The Marketing Campaign Planning Checklist That Will Get You Proactive

The Marketing Campaign Planning Checklist That Will Get You Proactive Plan your work. Then work your plan. ^ Thats one of my favorite quips of all time. Why, you ask? Because its simple + practical + super helpful. Proactively planning your marketing campaigns helps you: Eliminate jumping into execution without clearly defined goals (or not knowing how youll measure success). Planning provides intense focus on  growth instead of being distracted by the trivial minutia. Avoid the overwhelming nature of marketing. There is so much to do, so solid  planning helps you avoid the stress because youll become super organized. Collaborate more effectively + efficiently. Planning eliminates last-minute fire drills  and miscommunication. So how can you reap all of those benefits? Im glad you asked.  Ã°Å¸Ëœâ€° This Is The Ultimate Marketing Campaign Planning Checklist That Will Get You ProactiveGet Your FREE Marketing Campaign Planning Template (And Plan More Effectively Than Ever) Download your free marketing campaign template kit to plan  anything. Youll get: A planning template spreadsheet you can easily customize  with Excel (or upload it into Google Sheets if thats more your thing). A  content calendar PDF template to help you visually map out your publish dates. This is  especially handy for rough, high-level planning- just print, write your ideas on sticky notes, and add those to the dates so you can move things around as you map out your campaign timeline. A campaign checklist to help you remember all of the main points from this blog post. This will help you focus + make sure you dont miss anything. I recommend downloading this kit now and implementing the actionable advice youll learn throughout this post immediately. After all... amazing  ideas without solid execution  never  boost your results. Amazing ideas without solid execution  never boost your results.What Is A Marketing Campaign? (For The Sake Of Understanding Everything In This Post) Here's your marketing campaign definition: A marketing campaign  is a project consisting of multiple pieces of content or events, connected together by a unified theme, with clear start and end dates. Marketing campaign planning, then,  is the process of organizing everything behind the scenes to ensure a smooth, efficient process. Planning helps you nail every deadline  for every piece/event you publish/host within your campaign. A Few Marketing Campaign Examples Some marketing campaign examples may help illustrate this concept a little better. 1. Product Launches Has your business launched a new product or service? It's likely you didn't just publish one blog post and called it good. Product launches are great opportunities for a multi-faceted marketing campaign. The last thing you'll want to do is share the news once and  assume everyone in your audience now understands you offer something new. For product launch campaigns, you may consider: A product announcement blog post A complementary content marketing style, educational, blog post A landing page all about the new product, feature, or service Social media messages directing traffic to both blog posts + your landing page Facebook ads directing traffic to the landing page AdWords and other paid search advertising to  capitalize on purchase search intent Emails to your current customers Emails to your prospects list you've built via content marketing best practices Press releases for specific  niche publications Press release for local news media Native advertising in niche publications Product demo webinars Another blog post with the demo webinar video embedded Retargeting ads for those who've seen the news anywhere on your blog posts, landing pages, and beyond Kathryn, our Head of Product Marketing, manages product launch marketing campaigns like this all the time. Here's a screenshot of what this actually looks like mapped out on a calendar: Not all of this  content needs to ship at the same time. You can plan when each piece will publish, outline the tasks you need to complete for each,  map out the dates when each task needs to be completed, and delegate accordingly. ^ This is what you'll learn throughout this blog post. 2. Content Launches Imagine publishing a brand new course, e-book, video series, podcast, microsite, or tool. Just like a product launch, these large-scale content projects deserve more than one-and-done communication. You'll likely want to schedule: A landing page that contains the content and is optimized to convert traffic (Example: Headline Analyzer) A blog post  that shares the content (Example:  How To Write Headlines That Drive Traffic, Shares, And Search Results) A social media campaign to promote the blog post or direct traffic directly back to the landing page (or both, because... why not?) Emails to your customers to give the content away for free Emails to your prospects Emails to your friends in the industry asking them to share your content Facebook ads, paid search ads, and retargeting ads to broaden your audience well beyond  the folks who already know your business Internal links from your most popular blog posts with calls to action directing your visitors' attention to the new content Links from your new blog posts to direct traffic to the big content ^ You get the picture... You invest a lot of time + effort into large-scale content. Make the most of it by scheduling