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[Note: This
template was created for the Pacific Asia Museum.]
NOTES:
§
When you don’t know where you’re going, it
doesn’t matter which way you go!
§
An organization often continues with
activities (e.g. attend an exhibition or reprint a leaflet) “Because we’ve
always done it,” or “Because our competitors do it.” These are not good enough
reasons, and illustrate a lack of planning.
§
The most successful, efficient, and profitable
organizations are those that have a very clear vision of what they are trying
to achieve and how they will achieve it.
§
An organization that does not invest the time
and energy to create a plan may continue to invest large amounts of money on
methods of promotion that is inappropriate for its business goals.
1.
Mission
What are the business goals of the organization? Do you want to:
ü
Build corporate identity awareness?
ü
Demonstrate or sell products or services?
ü
Build stronger relationships?
ü
Provide education and information?
ü
Conduct public relations activities?
ü
Increase your customer service and support
functions?
2.
Objectives
ü
Explain what you are trying to achieve
(usually over the next year)
ü
All objectives must be specific and
measurable. Note: Objectives are not goals! Goals are broad, intangible,
and cannot be validated objectively. Objectives, however, are precise,
tangible, and can be objectively validated. e.g. Your goal might be to
strengthen your market share in Los Angeles. An objective would be to achieve a
30% increase in sales of Widget A within 5 years.
ü
If these objectives are successfully
communicated within the organization then everyone is pulling in the same
direction and has the same end in mind.
3.
Target Audiences
ü
Need to clearly specify whom you're
targeting—it might be the same audience segment that you've been addressing for
years, or the target may have changed.
ü
The target audience for the traditional media
portion of your marketing and that of your online initiatives may be different.
4.
Marketing Communications Integration
ü
Briefly outline the elements of your marcom
plan—a synopsis of media selection and placement, scheduling overview, message
platform, creative approach, etc. e.g.
One element might be a single ad run repetitively for a month in a single
publication, or a multiple media campaign in multiple markets running three or
more months.
5.
Strategies
ü
Outline your strategy for the given mission,
objective, audience target, and marcom integration- this will tie in closely
with the tactics below.
ü
What resources need to be applied to achieve
these objectives?
ü
Explain any special offers you will have
ü
What type of creative execution will you use?
6.Tactics
ü
Which elements in the available marketing mix
are most appropriate?
ü
These are the specific media you will utilize,
the public relations activities you will develop, the direct mail programs you
will create, the web presence you will have, the collateral materials you will
produce, the publicity events you will hold, and the channels you will explore
to accomplish objectives.
ü
Need to send fully controlled messages to your
target audiences through these activities and materials that are appropriate
for the company as a whole. A failure to do this will result in a campaign that
is not integrated and that sends mixed messages to the customer.
7.
Logistics
ü
This is the down and dirty implementation and
execution of the tactics.
ü
How will we do it? How will these vehicles be
made available or distributed?
ü
What are the technical requirements?
ü
Do we have the database capabilities to
implement the tactic? If not, how can we acquire it?
ü
Do we have the staffing, capabilities, and
competencies for this tactic? If not, how will we address any shortcomings?
ü
Will we require external consultants, service
bureaus, or developers?
ü
Who will handle emails that result from the
campaign?
ü
How quickly can we respond to inquiries, etc.?
ü
Note: If Service Level Agreements haven’t been
created for the organization, they should be addressed here.
8.
Metrics
ü
You cannot manage what you cannot measure!
ü
Metrics must be meaningful, and serve as the
basis for action. There is little point to capturing metrics that do not guide
organizational policy/ decisions.
ü
What data will you want to track? How will
this data be turned into meaningful information?
ü
What measurement criteria will you use to
determine the success of your tactics?
ü
Indicate reporting methods to be used, and
frequency.
ü
How will the metrics be collected and
analyzed?
ü
What do you need to do to prepare to gather
this data?
9.
Budget
ü
Provide an overview of the various costs
associated with implementation.
ü
If applicable, be sure to include creative
costs for rework of materials, costs to develop original copy/content or to
license content for use, fees for external developers, programmers, and
consultants, and costs related to the execution of the tactic (e.g., service
bureau fees, database services, list cleaning, etc.).
10.
Timeline
ü
Indicate timeframe for development and
implementation of the plan and its elements.
ü
Set up specific dates to serve as milestones.