The basics of a Digital Marketing Master Plan

This may sound familiar (hopefully not though): your campaign is underway, there seems to be some traction, but the goals you have in mind aren’t aligned with what’s happening in your results. Problem? You don’t have a master plan defining exactly what the campaign needs to deliver, at what cost, utilising which channels.

The Digital Marketing Master Plan is a document that specifically details the goals, purpose and defining metrics of your marketing campaign. Not only will the Master Plan provide clarity to everyone involved in planning and executing the campaign, but it answers stakeholder questions around budget, deliverables, timelines and ROI. 

Without a clear purpose and plan, your campaign will not be successful - how can it if you haven’t documented exactly what you’d like to achieve, how and in what timeframe? You also want a clear post-campaign picture of success, metrics detailing what worked, or didn’t, what it cost in terms of spend VS goals (in other words ROI), and where you should be re-investing in subsequent campaigns. As an experienced digital marketing agency, our first step is always to work with our clients on properly planning their digital campaign.

This basic guide will give you an idea on what’ll be covered in your Digital Marketing Master Plan:

  • What are the business goals that should be aligned to success metrics — be specific, what are you measuring — you can definitely have more than one based on the objectives of your campaign?
  • Do you have the resources on board to successfully execute the campaign, even if you’re working with an agency or consultant, you cannot possibly expect little to no involvement from your in-house team - the best campaigns are a result of close collaboration with your own team and your marketing partners.
  • Do you have the right tools in place to get the best results out of each campaign, and meet goals and objectives? If not, take a step back, the basics have to be right for best long-term results.
  • Are you absolutely clear on how to pitch your services, how your brand can differentiate, and how you pitch against competitors?

You should know all of these answers before setting out your Digital Marketing Master Plan. There is of course a much broader topic around strategic planning and marketing, but this is a basic checklist that should support every campaign.