a campaign to share it long after the initial launch. For example, when recently released the Marketing Strategy Certification Course, this is what the campaign looked like: 3. Events Events often require promotion beforehand (to get attendees), during (to communicate  where  attendees need to go + what attendees need to know or do), and after (to reiterate the value of the event + convert prospects as necessary). Examples here include conferences, virtual summits, webinars, and Meetups. Your event campaign may include: Before A landing where prospects can sign up to attend Emails to customers to  influence more attendees Emails to  the email list you've built using content marketing methodology Press releases to niche publications that share  upcoming events Press releases to local media to attract local prospects Social media messages to share  the event landing page with your existing following Itinerary emails for  those who sign up to help them 1) know they made the list, and 2) select the  sessions they'd like to attend most During A mobile app with daily itineraries A print itinerary Swag bags + name cards and lanyards Wayfinding signage Presentation decks + speaking points Printed handouts to help attendees implement the advice you're providing Landing pages to give away free product + content you talk about during the event Booth materials and signage An event hashtag + a way to showcase the social messages during the event After Emails thanking attendees for coming + reminding them of the value they received from your event Emails providing additional information attendees may have requested during the event, like presentation decks and  video recordings of the event (which may also require landing pages, SlideShare decks, or YouTube videos) Emails optimized to convert attendees into paying customers An old school, physically mailed letter with a certification + swag Again, you get the idea here. Here is an example of a webinar campaign Kathryn organized when we collaborated with Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income: An event is definitely a marketing campaign with a clearly defined start and end date for each phase of the project, with all communication centered around a topic (the event itself). Use These Marketing Campaign Examples To Plan Your Own Content + Promotion Checklists You're going to learn a lot more about this throughout the campaign planning checklist. But essentially, with each of the examples above, I simply brainstormed all of the content pieces that would make sense for each campaign. You will do the same for your own marketing campaigns. It's not rocket science. But rather, identifying the content ideas that you can realistically execute to make your campaign more successful than publishing one-and-done content. If you'd like more content ideas to kick start your campaign brainstorming, read this comprehensive blog post: Recommended Reading:  113 Content Types To Organize With Your Marketing Calendar Your Marketing Campaign Planning Checklist Our CEO and Co-Founder, Garrett Moon, says... The simplest approach is often the best place to start. It's easy to let the amount of things you could do overwhelm you. And overwhelm makes it hard to start, especially because humans are naturally adverse to change. That's why the following checklist  is kinda... minimalist. I recommend NOT overcomplicating the process here simply because it doesn't have to be complicated. Based on my experience managing marketing campaigns for years, this is what I highly recommend you do (consider this a marketing campaign planning checklist): [ ] Draft The Campaign Launch Brief Your launch brief is the version of truth for the high-level communication behind the campaign. It includes: The marketing campaign idea The resources + budget The goal + how you'll measure it The speaking points A link to your content + promotion checklist A link to your high-level marketing campaign sprints A link to your marketing calendar campaign timeline + ship dates ^^^ You can simply  copy + paste that list into a Word Doc, Google Doc, or Evernote Note, then flesh  out the details. There is also a free Word Doc template in the bonus content within this blog post- you can simply download that and get started immediately. Think about these seven points as an outline that will help you easily communicate the purpose of your campaign and how you will execute it. So let's take a look into each of these points. I've found it helpful to  answer questions as a framework for clarifying your plan: [ ] Clarify The Marketing Campaign Idea Answer this: Who will this campaign benefit the most? As you  think through your audience: Try to target only one  prospective customer. If your idea is broad or you know it will benefit multiple audiences, consider planning multiple campaigns.  This will prevent you from spreading your message too thin (or sharing information one audience type just wouldn't care about). Target a  specific sub-set within your audience.  For example, if you are targeting lawyers for your campaign, which kind of lawyers will you target (e.g. corporate lawyers, estate planning lawyers, personal injury lawyers, etc.)