Plans · Marketing

Run a marketing campaign

8 weeks · 4 phases · 23 tasks · 4 milestones · 4 risks

For a small marketing team running one focused campaign, like a product launch or a seasonal push. The weeks run from setting a goal and message through producing content to running the campaign and reporting on it. Adapt the channels to where your audience actually spends time, and cut any that you can't produce well in the time.

Open this in Harbor

Makes it a program in your harbor, dated from today.

Milestones

Week 2Brief signed off
Week 4Content ready
Week 5Campaign live
Week 8Results reported

The plan, phase by phase

1. Plan

Weeks 1 to 2. Agree what the campaign is for and who it speaks to.

Week 1Set one goal and how you'll measure itSignups, sales or leads, with a number and a date. One goal keeps choices simple.
Week 1Define the audienceDescribe the specific people you want to reach and what they care about, in a paragraph.
Week 1Set the budget
Week 2Write the core message and offerOne sentence on what you want them to know and one on what you want them to do.
Week 2Choose channels and write the channel planList each channel, what runs there, when, and who owns it.
Week 2Get sign-off on the brief

2. Produce

Weeks 3 to 4. Make the content and set up tracking.

Week 3Write the landing page
Week 3Brief design for visualsList every size and format needed for each channel up front.
Week 3Write emails for the sequenceKeep each email to one point and one call to action.
Week 4Write social posts and ad copy
Week 4Set up tracking links and conversion eventsUse consistent campaign tags so every channel reports the same way.
Week 4Review all content for accuracy and toneCheck claims, prices and dates with whoever owns them.
Week 4Build the reporting view

3. Launch

Week 5. Go live across channels in a planned order.

Week 5Test every link, form and email
Week 5Brief sales and support on the campaignThey will get questions about the offer, so give them the details and the dates.
Week 5Launch the campaign
Week 5Check results daily for the first week

4. Optimize and wrap up

Weeks 6 to 8. Shift effort toward what works, then record what you learned.

Week 6Move budget toward the best channelsWait for enough results to tell channels apart before moving much money.
Week 6Test a second version of the weakest piece
Week 7Send the follow-up email
Week 8End paid spend
Week 8Write the results report against the goalSay what worked, what didn't, and what you'd change next time, with the numbers.
Week 8Hold a short retrospective with the team

What usually goes wrong

Approvals take too long
Content waiting on sign-off pushes the launch date.
What helps: Name one approver per area at the start and book review slots into their calendars.
Likelihood 4 of 5 · impact 3 of 5
Tracking isn't set up
Without tracking you can't tell which channel worked or report on the goal.
What helps: Test tracking end to end before launch, using a real signup or purchase.
Likelihood 3 of 5 · impact 4 of 5
The message doesn't land
A message that makes sense inside the company can be unclear to customers.
What helps: Show the message to a few customers before production and rewrite it in their words.
Likelihood 3 of 5 · impact 4 of 5
Too many channels
Spreading a small team thin means every channel is done badly.
What helps: Pick two or three channels you can do well and drop the rest.
Likelihood 3 of 5 · impact 3 of 5

Using it

Copy what fits and cut what doesn’t: no real project matches a template. In Harbor the plan becomes a program with these milestones, one project holding every task with its due date, and these risks in the register, all yours until you hand them out. The first phase starts in To do and the rest wait in the backlog.

Open this in Harbor

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