Strategic projects form the backbone of any successful marketing campaign. They provide a clear path for reaching specific goals, aligning resources, and tracking progress. Without strategic projects, marketing efforts risk being scattered and ineffective, missing the mark entirely. Whether your aim is to boost brand visibility, forge deeper connections with your audience, or skyrocket conversion rates, having a solid game plan can give you a significant edge over competitors.
We've compiled a list of 20 strategic projects to jumpstart your journey…
What are strategic projects?
Strategic projects are like the GPS for your marketing efforts, guiding you toward your objectives with clear direction and purpose. They're the game plan that keeps your team on track, ensuring everyone knows what they're working towards and how to get there. From setting goals to allocating resources and measuring success, these projects bring structure and focus to your marketing strategy, helping you make the most of your efforts.
Here are five reasons why strategic projects are important for marketing:
1. Goal alignment
Strategic projects align marketing activities with overall business objectives, target audiences, and KPIs contributing to the bottom line.
2. Resource allocation
Marketers can effectively allocate resources to impactful activities by outlining specific projects and initiatives that move the needle.
3. Competitive advantage
Effective strategic planning helps marketers differentiate their brand by identifying unique selling propositions, crafting compelling messaging, and implementing innovative tactics, leading to increased market share.
4. Measurable results
Marketers can track and measure the success of their strategic projects using defined metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs). This data-driven approach enables continuous optimisation and refinement of strategies, as well as accountability for results.
5. Long-term growth
Strategic projects are critical for long-term growth, helping marketers establish brand equity, thought leadership, and customer relationships that foster loyalty and drive revenue.
So, without further ado, here’s our list of strategic projects to consider for your marketing…
Content marketing
Creating content that resonates with your target audience is crucial for any successful marketing strategy. Content marketing involves sharing valuable information to help people solve a problem or address a pain point.
1. Thought leadership blog series
A thought leadership blog series is a collection of posts that highlight an individual or a company's expertise, insights, and unique perspectives on a specific topic or industry. The content usually goes deeper into industry trends, challenges, and best practices, providing valuable knowledge and practical advice to readers. This will ultimately help you build trust with your target audience, boost your brand's visibility, attract new leads and enable you to stand out from your competitors.
Example:
HubSpot is a great example of a company that effectively uses thought leadership in its content marketing strategy. HubSpot consistently produces high-quality content that addresses relevant industry topics for sales and marketing teams. Their thought leadership content includes blog posts, whitepapers, webinars, and more, covering everything from inbound marketing to sales and customer service.
2. Interactive industry report
An interactive industry report is a digital document that provides data, insights, and analysis about a specific industry or market segment. Unlike traditional reports, interactive reports include engaging elements such as data visualisations, animations, clickable charts, and multimedia content. This format allows users to explore the information at their own pace, dive deeper into areas of interest, and gain a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.
Interactive industry reports provide a memorable way to showcase your company's knowledge and thought leadership. Their engaging nature also makes them shareable on social media and other platforms, improving brand visibility and reach.
Example:
Zendesk examined over 4,400 startups and summarised the main learnings in their Customer Experience Benchmark report, using interactive infographics and beautiful visuals.
3. Educational video series
An educational video series is a collection of informative and instructional videos that aim to teach viewers about a specific topic, skill, or industry. These videos are usually organised in a logical sequence, with each episode building upon the knowledge shared in the previous ones. Educational video series can range from short, bite-sized tutorials to longer, more comprehensive courses, and they often incorporate engaging visuals, animations, and real-world examples to illustrate key concepts.
For marketers, creating an educational video series can be an effective way to attract, engage, and retain their target audience. By providing valuable and informative content that addresses the pain points and interests of their potential customers, marketers can establish their brand as a trusted resource and thought leader in their industry. Educational videos can also help to improve brand awareness, drive traffic to the company's website, and generate leads by encouraging viewers to subscribe to the video series or sign up for related content offers.
Example:
Moz is a company that specialises in SEO software. It produces a video series called “Whiteboard Friday” every week. In this series, experts share their insights, tips, and strategies on search engine optimisation. The videos aim to help viewers improve their website's search engine rankings and attract more organic traffic.
4. Customer success case studies
Customer success case studies are detailed accounts of how a company's product or service helped a particular customer to overcome challenges, achieve their goals, and drive positive business outcomes. These studies usually include a description of the customer's background, the problems they faced, the solution provided by the company, and the measurable results and benefits achieved through implementing that solution.
