Marketing communication plan

Marketing communication plan

1.   Compare different marketing communication planning models: what are the stages?
https://www.smartinsights.com/managing-digital-marketing/planning-budgeting/marketing-cdommunications-planning-using-pasta-model/

SOSTAC

is a planning model, originally developed in the 1990s to help with marketing planning by PR Smith, who is my co-author on Emarketing Excellence.

SOSTAC® stands for:

• Situation – where are we now?
• Objectives – where do we want to be?
• Strategy – how do we get there?
• Tactics – how exactly do we get there?
• Action – what is our plan?
• Control – did we get there?
• This approach is used in creating an Internet marketing planning template and I've also used it in my books applying it to the core aspects of digital marketing. You can see it gives a logical order for tackling your plan (with iterations) and you should also use it to critically assess your processes. Ask, for example, what you may be weak at? Ask... Do we fail to complete situation analysis? Are our goals unclear? Do we have a strategy? Do we control performance using analytics?

SOSTAC Usage

1. Use SOSTAC® to review your process

Before looking at how you apply SOSTAC® at each step to create a marketing plan, my first tip is to use it to review your planning process and how you manage your marketing.

Ask yourself critically about the activities you personally and your organisation are good at. Maybe you spend too much or too little time reviewing the situation. Perhaps you're not so good at setting SMART objectives, or developing strategies to support them or the control stage of assessing how effective your strategies and tactics are and adjusting them?

2. Get the balance right across SOSTAC®

Oftentimes, there is too much time spent on analysis within a plan and not enough on setting the strategies. I'd also say that for a student assignment, it's best to make reference to AC relatively brief, incorporating them into other sections.

So as a rule of thumb, this is how your balance of content could look:

S (20%) O (5%) S (45%) T (30%) = 100%

3. Summarise your Situation in a TOWs matrix form of SWOT

To give focus to your situation analysis I recommend the so-called fTOWs form of SWOT analysis. This helps integrate SWOT with strategy.

4. Make your goals SMART and link them to your analytics/control process

Since digital marketing is so measurable, it makes sense to be specific as possible about your goals by developing a funnel conversion model. You should also setup specific goals in Google Analytics.

But it's worth thinking about the full range of goals indicated by the 5Ss.

5. Integrate the different elements of your SWOT

Often there isn't good flow relating sections in a plan. To help this I recommend summarising your entire SOSTAC® plan within a table which integrates strategies, situation, objectives and tactics.

Do let us know if you have any other tips on the best way to apply SOSTAC®.

PASTA Method

The development of a marketing plan can be done on the basis of a strategic method, such as P.R. Smith’s SOSTAC®. There are, however, two disadvantages:

Firstly, the determination of the problem must be considered a given and not a part of the methodology. It is precisely the problem framing the direction and the size of the solution.

The second disadvantage of existing methods is that it can be used in strategic planning but not in an operational plan is setting goals or objectives. Determining the goals in an operational plan will take place after analyzing the situation/environment and not before.

The PASTA method

In daily practice, the SOSTAC® method is not workable in developing an operational plan, as described above. The logical process is interrupted by first setting goals and then the strategy. On a strategic level, this is obvious. For example, a company's objective is to grow in market share, but it must make a strategic choice: Innovate? Buy another company? Or just obtain more market share?

In an operational plan, objectives are part of the strategy. And the SOSTAC® method is not practical because problem recognition is not an explicit part of the method.

The PASTA method can be used to develop an operational plan (see Figure 3): Problem definition - Analysis - Strategy - Tactics - Action (PASTA)

2    Discuss the different stages of the marketing communication planning process.

Problem Definition

First, there must be a clear definition of the problem: Which goal does the client want to achieve? What issues are involved? What strategic objectives underlie the development of a plan?

There must be knowledge about the organization, product or service. But also knowledge about what the client is really asking for. When an organization indicates low brand recognition, it is justified in asking more questions to seek out the reason why.

Analysis

The second step is to analyze the market and the environment in which the organization or the product exists. To create an operational plan, there must first be an examination of the organization, consumers or customers, the product (supply) and competition.

This consists of both internal and external analysis. For internal analysis it is important to ask questions such as:

• What is the organization?
• Who does what?
• What problems does the organization have?
• What is the organization's volume of sales, customers, calls and web traffic?
• What are the company's strengths?
• How does the public identify with the organization or the product?
• What are the tangible and intangible values of the product (value proposition)?

The external analyses are more extensive. Most of the information will come from desk research or existing and available information within the organization. Questions to be answered are:

• How is the market within which the organization operates defined?
• How many consumers use the product? What is the market size?
• Who are the customers or users?
• What interest groups are important?
• What is the consumer behavior?
• What does the decision-making process regarding the product look like?
• Who are the competitors?
• How do the competitors act online?
• Which search engine is important?
• How do referrers act?
• Which online actors are important?
• Who could be an online partner?
• What are the major blogs on the subject?

 Strategy

The term "strategy" is comprehensive and confusing. It should be regarded within the context of an operational plan. The term "concept" can also be used in place of strategy. The development of a strategy or concept within an operational plan consists of four modules, which are interdependent. These building blocks are: target group, objectives, proposition, and positioning.

Target Group

• Which consumer segment is important?
• How is the target group defined?
• What are the needs of the target group?
• To what extent is the target group involved in the product? What about the Decision Making Unit (DMU)?
• What are advantages the target group is looking for?
• What is important to the product for the target group?
• Which media is the target audience using?
• Who are involving partners?
• How is the target group normally informed?
• What is the target group reading?
• What are the communications tools and channels they are looking at?

The better the target group is known, the better the strategy that can be worked out. Many questions can be answered using desk research. Discussions and interviews with members of the audience or an observation of the target group can also provide a lot of information.

A description can be made by creating a Customer Profile[2], which consist of the "Customer Jobs" (description of what the customers want to achieve in daily life), "Customer Gains" (description of the results that customers want to reach and the concrete benefits they want to see) and "Customer Pains" (description of the negative outcome, risks and barriers that are related to the job).

Objectives

What should the campaign achieve? Marketing/communications objectives can be broadly divided into three categories: "Reach" goals, "Process" goals and "Effectiveness" goals. The Reach goal of communicating is to reach the target groups in an effective and efficient way. For this purpose a good segmentation and audience definition are needed, as well as insights into the media behavior of the desired segments.

Process goals are conditions which should be established before any communications can be effective. All communications should capture the attention of the target group, then appeal or be appreciated, and be processed (remembered).

The third type of goals are the Effectiveness goals. They are the most important, since Reach goals only assure sufficient exposure, and Process goals only ensure enough processing of the message to make the Effectiveness goals possible. An Effectiveness goal is a behavior goal: Buy, download, registration etc. An Effectiveness goal is the ultimate goal: to enter into a long-term relationship or obtain a growth in market share.

Positioning

"Positioning" is the creation of a distinctive position relative to the competitors in the perception of the consumer. When an organization wants to determine positioning, it is important to have done a good competitive analysis.

An organization can choose an informational Positioning focusing on the functional attributes and benefits of the product: the product is the best solution, or the price is most favorable, or the delivery terms are the best. There can also be choice of a transformational Positioning. That responds to the needs of the customers to purchase a product. When products have many similarities, the transformational Positioning can provide a good solution. For example, values such as "sociability" and "convenience" are being used. When using a two-sided Positioning, there are functional aspects which are connected to the values and needs of the customer.

That responds to the needs of the customers to purchase a product. When products have many similarities, the transformational Positioning can provide a good solution. For example, values such as "sociability" and "convenience" are being used. When using a two-sided Positioning, there are functional aspects which are connected to the values and needs of the customer.

Proposition

If the target group is known and Positioning is determined and it is clear what needs to be achieved, then a central message and values (Proposition) can be determined. The Proposition is the aggregate offer which can be separated into product, price, distribution (which channel?) and the communicative value of the offer. The value Proposition is shaped by the visible and invisible benefits to the consumer.

The Proposition is a bundle of products and services that represent value for customers. In the Value Proposition Design (Osterwalder et al, 2014), the Proposition is formed by a list of "Products and Services", the "Gain Creators" (description of how the offer creates advantage for customers), and "Pain Relievers" (description of how the offer alleviates specific customer pains).

The value Proposition is shaped by the visible and invisible benefits to the consumer. The Proposition is a bundle of products and services that represent value for customers. In the Value Proposition Design (Osterwalder et al, 2014), the Proposition is formed by a list of "Products and Services", the "Gain Creators" (description of how the offer creates advantage for customers), and "Pain Relievers" (description of how the offer alleviates specific customer pains).

Tactics

The next step is to determine which devices, tools, and techniques are to be used. What communication tools and devices (channels) are used to achieve the goal? The channels are the traditional channels such as print (newspapers and magazines) and television, augmented by digital devices (desktop, laptop, tablet and especially the smartphone with internet access).

The tools are the traditional instruments such as advertising, sales promotions (brand activation[3]), direct mail and retail promotion, augmented by typical Internet tools such as the website, the app, email-marketing, bannering and mobile marketing.

The techniques[4] are specific and unique to the internet, such as search engine marketing (traceability), behavioral targeting (communications offering based on the behavior of the user), and affiliate marketing ("sellers" are rewarded based on units sold). Within the Tactics phase, devices and tools and techniques are to be weighed to determine which can be used to achieve the target within the strategy.

Action

Once all the tools and resources have been established, the content for the tools is to be developed to actually carry out the messages. The ads (e.g. AdWords) must be created, the e-mail campaign must be designed, the website should be developed, etc., etc. This step is about creating a schedule, determining a budget and designating people.

• Time: Making a timetable
• Money: How can the budget be used? Which channels must be chosen for exposure?
• People: Who has the expertise to design a tool? Is the developing outsourced?

Examples include a keyword plan, a content plan for social media, sites for link-building and a planning schedule.

3    What are the characteristics of a successful marketing communication plan or campaign?

https://www.randallreilly.com/5-characteristics-of-effective-marketing-campaigns/

Making the customer the hero of your marketing message sounds easy. It’s actually very hard.
A cleatly defined goal

The most effective campaigns decide the following in the following order:

1. What’s our short-term goal that will contribute to our long-term goal?
2. How will we know when we’ve reached this goal successfully?
3. How can we target and segment our audiences to reach this goal?
4. What inspiring message can we send to each audience?
5. What channels will best communicate this message to each audience?

Highly targeted messaging

The average person can see up to 40,000 advertising messages in a day. So, to say you’re fighting for attention would be an understatement. So what can you use to get someone’s attention?

Highly targeted audience

integrated multichannel marketing

4    Discuss the marketing communication planning of a chosen company.