? Write a story about why your campaign will help this audience. Fill in the blanks of the following  framework, putting yourself into your audience's shoes: As an {audience type}, I want to {do something} so that {I get a desired value}. At this point, you will also describe the project in a couple sentences or paragraph, essentially coming up with the campaign definition. Think of this as the elevator pitch for your campaign. For example, when we recently released the Marketing Strategy Certification Course, this is what the project description looked like: Staying organized is a never-ending struggle. As marketers, we live in a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants world, and if we aren’t organized, it can feel like one fire drill after another. Well, not anymore. This course is all about getting you insanely organized and giving you the tools for real 10x growth. We’ll teach you how to prioritize the RIGHT kind of content, how to optimize it for 237% more engagement, and how to take control of your marketing strategy (not the other way around). Ready to get started? Cool. Keep scrolling. As in the example, your campaign description connects the dots between what you will provide  (e.g. the content within the campaign) and the value the audience gets (e.g. what's in it for them). You'll learn more about understanding  what your audience values in the following Speaking Points check. [ ] Know Your Resources + Budget Answer this: What kind of resources might you need to complete the campaign? As you consider this question, you will: Brainstorm the talent + people the campaign will require to be successful. For example, if you decide to build a free online tool, you may need help from a developer who is typically not on your marketing team. Now is the time to think through this roadblock and work with the right folks internally (or look for an external partner) to help you make the  campaign a reality. Make sure your marketing team has the tools it needs before you start executing. The last thing you need is to take on a  campaign only to have it come to a halt because tools weren't part of your budget. Consider the  time it may take your team to complete the project. How much can they take on given the campaigns they are currently working on? What might your  launch date be given this knowledge? Have a clear budget. You may need to work with those partners, buy tools for your team, or account for overtime your staff will take on. ^^ At this point, you are thinking high-level. These are estimations (all aside from budget, which you can clearly know for actual money you will need to buy tools or services from external vendors). The rest is  a very educated guess based on your experience. In the Content + Promotion check, you will literally map out every piece of content within a campaign, then determine who will do specific parts + how much time it will take to complete. That will help you understand  and define exactly what to expect from your resource. Right now, knowing your resources and budget at a high-level can help you get sign-off from the big wigs so they know what to expect as you take on this campaign. [ ] Define Goal  + How You'll Measure It Answer this: What results will this campaign produce? If you have  data from similar campaigns, you may be able to get to a specific figure here. This extremely detailed blog post will help you understand  what to expect from future content performance based on your historical data. If you don't have historical data on similar  campaign of this kind, it's still helpful for your team to know why you are taking on this campaign (and not something else). You can write this simply in your launch brief: The goal of our campaign is to influence {specific metric}. Now, before you launch, you will need to know how you will track the results the campaign produces. A tool  like Kissmetrics  will help you track nearly anything. Or you may opt to use Google Analytics with its Goals and Custom Reports functionality. Let's look at an example of setting up Google Analytics Goal tracking + Custom Reports to view the information. Since a majority of you likely have larger marketing goals to influence email subscriber signups from your campaigns, let's use this as an example for your goal metric for your campaign. Open Google Analytics  and click  Admin. Select Goals. Click + New Goal. Name the goal, select Destination, and hit Continue. Select Begins With for your destination, then write in the slug of the page your users see after they convert into your email list. Oftentimes, that is a specific thank you page on your website, so that's the example you're learning here. Then hit Save. It takes up to two days for Google Analytics to know you want the tool to track that metric, so give it some time. But in the meantime, let's set up a Custom Report so you can view those results when they start rolling in. Select Customization and click Custom Reports. Hit + New Custom Report. Title your custom report (I like to use the same Name from my goal). In Metric Groups, search for your goal name and select that goal's Goal Completions option from the dropdown. In Dimension Drilldowns,  search for and select Goal Previous Step - 1. Hit Save. Now once Google Analytics starts tracking your goal, you will use the Custom Report to view the pages your audience saw immediately before converting into your email list. This will help you understand which pieces of content within your campaign have been most successful (along with viewing how all of your other content is performing for this goal, too). ^^^ Essentially, now you know how you will measure your marketing campaign's success.