For marketers, customer success case studies can be powerful tools for building trust, credibility, and social proof. By showcasing real-world examples of how their products or services have helped customers succeed, marketers can demonstrate the value and effectiveness of their offerings, making it easier to attract new customers and close sales. Case studies can also help differentiate a company from its competitors by highlighting unique features, benefits, and customer experiences.
Example:
Slack provides case studies that showcase how their platform can enhance productivity and communication for different organisations. For example, Slack successfully helped the engineering team at Shopify to collaborate more efficiently despite different time zones and locations. This led to faster project deliveries and improved employee satisfaction.
5. Influencer-partnered content campaign
An influencer-partnered content campaign is a collaboration between social media influencers or industry experts and a brand to create and promote branded content. The goal is to develop content that resonates with the influencer's audience and aligns with the brand's messaging and values. This collaboration can take various forms, including sponsored posts, product reviews, tutorials, or even co-created content series.
Marketers can greatly benefit from influencer-partnered content campaigns. These campaigns allow brands to reach new audiences and increase brand awareness by tapping into the influencer's established audience and credibility. Influencer-created content often feels more authentic and relatable than traditional advertising, which can help build trust and loyalty among potential customers.
Example:
Gymshark is a multinational athletic apparel retailer based in the UK. They have collaborated with fitness influencers and athletes to create sponsored content on social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube. One collaboration involved partnering with influencer Whitney Simmons to produce workout videos featuring Gymshark clothing. These videos were shared on both Gymshark's and Whitney's social media channels.
6. Interactive quiz or assessment
Interactive quizzes or assessments are digital tools that engage users by presenting them with questions or challenges and providing personalised results or recommendations based on their responses. These quizzes can be designed to test knowledge, evaluate skills, identify preferences, or provide insights into various topics, such as personality traits, learning styles, or product suitability.
Interactive quizzes and assessments can be useful lead-generation and audience-engagement tools for marketers. Marketers can encourage users to provide their contact information in exchange for personalised results or content, allowing them to build their email lists and segment their audience based on the insights gathered from the quiz responses. Interactive quizzes and assessments can also help increase brand awareness, drive social media shares, and boost website traffic.
Example:
Grammarly - an AI-powered writing tool - developed a fun, interactive quiz called “Are you a grammar troll?” to help people determine whether they are the types likely to chime in and correct other people's grammar.
7. Podcast series with industry experts
Podcasts have surged in popularity due to their versatility and accessibility, making them a potent tool for marketing. As more brands recognise the potential of this medium, they are leveraging it to connect with their audience in meaningful ways.
For marketers, creating a podcast series with industry experts can be a powerful way to establish their brand as a trusted authority and provide valuable content to their target audience. Marketers can leverage their credibility by featuring respected experts and attracting listeners interested in learning from industry leaders.
Example:
Shopify's "Shopify Masters" podcast series features interviews with successful Shopify store owners who share their experiences and advice for building and growing an e-commerce business using Shopify's platform.
8. Live webinar
A live webinar is an online seminar or presentation that happens in real time. Participants can interact with the host and each other using video, audio, and instant messaging. Usually, webinars feature one or more speakers sharing their expertise on a specific topic, and visual aids such as demos, slides, or screenshares help to illustrate their talk. Participants can ask questions, provide feedback, and engage in discussions throughout the live event.
Live webinars are valuable tools for marketers who want to generate leads, build brand authority, and engage with their target audience. By hosting webinars on topics that are relevant and valuable to their potential customers, marketers can attract qualified leads and establish their brand as a trusted resource in their industry. Webinars also allow marketers to showcase their products or services in action, offer exclusive promotions or discounts, and gather valuable feedback and insights from participants.
Example:
Piktochart, a web-based application that helps create infographics, decided to host webinars during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of their marketing strategy. They organised their first webinar called "How Remote Companies Can Utilise Visual Communication To Strengthen Connections". The primary objective was to attract 500 registrations and promote their templates for HR professionals. To achieve this, they promoted the webinar through email campaigns, professional communities on Slack, social media and their website. The campaign was successful, attracting 637 registrations. The webinar helped the company achieve its team's quarterly OKR. They now have a webinar series called #PiktoWebinar to “Inspire the future of visual storytelling.”
