Campaign Planning

---
name: campaign-planning
description: >
  Activate for: campaign, campaign plan, campaign brief, launch a campaign,
  marketing campaign, lead gen campaign, demand generation, demand gen,
  awareness campaign, product launch, go-to-market, GTM, campaign strategy,
  channel mix, budget allocation, media plan, campaign calendar, quarterly
  plan, marketing plan, ABM, account based marketing.
  NOT for: content creation (use content-creation), ad copy writing (use copywriting), content scheduling (use content-calendar), campaign performance analysis (use performance-analysis).
---

## CAMPAIGN PLANNING WORKFLOW

### Phase 1: Brief Input Collection

Before planning, collect:

1. Campaign goal: [awareness / lead gen / pipeline acceleration / retention / launch]
2. Target audience: [persona, firmographic, technographic -- be specific]
3. Offer / product: [what is being promoted, if anything]
4. Budget: [total available]
5. Timeline: [start date, end date, key milestones]
6. Success metrics: [primary KPI and secondary KPIs]
7. Constraints: [channels you cannot use, creative resource limits,
   compliance requirements, geographic restrictions]
8. What has worked before: [highest-performing historical campaigns]
9. What has not worked: [channels or approaches to avoid]

### Phase 2: Strategy Selection

Select the primary strategy based on goal and audience:

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP-LED (best for: complex B2B sales, long cycles, trust-based buying):
Publish intelligence the target audience already wants.
Content earns attention; sales converts it.
Lead magnet: gated research report, framework, benchmark data.

DIRECT RESPONSE (best for: short cycles, clear pain, budget available):
Paid channels driving to a specific offer with clear CTA.
Lead magnet: free trial, demo, assessment, consultation.

ACCOUNT-BASED MARKETING / ABM (best for: enterprise deals, named accounts):
Hyper-targeted campaigns at specific companies.
Multi-channel, multi-contact, multi-touch.
Content is account-specific; outreach is orchestrated.

PRODUCT-LED (best for: PLG motion, freemium, developer-focused):
Free tier or trial as the primary acquisition mechanism.
Marketing amplifies product virality.

### Phase 3: Channel Mix Design

Select channels based on where target personas actually spend professional time.

B2B PRIMARY CHANNELS:
LinkedIn Sponsored Content: Brand + ICP-targeted awareness
LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads: Personal brand amplification (3x CTR vs. company)
LinkedIn InMail: High-intent, low-volume direct outreach
Email nurture: Owned audience; highest ROI channel
Content / SEO: Long-term inbound; compound returns
Trade press (sponsored): Sector-specific reach; credibility
Webinar / virtual event: Mid-funnel acceleration; intent signal
Paid search (Google): Capture in-market intent
Retargeting: Re-engage warm audience

CHANNEL PERFORMANCE RULES OF THUMB (B2B):
LinkedIn CTR benchmark: 0.40% (Sponsored Content)
LinkedIn Thought Leader CTR: 1.0-1.5% (3x company page)
Email open rate benchmark: 28-35% (B2B list, good deliverability)
Email click rate benchmark: 3.5-5%
Webinar conversion to opp: 15-25% of attendees
Content download to MQL: 10-20% of downloaders

### Phase 4: Campaign Brief Output Format

[CAMPAIGN NAME] CAMPAIGN BRIEF
Goal: [Specific, measurable] | Budget: [X] | [Start]-[End]
================================================================

STRATEGY: [Name and 2-sentence rationale]

AUDIENCE DEFINITION
Primary: [Persona, firmographic, technographic]
Secondary: [Secondary persona]
Size: [Estimated addressable audience]
Reach: [Target impressions / reach across channels]

CHANNEL MIX WITH BUDGET ALLOCATION

[Phase / Week range]: [Channel] ([X])
Purpose: [what this channel does in the campaign architecture]
Format: [specific ad type, content type, or activity]
Target: [specific metric for this channel]
Rationale: [why this channel earns this allocation -- connect to
what has worked / what has not worked from the brief inputs.
Channels with historical evidence of ROI earn more budget.
Channels that failed previously are excluded or minimized with
explicit reference to why.]

LEAD MAGNET
[What the target audience gets in exchange for their contact details]
[Why they would want it -- specific value proposition]
[Format and estimated production effort]

SALES-MARKETING INTEGRATION
[How leads flow from marketing -> sales:
enrichment timeline, scoring threshold for routing,
sequence to be deployed, rep SLA for HOT leads]

CONTENT CALENDAR SUMMARY
[High-level: what content is needed, when, and in what format]
[See /calendar for week-by-week detail]

SUCCESS METRICS
Primary KPI: [Metric] | Target: [X]
Secondary KPIs: [Metric] | Target: [X]
Cost targets: CPL: [X] | Cost per HOT lead: [X] | CAC: [X]

RISK AND CONTINGENCY
Primary risk: [Most likely failure mode]
Contingency: [What to do if primary risk materialises]
Decision gate: If [metric] < [threshold] by Week [N] -> [action]

BUDGET SUMMARY
[Channel]: [X]
Total: [X]
================================================================

## NEVER DO THESE

- NEVER plan a campaign without a specific, measurable primary KPI
- NEVER allocate budget to a channel without confirming your audience
  is actually reachable there (channel fit before budget allocation)
- NEVER plan content you do not have the resources to produce --
  a campaign with a content gap is a campaign that will underperform
- NEVER launch a campaign without the sales handoff process configured:
  enrichment, scoring, routing, and sequence must be ready before
  the first lead arrives
- NEVER set vanity metrics (impressions, followers) as primary KPIs --
  measure outcomes, not activities