How to Execute an Integrated Marketing Campaign [TEMPLATE]

Source: Insights

Integrated marketing campaigns don’t just go from idea to rollout in one fell swoop. All stakeholders need to get on board, teams must collaborate, and there needs to be a detailed marketing plan to ensure that each element is created on point and on time. Then, once the campaign launches, the focus shifts to distribution, promotion, and constant monitoring. Lastly, the team will have to measure and report on the results to determine successes, challenges, and iterations for future campaigns.

Though it is a complex process, and often involves many stakeholders, using an integrated campaign template and other campaign management tools can help guide the process. Here’s everything you need to know about executing an integrated marketing campaign from start to finish.

Marketing campaigns can vary depending on their scope, but typically, they will follow the same basic structure. That’s why having an integrated campaign template can be a big time-saver that will also ensure that you don’t leave out any important details. Here are some of the key elements you should be prepared to elaborate on in your marketing plan:

• The overall theme – What is the story you want to tell? If you had to summarize your marketing campaign, how would you do it? Come up with a few lines to describe the key message of your campaign, and how it will help promote your product, service, or brand.
• The business goal – What is the actual purpose of your campaign? Are you trying to generate leads, build awareness, strengthen brand affinity, retain customers, or make sales? Maybe you have more than one goal. What’s important is that you keep that goal in mind as you move forward and never lose sight of it.
• The target audience – Who are you creating your campaign for? Which audience do you want to reach? Some campaigns are very targeted (like college-bound teens or expectant moms). Others have a broader audience, such as if you’re doing a social media campaign during March Madness or trying to connect with allergy sufferers. Or you might only want to reach a small segment of your business, like customers who haven’t engaged with your content for six months.
• The strategy – Here’s where you get into the details, describing the assets and deliverables that will drive the campaign, and the supporting content. One campaign might have a number of elements from an ebook, whitepapers, webinars, and a series of blog posts, to infographics, slideshows, videos, and social media posts. Or, consider a sponsored/hosted event. These require a documented, integrated strategy involving design, demand gen, event coordination, and various types of content.
• The team – Once you know all of the assets that your campaign will need, you have to decide who is doing the creating. Do you have in-house content and design teams to work on them? Will you be outsourcing any part of your campaign content? Who needs to be involved to ensure each part of the campaign is executed properly and delivered on time?
• The timeline – This part is twofold: When is each asset/deliverable due? Are the deliverables going to be rolled out…

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