Sarah Carter

HOW TO MAKE A PLAN
2 minute checklist
oSet and agree clear objectives. Are they ‘SMART’?
oStart with business objectives: targets for sales, profit, market share etc.
oThen set marketing objectives: customer numbers, weight of purchase, distribution etc.
oCrunch the numbers. Even back-of-an-envelope stuff helps. Can your marketing objectives realistically deliver the business objectives?
oThink people, not just numbers. Who do you need to influence? What do you want them to do, exactly? Instead of what?
oIf necessary, commission extra research. Simple omnibus questions can often be enough.
oOnly then set communications objectives. Who are your audience? How can you influence them?
oCheck your budgets. Can you reach enough people? What will your SOV be?
oSet ’Key Performance Indicators’ (KPIs) for each objective, and start tracking them.
oEvaluate your results against those KPIs

Your customers are the customers of other brands
who occasionally buy you’
Andrew Ehrenberg

ut without big, famous advertising, the public started to forget about these two brand leaders. And when they did think about them, they felt less warm towards them. So despite product improvements, ratings deteriorated and people started experimenting with alternatives.