The importance of campaign planning, according to a campaign marketer

What’s marketing without some good old fashioned planning? 

Many marketers still don’t build their strategies around campaigns, or if they do use marketing campaigns, they cut corners on the most crucial element – the planning bit.

So why is campaign planning important? And what are the benefits of setting out a well-informed plan before jumping in headfirst? We asked James Sutton, Campaign Marketer at Cognism, to give us the low-down on the three biggest reasons why campaign planning is important.

Want to learn the basics of campaign planning and how to use data to level up your campaigns? Grab a copy of our free Beginners’ Guide to Campaign Planning here:

1. Foresight

“The pitfall of kickstarting a campaign without a clear, formalised plan is that you’ll rush in headfirst, and later find that you’ve missed something, or could’ve done a better job. Having a clear, data-led plan from the outset makes all the difference. 

Before you jump into a campaign, you should always build out a timeline. A campaign timeline makes sure that you and your team understand what needs to be done, when, and (crucially) why. This accountability ensures that your creatives are delivered with time to spare, and you’re prepared for any speed bumps along the way.”

2. Omnichannel synchronicity

“This is a fancy way of saying that you should be consistent across marketing channels, and planning campaigns properly is a great way to help you do that. In your plan, you should review every available channel, mapping out how multiple channels interact to create a better customer journey (and increase conversions). If you use LinkedIn ads and Facebook ads, think about how they might interact. The same goes for synchronising SEO and Google Ads. Keep it consistent!

Your focus should always be on ease of conversion down the funnel – that’s a fundamental of omnichannel campaigns. Mapping out your channels also clearly defines what happens at each stage, which makes it easier to identify and tweak any underperforming channels.”

3. Reporting and scalability

“Maybe you’ve done a two-week sprint to test out a new campaign idea. Did it work?

A marketing campaign plan gives you the framework to evaluate your success, highlighting data points for review, and outlining what success looks like for this particular campaign. 

This is crucial for any campaign; what went well? What didn’t? Did everything go as expected? Not only will setting objectives early on help you to optimise this campaign, but also any similar campaigns you run in the future. 

The campaign plan gives you a foundation from which you can expand your initial ambitions. You’ve had some success – what’s next? It’s not just about optimisation. You’ve already identified which channels work – it’s time for some A / B testing, iteration, experimentation! A good campaign marketer should never sit still.”

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Planning is a crucial step in refining any marketing strategy. Whether it’s identifying your audience, choosing your channels, or coming up with creative, data should be at the heart of every decision you make. Get your free copy of our Beginners’ Guide to Campaign Planning to start levelling up your marketing strategy today: