What's the best way to create a marketing communication plan?

I cannot emphasise on this more as to how important objective setting is. Because without a set outcome, no matter what you do, you’ll be clueless at the end of the process. Clearly define ‘why’ you want to say what you want to say. Your why becomes your driving force and direction. You’ll always know what and how to do if you know the why.

SMART goals gives you a direction. It gives you clarity. A slight mistake in defining your audience can tarnish your brand. You must define your audience first before even starting to work on your product.

To create an effective marketing communication plan, you should to thoroughly define the objectives that need to be achieved. Your communication effort must have a purpose, a goal, and a target audience. Furthermore, your objectives must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, aligning with the overall marketing strategy. For example, your goals should include increasing website traffic and leads, improving brand awareness, boosting customer engagement, or generating sales revenue. By defining clear, realistic, and ambitious objectives your marketing communication plan will be truly effective, compelling, and authoritative, capturing the attention and interest of a discerning and demanding audience.

I don't think there's an either or. Of course you'll want all your goals firing together in a well coordinated plan. A good marketing plan has elements for all the media platforms that'll be most effective for branding, product launch, and/or TOMA. Whether it's new customer acquisition, or current customer retention, and good marketing plan makes multiple touches with every client to ensure positive reinforcement about your products & your lifelong relationship.

These goals must to be measurable and in line with your overall business objectives. Increasing brand exposure, boosting revenue, introducing a new product, or improving consumer interaction are typical goals.

There are many ways that I have seen that work well to connect with your target audience. Customer feedback is invaluable - but that is used only after customer acquisition takes place. There are many outbound marketing methods like email or social media. This allows you to put your “message” out there en masse but then cross your fingers and hope it will be seen by members of your target audience. A way that allows you to build the buyer personas for your ideal target audience is part of what is called programmatic advertising, more specifically called geofencing. You can learn so much about your target audience - it’s like walking in their shoes (location based); you can promote to them frequently by way of their mobile devices.

Remember, your target audience is human! It can be easy to get wrapped up in features and functionality - especially in B2B but your communication points should focus on the benefits for your target audience.

By creating buyer personas, you can gain a thorough insight of your target market. Determine their demographics, tastes, proclivities, requirements, and pain points. Your communications will be guided by this information, which will also assist you in choosing the best methods for communication.

Your message should always tie back to your brand story and core values. That’s always part of the unique selling proposition because no other brand has the same story, evolution, core values and why. Be sure to articulate the why in simple ways that connect with your audience at an emotional level in order to make it memorable.

The development of your message is highly dependent on the audience that you have identified. You might have the best message that is creatively highlighting your USP, but it would be useless if your audience can't understand it. Craft the message in the language/tone that your audience understands. If your audience is business folks and if your message has a lot of technical terms and jargon, there is a high chance the audience might face difficulty in understanding the message. Make it simple for them!

Describe your value proposition or unique selling proposition (USP). Clearly state how your good or service differs from rivals and why your target market should pick you. Your value proposition should be succinct, convincing, and tailored to the demands of your target audience.

By creating a message map, you visually organize your core message and its supporting elements. It helps you make sure that all the key points are captured and coherent. You can use this map as a reference when crafting your communication materials, such as website content, social media posts, or marketing campaigns. It keeps your messaging consistent and focused, highlighting the value proposition, benefits, and evidence that resonate with your target audience. Keep it concise, visual, and adaptable to your evolving business needs. Identify the key components: Determine the main idea, supporting points, benefits, evidence, and call to action. Visualize the structure: Draw or use digital tools to create a visual representation of your map.

If you have a B2C US audience, Pinterest is good. If you are into B2B LinkedIn and Twitter are good. If you have a B2C audience Facebook/Instagram is good. Choosing channel is everything in marketing to attract right audience.

To reach your target audience, decide which communication methods are most effective. Think about both traditional (print, TV, and radio) and digital (websites, social media, email, influencer marketing) platforms. Channels should be chosen based on the tastes and actions of your audience.

Choosing channel is super important. Keep these questions in mind while choosing your channel: 1/ Where does your target target hang out? 2/ What channels are they comfortable in? 3/ What is the content form they consume? 4/ Your budget and your goals. And do they align with the prefered channel?

Live where your audience lives. Provide value by getting to know them in the forums they hang out in. If someone poses a question, respond to the individual with actionable advice that is authentic & without an agenda. Follow up with them. Then, you‘ve earned the right to invite them to visit your FB forum, for example. I often will do this to grow my forum. Finally, if something from your business correlates to their situation, you can softly bring it in. Many forums have a “no selling” policy. However, if I reference my book by saying, “Yes, losing one’s hearing can make one sad. In my book, Eddie the Elephant’s Magical Ear, Eddie misses the sounds he once held dear. He is sad and confused. Like you, he asks for help. How can I help you?

While implementation and and communication, start small. Start from your team. Document the process and ask them to actively participate. These avoids launch fatigues, and keeps everyone on the same page.

No one knows how to track marketing ROI. This is the biggest CMO problem. In my experience below metrics may come close: - Return on marketing investment (ROMI) - Return on Ad Spend ( ROAS) - Marketing Effectiveness And yes there are pre built frameworks and research methodologies to measure these.

Try to evaluate through hypothesis-based data collection and analysis, and then complement through exploratory analysis. In the hypothesis-based approach you would break your marketing objectives into quantifiable metrics and set yourself measurable targets to then see if your marketing efforts perform accordingly. The real insights come from conducting root cause analysis based on the consumer journey and other rational associations to understand the WHY behind the performance. Here’s where an additional exploratory analysis of all metrics together could lead to causal relationships that you have not considered before. Lastly, make sure to take your learnings into the planning phase of your next marketing activation to drive value.

Another thing to consider is how much are you spending for acquisition. Cost per acquisition is another KPI I strongly consider when evaluating your results.

Track metrics such as reach, engagement, conversions, and brand sentiment. Use analytics tools to gain insights into what's working and what needs improvement.

Always start with the why - both for the customer and for the company (goals). The whys are your compass to guide channels choice, tone of voice, frequency. And company goals must be SMART: specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, time bound.

I like to think of marketing plans as "working backward" from the point of purchase. WHY is that consumer reaching (or clicking) for our product? As marketers, our job is to develop a program that helps the product STAND OUT from the competition. Depending on the budget, we have everything from celebrity/influencer endorsements to mass web ads as well as terrestrial media and outdoor. I am a proponent,if possible, of "tactile marketing." Getting your product or service out in the world at festivals, concerts and other places your target audience may go to spend leisure time. The more a prospect "touches" your product, the more likely they are to choose it when the time comes.

A marketing communication plan should start with identifying your target audience, understanding their needs, behaviors, and preferences. Next, establish clear, measurable objectives aligned with business goals. Then, determine the key messages that would resonate with your audience. Choose suitable channels (digital, print, etc.) based on where your audience is most engaged. Develop a timeline for each communication activity. Execute, monitor and adjust your plan as necessary based on feedback and analytics data to ensure its effectiveness. Think in terms of engagement and a tribe of followers. This goes beyond list building and simple fans. You want real buy in through providing the best service possible.