At Interstellar, our approach is based on the belief that the customer journey is emotional, and brands must understand the emotional connection between a customer and a brand, as well as it’s products and services, to truly connect with them and form long-lasting relationships that lead to repeat sales. And because this journey is emotional and woven into their daily lives, it can be, well, frenetic. Customers jump from asset to asset, from device to device, from word-of-mouth to online social channels, from display ads to emails, all the while researching and validating their decisions.
That’s why it’s essential that owned, earned and paid media channels all work together to form the basis of a marketing strategy, which drives traffic and customer growth.
Owned channels are an extension of your brand—those that you build, nurture and optimize. They should be your first focus when building your brand, and warrant increased investment over time. Owned channels are your hub, your HQ, your home.
Earned channels are those that require time and resources to see an impact, but the impact is 100% worth it because the message is often perceived as more genuine and credible because it’s not coming from your brand, but rather third-party endorsers.
Paid channels are a great way to capture users that are ready to convert immediately. They’re nearing the end of their journey, having been lead there through owned and earned assets. But you don’t want to start with a paid campaign if your owned assets aren’t up to snuff. You wouldn’t have a house warming party before the kitchen was done being remodeled, so why invite tons of traffic to your site if it’s not ready for the big reveal. Paid channels should be used wisely and always be tested.
Now that you understand where we’re coming from and how we feel digital marketing should be leveraged by brands, let’s talk about our process. We have five stages that we go through with all brand partners. The length of time we spend in any one stage depends on the brand, the situation and what historical data is available. Following are our five stages:
EXPLORE
This is the discovery period where it all begins. With an understanding of your business objectives and challenges, and an insatiable sense of curiosity and conviction, we set out to explore your brand and your audience. Performing audits of your platforms and channels, and evaluating consumer insights and analytics allow us to identify opportunity without a doubt.
CREATE
This is where the fun begins! We believe that creation is a collaborative effort including you and your team, as well as brand and channel specialists and any other involved parties. The strategic development process defines audience needs and our specific objectives, and an ideation process delivers the framework needed to reach them.
BUILD
This is when we roll up our sleeves and get to work. Each campaign will be different, but all include development of platform and assets, building of the account structure for various media channel campaigns and creation of reporting dashboards. This is when you’re really start to see your strategy and campaigns take shape, on their way to taking off!
LAUNCH
This is when we count down and blast off! But not before your platform and campaigns undergo rigorous quality assurance and user testing. We are meticulous at this stage, and encourage you to be as well. Once everyone has combed through every aspect and gives the green light, then we launch.
REFUEL
This is where the real and ongoing work begins. Digital brand strategy requires constant monitoring and adjustment to the messaging, targeting and omni-channel mix. Through frequent testing of usability, search and conversions we are able to optimize our efforts and ensure our vehicle has the correct coordinates, propulsion, payload and supplies to complete our mission.
Want to learn more about Interstellar’s process? Send us a signal at hello@gointerstellar.com.