As the Navy likes to say, “Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail.”
Plan Your Marketing Communications
If you want to maximize the effectiveness of your marketing dollars and time, then you have to plan. Period. Maybe I’m type A and like things to be orderly — but I do not think so.
Plan the course
Without a plan, you cannot easily tell what is and what is not working. I like to think of Marketing Plans and Business Strategy Plans as a an intended course the ship needs to sail. The only way to know if we are on course or not is to refer to where we are against where we said we were going to be.
How do your customers seek and find information?
I like to take a spreadsheet and create a matrix: what information and in what channel and for whom?
| Brand | Product Promotion | New Product Release | Event Promotion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Website | Brand goals | Which products What information Call to action Lead capture | Which products When will they release Call to action | Tradeshows Product releases Do you need a calendar? |
| Press Release | Which products? Which magazines? Which other forms of media? Timing? | |||
| Push Email | Calendar of releases by event (tradeshow, product is finally ready, etc) | Releases of products by event Location of booth Call to set up appointments in advance of show |
||
| Google Adwords | Brand message Timing | Product VPs Timing Audience (where in world) What formats to be re-marketed into? | ||
| Print Advertising | Brand message | Which products Which magazines What is BIG message |
What is it that you hope to achieve in each channel and how will you know you have succeeded?
- Target number of opens or click-thrus
- Targeted leads and/or companies (number, quality, and specific names)
- Target number of quotes, orders, and sales
The matrix can be however you like to think of your “To-Do’s”. Another way to do the matrix is by calendar year.
| Quarter 1 | Quarter 2 | Quarter 3 | Quarter 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Google adwords Website Print ad | Website Google adwords | Banner ads on trade Website Print ad | Banner ads on trade Website |
| Product Promotion | Push emails for Product 1 | Google adwords for product 1 Print ad | Push emails for Product 2 | Google adwords for Product 2 Print ad |
| New Product Release | Launch at Tradeshow 1 | Push emails for Product 3 | Launch at Tradeshow 2 | Push emails for Product 4 |