Simple marcom plans are best
Published on 01/02/1999 under Ad Management
I know many of you will take issue with me on the topic I have chosen for this column. Because writing about the preparation of marketing communications plans to members of the American Marketing Association is like telling French chefs how to bake a soufflÈ or suggesting to Mark McGwire that he has a slight uppercut.
Everyone knows how to write a marketing communications plan. Some of you, in fact, have written far more plans than I have. This column is not as much about how to write a marcom plan as it is what we should put in one. Or perhaps more importantly, what we should not.
Some people subscribe to the "advertising by the pound" theory of marcom planning, preparing huge tomes that look and seem authoritative, and take up considerable shelf space. You can even put them in leather binders with gold foil-stamped titles that make some managers sleep better at night.
Personally, voluminous plans like this make me very nervous because I'm not sure anyone has taken the time to read them, let alone understand them. To me, small, simple plans are best.
I was taught more than 20 years ago that if you can't articulate WHAT you intend to do, WHO you'd like to do it to, and HOW you intend to go about it in just a few double-spaced pages, you probably need to do some more thinking and editing.
It's like something else I learned early on in my career: it's harder to write copy for a small ad than it is a large one. Because in a small ad you have to get your message across with the fewest possible number of words, each one pulling its weight and then some.
That's the way marcom plans should be written, too. No redundancy. No superfluous words. Nothing to get in the way of clear thinking.
One thing that clouds decision-making is excessive nomenclature. I recommend you use only three terms: Objectives, Strategies and Target Audiences. That's all you need, really. Any more and you're likely to get tangled up in your terminology.
It's hard enough to distinguish objectives from strategies. If you're skeptical, I've given speeches on planning to professional groups in which I ask attendees to look at a statement and indicate whether it's an objective or a strategy. More than half regularly miss it, because the statement is worded to sound like an objective but it is neither measurable, attainable nor time-specific.
You can imagine if marketers can't distinguish between objectives and strategies, how they might start to have some problems with the extra nuances of terms like "tactics" and "action steps."
Here are ten sections that I like to include in a "streamlined" marcom plan. None should be longer than two pages, and most can be handled in less than a page.
1. Situation Analysis -- describes the playing field, the environment in which you will compete. Should cover such things as major industry trends, competitive situations, legal or legislative considerations and your historical performance for the plan subjects.
2. Marketing Objectives - this is WHAT we hope to accomplish, usually stated in terms of desired sales revenues or market share positions. (NOTE: Introducing a new product is not an objective. It is a means to an end. See next point.)
3. Marketing Strategies - HOW we intend to achieve the marketing objectives. Could be introduction of new or improved products, distribution system changes, emphasis on certain geographic areas or industry segments, pricing strategies or sales incentive programs. Save your communications strategies for #6 below.
4. Target Audiences - WHO you need to reach. Remember this is not all your customers, but rather the most important ones. Be sure to describe what's "in it" for them.
5. Communications Objectives - measurable things to demonstrate accountability for your marcom program: increasing awareness, changing attitudes, generating sales leads, stimulating product trial, distributing promotional materials, scheduling technical presentations, etc. If awareness and/or attitude changes are among your key objectives, state how much the desired change should be. Then include a research study in the next section.
6. Communications Strategies - the easiest part of a marcom plan for marcom people, because these are the projects we will produce to support the communications objectives: ads, brochures, direct mail programs, tradeshows, interactive presentations, website promotions, etc.
7. Budget Recap - what's it going to cost? Provide only as much detail as necessary to justify and sell the program. Beware of budget shavers who want to cut line items out of the budget, leaving the objectives intact.
8. Timetables - make sure your projects are timed for maximum benefit. If key tradeshows are planned, you want your collateral materials and ad programs to coincide with this. Sales meetings are important, too. Have your new stuff ready in time to get the sales force excited.
9. Media flowchart - show which issues of which publications are planned, and how much each insertion costs. Put other media information, such as radio or internet sponsorships on separate flow charts.
10. Exhibits - everything else goes in the back of the plan as an exhibit. This could include tradeshow schedules, media information, competitive summaries, key industry data, etc. Don't put this in the body of your plan because it interferes with the WHO, WHAT and HOW discussion.
One key exhibit I like to use is "Additional strategies for future consideration." This is a list of recommended projects that didn't make the budget cut. You'll need these later when some of your primary strategies stall or get snagged by circumstances beyond your control. Otherwise you lose the money and you'll be penalized again the following year with the "If you didn't need it last year, why should we approve that much this year?" accounting game.
Whatever you do, keep your plan simple. Strike out fancy or unnecessary words, and put the emphasis on clear thinking. It makes a better road map that way.