9. User-generated content campaign
A user-generated content (UGC) campaign encourages customers, fans, or followers to create and share content related to a brand, product, or service. This content may include reviews, testimonials, photos, videos, or social media posts. UGC campaigns usually involve a specific hashtag, theme, or contest that guides participants in creating content that aligns with the brand's messaging and values.
Marketers can benefit hugely from UGC campaigns, leveraging the power of authentic, customer-created content to build trust, credibility, and engagement. By featuring real customers' experiences and opinions, UGC campaigns can provide social proof and influence purchasing decisions more effectively than traditional advertising. UGC campaigns can also increase brand awareness and reach, as participants often share their content with their social networks, exposing the brand to new potential customers.
Example:
Coca-Cola's "Share a Coke" campaign was a major success due to its focus on personalisation, emotional connection, social media integration, and limited edition. Instead of the traditional logo, the company printed popular names and phrases on their bottles and cans to encourage customers to find a personally meaningful one and share photos on social media using #ShareaCoke. This campaign increased sales by 2% and generated brand engagement and social media buzz, with over 500,000 photos shared online.
10. Interactive tools
Interactive tools are digital resources that enable users to input information, make selections, or perform actions. These tools provide personalised results, recommendations, or outputs based on the user's input. Examples of such tools include calculators, generators, planners, or simulators. They aid users in problem-solving, decision-making, or exploring various scenarios related to a specific industry or topic.
Interactive tools are valuable assets for marketers who want to engage their target audience, generate leads, and provide value to potential customers. By creating tools that address specific pain points, questions, or interests of their target market, marketers can attract and retain users actively seeking solutions or guidance. Interactive tools also allow marketers to gather valuable data and insights about their users' preferences, needs, and behaviours, which can inform future marketing strategies and product development.
Examples:
At Tability, we have an AI-powered OKR generator that provides intelligent suggestions and guidance to help users create well-structured and meaningful Objectives and Key Results. When a user inputs a brief description of their desired objective, the AI proposes an objective and measurable key results based on best practices and insights gained from analysing thousands of successful OKRs.
Social media marketing
Strategic planning and execution of social media initiatives can help you connect with your target audience, build brand loyalty, drive website traffic, and increase sales. These initiatives enable you to use social media analytics to track performance, understand audience preferences, and refine your strategies for maximum impact.
11. Influencer partnership campaign
An influencer partnership campaign involves collaborating with social media influencers or industry experts to promote your brand, product, or service. In this type of campaign, the influencer creates and shares content that showcases your brand's offerings, values, or messages to their followers. This content can take various forms, such as sponsored posts, product reviews, and tutorials.
Influencer partnership campaigns can greatly benefit marketers looking to increase brand awareness, reach new audiences, and drive conversions. By partnering with influencers who have a strong and loyal following within the brand's target market, marketers can tap into the influencer's credibility and trust to promote their products or services in an authentic and relatable way.
Example:
Nike, one of the world's leading sportswear brands, has successfully leveraged influencer partnership campaigns to promote its products, engage with its target audience, and reinforce its brand message. Nike has a long history of partnering with top athletes - including Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Cristiano Ronaldo - to promote its products and inspire fans.
12. Social media customer service program
A social media customer service program is a dedicated effort by a company to provide customer support through social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn. This involves monitoring brand mentions, direct messages, and comments on social media, and responding to customer needs. You can use automation tools to streamline this process. For instance, LinkedHelper can automatically send bulk invitations and create smart auto-replies on LinkedIn. Similarly, other tools can help you reduce the amount of manual work required.
A well-executed social media customer service program can be highly beneficial for marketers, as it allows them to build stronger relationships with customers, improve brand reputation, and increase customer loyalty. By actively listening and responding to customer feedback on social media, marketers can demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction, resolve issues quickly, and turn negative experiences into positive ones.
Example:
Spotify has a dedicated Twitter account called @SpotifyCares. This account is managed by a team of trained representatives who provide fast, helpful, and personalised user support. The team assists with technical problems, account management, creating playlists, and fulfilling feature requests. They also share updates on service outages and new features.
13. Social media live event coverage
Social media live event coverage involves using social media platforms to share real-time updates, highlights, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of a live event. These events may include conferences, product launches, awards ceremonies, or brand activation campaigns. The coverage typically involves sharing a mix of text updates, photos, videos, and livestreams across various social media channels. This lets followers experience the event online and engage with the brand in real-time.
