This year has gone super fast. It feels like just last week we were finalizing our planning for 2022. But now the focus is very much on 2023.
In this episode of Demand Gen U, Mark Huber, Head of Brand & Product Marketing, is joined by Silvio Perez, Head of Product Innovation and DGU newcomer Bryttney Blanken, Senior Demand Generation Manager at Metadata.
They discuss a range of topics surrounding campaign planning, including how to get started, whether you need campaign briefs and why it doesn’t have to be as complex as you think.
Find out:
- The ins-and-outs of the bullseye framework
- Why you should turn ideas into hypotheses
- How to sell your ideas internally
Three top takeaways:
Takeaway 1: You can’t be a pro without a process
It’s easy for marketers to overcomplicate campaign planning. There are so many elements that go into it.
Even with all your KPIs mapped out, it can be hard to identify which ones to focus on first.
Silvio Perez says: “You can’t be a pro without a process.”
Your process can be what saves you from overthinking. If you don’t have a structure in place to guide you from one stage to the next, it can be a real challenge to know what to prioritize in your planning.
Just remember – whatever you decide your campaign plan is, however complicated or simple it may be, just stick with it and follow it. Keep those guard rails in place.
Takeaway 2: Write ideas into a hypothesis
When you’re at the brainstorming stage of your campaign planning, if all goes well, you’ll have a ton of ideas on your page…
…and ideas are brilliant – but why not take them one step further?
Silvio suggests writing your ideas into hypotheses for a number of different reasons.
- It forces you to define the problem you’re trying to solve – sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of the problems you’re looking to solve through the campaign you’re planning. This can emphasize those problems and help you keep focus
- It helps you determine the resources you need – having your ideas fleshed out into a hypothesis allows you to figure out if you have the resources you need or will be able to access them
- It helps when you’re trying to sell your plan to executives – writing your ideas into a clear hypothesis also makes the internal selling process easier
Takeaway 3: Signs to look for when planning
At the end of the year, we start planning for the following 12 months. But another thing many marketers do is reflect on the year gone by and ask questions like: “What went well?”, “What didn’t go so well?” or “What could we do differently this time around?”
These questions can be really helpful and can aid you when you’re planning for the following year and avoid past errors, explains Bryttney.
Dissect business needs for the following year and look at how your campaign plans can match those goals.
- Do you have a new product offering on the horizon?
- Do you have a new market or industry to approach?
- Are there significant signs in the economy or the world that could affect your messaging?
These questions are all important to consider as you head into every stage of your marketing campaign planning.
Find our useful campaign planning framework here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Kk1aivdhOgBiq0Bmz9isPfX8HNr9lgfWjUUs2jbw5YA/edit?usp=sharing
