couples with disposable income looking to undertake a landscaping project. Although these are two distinct groups, their customer journey is similar.
In Phase 1, we met with Barkman to learn about their business and industry, as well as analyze all available current data to gain the insights that would drive the campaign strategy.
In Phase 2, we solidified our strategy: drive brand awareness in Saskatchewan, with the goal to build a solid brand presence for Barkman Concrete that will be discoverable and present at every moment in the path to purchase and will compound the benefits of marketing campaigns in future years.
Phase 3 was when we determined each moment along the customer’s path to purchase. As our President Marty Fisher explains, these moments comprise “a series of steps that can be visually described as a continuum from unaware to advocate.” So, we established the entire path to purchase for each target audience, the message that would best resonate in each moment, and how we could best assist prospective customers with their purchase decision.
Phase 4 was our tactic and execution phase: this was the point at which we were able to carry out our strategy, engaging with prospective customers and guiding them toward their purchase.
Finally, Phase 5 was when we tested, measured, and optimized our strategy to ensure it was working optimally. This included A/B testing, ongoing campaign measurement and analysis, and continuous optimizations to improve performance in all channels.