Marketing Campaign Plan

Marketing Campaign Plan

The PLAN stage of the marketing operating system (see ../INDEX.md). Every other marketing skill executes against the plan this skill produces.

Use when

The user asks to "plan a campaign", "build a marketing/GTM plan", "maximize outreach", "put together a LinkedIn/BD plan", or wants a strategy doc for a launch, season, service line, or client engagement.

Goal

Convert a fuzzy objective ("get more work", "more visibility") into one measurable, time-boxed plan with a funnel, hooks, owners, KPI targets, and a named tracking mechanism — not a list of tactics.

Inputs to gather (ask if missing; pick sensible defaults and state them)

1. Objective — tied to a pipeline outcome (RFQs / registrations / qualified conversations / won work), not "awareness".
2. ICP / segments — who exactly (industry, role/seniority, geography, warm vs cold).
3. Proof shelf — case studies, past performance, credentials, metrics, work samples.
4. Channels available — company page, personal profiles, email, events, directories.
5. Constraints — time/budget, brand/voice, what must stay private (client PII), approval owner.
6. Time box — start/end. Warm campaigns 7–10 business days; cold outbound 14–21.

Method

1. Lock one objective and its single primary KPI (the outcome metric).
2. Name the ICP/segments and rank them warm-first (relationships convert fastest).
3. Write the core message = credibility line → 1–3 relevant proof points → one clear ask.
4. Pick the channel mix and assign each channel a job in the funnel (reach vs convert).
5. List the assets each channel needs (posts, one-pagers, sequences) → hand off to the PRODUCE skills (content-calendar, capability-collateral).
6. Draw the conversion funnel with an explicit hook at every stage transition (reach → engagement → audience → conversation → qualify → outcome). The hook is the action that pulls a person to the next stage; nothing is left to chance. Render it as a simple flowchart (left = stage, right = hook). See references/funnel-and-hooks.md.
7. Set KPI targets per funnel stage AND name the tracking mechanism for each (where the number is recorded and who updates it). Use the shared KPI spine. A target without a tracking mechanism is not done.
8. Assign RACI — one Accountable owner, Responsible doers, Consulted (legal/SME), Informed. Route approvals to the Accountable owner.
9. Schedule the 30/60/90 (or campaign-length) cadence and the review loop (bd-pipeline-review).

Output

A single plan document (Markdown, or HTML→PDF via capability-collateral when it's for management). Structure: short summary on page 1; detail + funnel flowchart on following pages; a "decisions we need" table at the end. Store in the engagement's marketing strategy folder.

Definition of done

• Exactly one objective, tied to a pipeline outcome.
• Named ICP/segments, ranked warm-first.
• Core message with ≥1 concrete proof point.
• Channel mix with a funnel job per channel + an asset list.
• Funnel with a deliberate hook at every transition (flowchart included).
• KPI target and tracking mechanism per stage.
• One Accountable owner; approvals routed to them.
• Defined start/end and a review cadence.

Guardrails / pitfalls

• No vanity objectives. "Awareness/followers" is a leading indicator, never the goal.
• Warm-first, not spray. Cold mass-targeting goes to a slow background track.
• Public-repo / client-PII hygiene. Keep client names, contacts, and figures out of any shared/public surface; real contact data lives in the private engagement repo only.
• Honest posture. Don't imply active projects, vendor status, or bids that don't exist.
• One ask per touch. Multiple asks halve response.

Related skills

Inputs from linkedin-post-to-gtm-ingestion (market signals). Feeds content-calendar, capability-collateral, linkedin-funnel-ops, targeted-outreach-sequence. Reviewed by bd-pipeline-review.