Getting to Your Goals During a Time of Uncertainty

Recently, a client came to us with a big ask. Their industry was experiencing tremendous growth amidst the pandemic and there was increasing demand for their products. They wanted a quick-turn media relations program that would earn coverage in well-read consumer publications—and drive interest in their unique and timely offerings.

At Approach, we love this kind of project. A great brand story to tell and an in-demand product portfolio to back it up. Just one catch: The media landscape today is tough. Newsrooms are short-staffed and the endless breaking-news cycle has reporters running nonstop.

But we didn’t back down. We set a big goal, stood behind it and…crushed it. It wasn’t easy though. We tried a lot of different pitch angles, tapped additional media specialists to rethink our outreach strategy, and got creative with who we targeted.

So, why am I sharing this?

Today, marketers are surrounded by uncertainty. We work with clients of all sizes who want to know that an agency partner delivering on their goals shouldn’t be in this mix. Every investment counts today.

When I founded Approach, there were many aspects of the agency experience I committed to delivering differently. Achieving a measurable outcome is one of them. We are the only agency that guarantees that we’ll achieve our agreed upon program goals—or work for free until we do. This is central to who we are and how we work, just as it always has been.

Creating meaningful goals is the first half of the equation and delivering on them is our next priority. Here are just a few of the ways we roll up our sleeves to get the job done:

Set smart goals from the get-go. For us, goal setting is done in collaboration with clients. We take into account their objectives, agency intel and first-hand learnings, and industry benchmarks and best practices. No smoke and mirrors here—we’re transparent about what we think a realistic stretch goal looks and how we’ll measure progress toward it.

There’s that key word: Measure. It may sound like marketing 101, but goals must be measurable—and all parties must align on how to measure. This includes any tools, data sources and metrics we use.

Let’s take my earlier client example. In this case, the client wanted to reach new customers, so our recommendations focused on top-of-funnel activities. Therefore, we set metrics to match: Impressions for earned media coverage and CPM and clicks to e-commerce landing pages.

It may take a little extra time, but we believe getting everyone on the same page about what and how we’ll measure is the best way to position a program for success. 

Staff with the right expertise. Approach has a deep bench of senior consultants with big agency and big brand experience. This includes specialists across industries – from CPG and healthcare to finance and tech – and marketing functions like media and influencer relations, social media and digital, copywriting and design.

When senior talent is driving programs from top to bottom each day, we can stop, assess and course correct quickly. We lean on each other’s expertise to successfully bring integrated programs to life.

Re-set on the regular (no autopilot). Marketing and PR are fickle and what works and delivers value one day may not work the next. That’s why you can’t fly your marketing programs on autopilot—if you do, you might miss your opening to course correct.

I mentioned earlier some of the challenges we’re facing with earned media coverage right now. But we’re not waving the white flag. Rather, we’re resetting. We’re bringing in additional media specialists to brainstorm alternate outreach strategies and talking to our reporter friends to understand what they need from PR pros right now. Believe it or not, those needs shift by the week, and we’re committed to keeping ahead of those demands.

It’s a similar story in social media. With the election nearing, Facebook and Instagram are increasing ad and content regulations and ad campaign bidding is more competitive. We’re planning ahead to allow for longer approval timelines and revisiting ad campaigns to ensure spending right now makes sense.

Don’t stop until the job is done. Having previously worked at many big agencies, we see firsthand how it goes. After investing maximum time and effort into planning and executing a program, a campaign can sputter out by the end. “We’ll recalibrate and try harder next time,” is simply not how we roll. We know that tomorrow is uncertain and are heavily invested in building upon our client relationships. We pull out every stop there is to reach those goals – and because of this passion and commitment, we have not yet had to honor the guarantee. Trust me, this is a streak my team is not going to break without fighting tooth and nail. 

Test, learn, repeat. We don’t claim to know it all (remember the whole “marketing is fickle” thing?) but we do promise to bring new learnings, insights and ideas to the table. Every. Single. Time. Similar to goal setting, we have a proven process for delivering client work that demands ongoing iteration and testing. This is what enables us to deliver the best and most value to every client.

I founded Approach 10 years ago on specific values that still ring true today: We care personally about each other and our clients, roll up our sleeves to get the job done and deliver on our promises. Helping clients achieve their goals is what fuels us—and why we guarantee our work. If this kind of partnership sounds like something your organization would benefit from, let’s talk. Approach me anytime.