Digital Pilots: The Essential Ingredient to Insight-Driven Marketing Campaigns

At Magpie, we understand the power of learning from our audiences to create meaningful and impactful campaigns that create behaviour change. In a digital age, it’s crucial to approach campaigns with a test-and-learn mindset. Piloting creative behaviour change marketing campaigns (or any marketing campaign) digitally as an initial test and learn phase, is an invaluable approach for creating insight-driven, personalised and cost-effective full-scale marketing campaigns. 

Here’s why: 

• A/B Testing: In A/B testing, two versions of content are compared to see which one performs better. A control version (A) is tested against a variant version (B) to find out which one is most successful. Paid digital campaigns provide the perfect environment for A/B testing that cannot be replicated in more traditional marketing approaches. By experimenting with different creative elements, messaging strategies, and audience targeting, we can gain valuable insights into what resonates best with the target demographic. A/B testing during pilot campaigns allows for data-driven decisions, ensuring that the full campaign is optimised for maximum impact.

• Small Budgets and Big Insights: We often execute pilot campaigns with smaller budgets, making them a cost-effective way to test hypotheses and refine strategies before committing to larger budgets. Despite a limited budget, the insights gleaned from pilots can be invaluable in shaping the direction of the full campaign, leading to better use of budgets on the elements that have proven most effective as well as higher returns on investment.

Message and Creative Testing: Understanding which messages and creative resonate most with the audience is key to crafting compelling marketing campaigns. Paid digital pilots enable us to test different messaging and creative concepts in real time, allowing for optimisations and changes based on performance metrics. This approach ensures that the final campaign is optimised and tailored to effectively communicate key messages and calls to action.

We have done this across a number of our campaigns.

Hertfordshire County Council: Let’s Clear the Air

‘Let’s Clear the Air’ is a creative multi-channel campaign co-created with Hertfordshire County Council to address the impact of air quality on residents. The digital aspect of the campaign aimed to drive residents living in Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) to sign up for air pollution alerts via the Hertfordshire County Council website.  

KPIs for this campaign were heavily reliant on the digital strategy, therefore we carried out an initial pilot campaign to A/B test creative behavioural messaging concepts to determine the most effective messaging for the campaign. We utilised Facebook, Google Search and Google Display. Hertfordshire County Council council gained valuable insights into audience preferences and we optimised the strategy for maximum impact. The pilot campaign informed the rollout of a comprehensive, 12-month digital strategy, resulting in increased awareness and engagement with air quality initiatives. Find out more.

• Understanding of KPIs and Manageable Expectations: Pilot campaigns provide an opportunity to define key performance indicators (KPIs) and establish realistic expectations for the full campaign. By setting measurable goals and tracking performance metrics during the pilot phase, we can gain a deeper understanding of what success looks like and adjust strategies accordingly.

• Platform Insights: Each digital platform (ie – social media sites, Google Search etc) can offer different advantages in terms of potential reach/engagement and targeting capabilities. Pilot campaigns allow us to test different platforms and determine which platforms are most successful in terms of the overall goals of the campaign. This knowledge helps us to determine which platforms should be selected for the full campaign, ensuring maximum reach and impact.

• Comments and Community Engagement: Engaging with the audience through comments and feedback is integral to ensuring that concerns are heard and questions are answered. Pilot campaigns provide an opportunity to anticipate and address common themes that may arise in comments, allowing us to refine messaging and response strategies for the full campaign. Advanced preparation based on insights from pilot campaigns ensures a proactive approach to community engagement.
  
• More Effective Use of a Bigger Budget: By leveraging the insights gained from pilot campaigns, we can make informed decisions when allocating resources for the full campaign. A deeper understanding of audience preferences, platform performance, and messaging effectiveness allows for a more strategic use of resources, maximising the impact of the campaign.

RSPCA: Healthier Breeds

Through a targeted digital campaign, we addressed the demand for flat-faced (brachycephalic) dogs, leveraging audience insights and dynamic creative to raise awareness about the health risks associated with these breeds. The pilot campaign allowed for precise audience targeting and message testing, leading to significant engagement and a shift in the desire to purchase a brachycephalic dog. From this, we gained a deeper understanding of the motivations behind purchasing these breeds and which messages resonate the most with the audience. This allows us to create an insight-driven and cost-effective strategy for a potential national extension. Find out more.

In conclusion, digital pilots play a vital role in shaping insight-driven campaigns. By embracing A/B testing, small budgets, and iterative improvements, we can optimise their strategies for maximum impact. Through platform insights, community engagement, and effective resource allocation, pilot campaigns serve as invaluable stepping stones towards successful full-scale marketing campaigns. 

At Magpie, we recognise the importance of leveraging digital pilots to create campaigns that resonate with audiences and drive meaningful change. See below to get in touch and find out more.