The danger in starting a campaign without a formalised plan is that you may find halfway through that you’ve missed something important. This may leave your campaign ineffective and incomplete. By planning first, you can ensure you’ve covered all channels and have enough marketing content before you start! Doing all this means that you’ve set yourself up for the best possible success. It’s important to remember that no matter how much you believe in your idea, it still may not work! Planning allows time to research and iron out any creases before you start. It also means you have your original starting point documented, so that when you come back to optimise the campaign, you’ll have a clear understanding of what parts you can change or tweak. A clear overview of where you started is also useful when planning future campaigns - especially if you need to start from scratch! The campaign planning process Liam explained to us how the campaign planning process works at Cognism. We’ve put his workflow together into a useful infographic, which will help you plan campaigns at your own company. Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Complete the Share the campaign Build out activity Obtain and Brief design campaign planning planning template segment any requirements template with the Head share with the Head required data/ as per campaign of Marketing of Marketing build necessary steps and audiences deadlines Step 10 Step 7 Step 6 Step 9 Step 8 Communicate Ensure all Post campaign: Track, measure Launch the campaign plan content is in the Head of and optimise the campaign and key dates place and set up Marketing campaign with sales and the campaign marketing The Inbound Marketing Playbook / 55