For marketers, social media live event coverage can be an effective way to create excitement, increase brand awareness, and generate buzz around their events. By giving followers a virtual front-row seat to the action, marketers can extend the reach and impact of their events beyond just the physical attendees. This can attract a wider audience and potentially drive more traffic and engagement to their social media channels. Live event coverage also allows marketers to showcase their brand personality, values, and unique offerings in a dynamic and interactive manner, which can help build stronger connections with their target audience.
Example:
During its much-awaited product launches, Apple provides live updates and commentary on its social media channels, especially on Twitter. The company shares significant highlights, product features, and event photographs, which generate buzz and engagement among its loyal fan base.
14. Social media competitions and giveaways
Social media competitions and giveaways are popular marketing tactics brands use to engage their audience, raise their profile, and grow their social media following. These campaigns typically involve asking participants to perform a specific action, such as liking a post, following the brand's social media account, tagging friends, or sharing user-generated content, in exchange for a chance to win a prize, such as a product, service, or experience.
Social media competitions and giveaways can be highly beneficial for marketers who want to boost engagement, reach, and loyalty on their social media channels. By offering attractive prizes and creating a sense of excitement and urgency around the campaign, marketers can motivate their target audience to interact with their brand and share the competition with their networks, potentially exposing the brand to new followers and customers.
Example:
Starbucks runs an annual promotion called "Starbucks for Life", where customers can win free Starbucks drinks for life by buying items at Starbucks stores and collecting game pieces. These game pieces are usually available online through the Starbucks app or website. Participants enter unique codes found on their game pieces into an online platform to play interactive games and reveal prizes. This promotion is heavily advertised on social media and in-store, which creates excitement and attracts more customers during the holiday season.
15. Social media advertising campaigns
Social media advertising campaigns are paid promotions that use social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok to reach specific audiences. These campaigns involve creating and distributing sponsored content, such as display ads, video ads, or promoted posts, that appear in users' social media feeds or on the platform's advertising network.
Social media advertising campaigns offer marketers a highly targeted and cost-effective way to reach their desired audience and drive brand awareness. Marketers can utilise the vast amount of user data collected by social media platforms to create highly specific target audiences based on demographics, interests, and behaviours. This ensures their ads are shown to the most relevant and receptive users.
Example:
Airbnb's "Live There" campaign encourages travellers to experience destinations like locals rather than tourists. The campaign includes a series of video ads showcasing unique experiences made possible through Airbnb, user-generated content shared with the hashtag #LiveThere, and a "Guide Book" feature allowing hosts to share local recommendations, and personalised travel suggestions based on user data.
Brand awareness
By developing and promoting your brand message effectively through various channels, you can enhance your recognition, foster brand loyalty, and distinguish yourself from your competition. These initiatives require focused campaigns, captivating content, and coherent brand messaging, all of which aim to create enduring customer relationships and establish a robust brand identity.
16. Cause marketing campaign
A cause marketing campaign involves a partnership between a for-profit business and a non-profit organisation or a social cause. The campaign aims to support the chosen cause while promoting the company's products or services. This can be achieved through various initiatives, such as donating a portion of sales to the cause, creating special products or packages that raise awareness for the cause, or organising events and activities that engage customers and support the cause.
Cause marketing campaigns can be highly beneficial for marketers. They allow companies to demonstrate their social responsibility, build positive brand associations, and connect with customers on a deeper, emotional level. By aligning with a cause that resonates with their target audience, marketers can distinguish their brand from competitors, increase brand loyalty, and attract new customers who share similar values.
Example:
TOMS Shoes' "One for One" campaign revolutionised cause marketing. The campaign involves donating a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased. The campaign - based on the founder Blake Mycoskie's mission to address global poverty - provided millions of shoes to children in over 80 countries. The campaign has expanded to include eyewear and clean water initiatives. TOMS has achieved commercial success by integrating philanthropy into its business model and established a powerful movement for positive change.
17. Brand ambassador program
A brand ambassador program involves recruiting individuals who are passionate about a brand to promote its products, services, or message to their networks and the public. These ambassadors can be customers, employees, influencers, or industry experts who are selected based on their alignment with the brand's values, their credibility within their communities, and their ability to genuinely engage with the target audience.
Brand ambassador programs can be highly advantageous for marketers who want to increase brand awareness, credibility, and loyalty. By partnering with ambassadors who truly love and believe in the brand, marketers can tap into the power of word-of-mouth marketing and social proof, which can be more effective than traditional advertising when it comes to influencing consumer behaviour.
Example:
The Red Bull Musketeers represent the essence of the Red Bull lifestyle. They work as brand ambassadors for the Red Bull on-premise business, collaborating with top bars, restaurants, clubs, and event venues. They aim to establish lasting relationships and discover new ways to increase sales and consumption of Red Bull.
18. Interactive brand storytelling campaign
Interactive brand storytelling campaigns use engaging narratives to connect with audiences and communicate a brand's values, personality, and unique selling points. These campaigns differ from traditional advertising because they encourage audience participation through digital platforms such as websites, social media, or mobile apps. The campaigns can include interactive elements such as user-generated content, quizzes, games, and immersive experiences like virtual or augmented reality that allow for choices affecting the story's outcome.
Interactive brand storytelling campaigns can help marketers create emotional connections with their target audience. By crafting compelling narratives that resonate with consumers' values and experiences, marketers can differentiate their brand from competitors and increase brand recall. These campaigns encourage active engagement and participation, which can lead to increased time spent with the brand, higher levels of user-generated content, and greater social media sharing.
Example:
"Bandersnatch" is a movie in the "Black Mirror" series on Netflix that is interactive, meaning that the viewer is able to make choices that will determine the storyline and conclusion of the film. As the movie progresses, the viewer is presented with various decision points that range from minor choices to key plot developments, resulting in multiple possible endings and variations in the story. "Bandersnatch" has received critical acclaim for its inventive concept, technical proficiency, and captivating narrative, and has sparked discussions about the future of interactive entertainment.
19. PR stunts
PR stunts, also known as publicity stunts, are unconventional and highly creative marketing tactics designed to generate buzz, media coverage, and public interest in a brand, product, or service. These stunts can take various forms, such as live events, pop-up installations, guerrilla marketing, or viral online campaigns, and their goal is to create a memorable and shareable experience that surprises, delights, or even shocks the audience.
For marketers, PR stunts can be a powerful tool to cut through the noise of traditional advertising and create a lasting impression on their target audience. By executing a well-planned stunt, marketers can earn significant media attention, social media engagement, and word-of-mouth buzz, often at a fraction of the cost of a traditional advertising campaign.
It is important for marketers to exercise caution when planning PR stunts, as poorly executed or insensitive stunts can have the opposite effect and harm the reputation of the brand. However, when done correctly, PR stunts can prove to be a highly effective way to generate brand awareness, create memorable experiences, and build a devoted and engaged customer base.
Example:
Richard Branson made a daring and adventurous marketing move for Virgin Atlantic by attempting to break the world record for crossing the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle. This promotional stunt captured the spirit of James Bond and aligned with the brand's image of sophistication, excitement, and pushing boundaries. By tapping into the allure of James Bond and combining it with a real-world adventure, Virgin Atlantic created a memorable and attention-grabbing promotion that resonated with audiences.
20. Brand activation campaigns
A brand activation campaign aims to create excitement, engagement, and interaction between a brand and its target audience. These campaigns may involve in-person events, pop-up installations, or immersive activities that allow consumers to experience the brand's products, services, or values in a tangible and meaningful way.
Brand activation campaigns can establish emotional connections between consumers and the brand, leading to increased awareness, stronger associations, and loyalty.
Example:
IKEA introduced the "IKEA Sleepover" campaign, allowing customers to spend a night in a fully furnished IKEA bedroom to experience their products. Participants could choose their preferred bedroom setup from the store's displays and were provided with bedding and amenities. The campaign's objective was to promote the IKEA brand, showcase the quality of its bedroom furnishings, and drive traffic to the store.
The wrap
As you can see, there are plenty of strategic projects marketers can use to attract their target audience, create brand recognition, and increase conversions. Ultimately, the key to success with such projects is to prioritise creativity, authenticity, and customer-centricity. By putting the needs and preferences of your target audience first and constantly experimenting with new tactics and channels, you can stay ahead of the competition and drive significant results for your brand.
Generate strategic project ideas using AI in Tability
As you embark on your journey to fuel your marketing engine for growth, remember that generating ideas for strategic projects can be a challenging task. Fortunately, Tability's new AI-powered feature is here to help. This innovative tool harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to provide you with creative and data-driven suggestions for strategic projects tailored to your specific needs. By leveraging this feature, you can streamline your ideation process, uncover new opportunities, and stay ahead of the curve.
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