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Developing a Successful Direct Marketing Plan

Bonus:10 Key Questions

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38 percent of marketers say new marketing campaigns are rushed to market based on the limited intuition of a few people.

“Marketing ROI and Measurements Benchmark Report,” Lenskold Group & MarketingProfs.com, 2005

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Counterproductive top management pressureOverloaded line operating staff

Lack of experience in strategy development

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ENOUGH

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‘Good ideas’

Media

Ad concepts or Copy approaches

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The plan identifies concrete strategy and corresponding direct response tactics developed to overcome specific obstacles that would otherwise block agreed-upon objectives.

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This type of plan development, valuable to any form of marketing, is crucial in direct response marketing.

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Identification of each project's specific objective, market segment to be penetrated, and priority, is essential.

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Background

Objectives

Obstacles

Strategy

Tactics

Financials

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Customer Profiles and Buying History

Buying Process

Description and Benefits of Products

Market Position, Sales History & CompetitionDistribution and Sales

Financials

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Be Precise

Be Thorough

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Obstacles

Threats

Weaknesses

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Program Scope

Basic Offer

Concept and Theme

Versioning and Personalization

Media Selection

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Packaging

Media Mix

Implementation Plan

Process and Procedures

Timing and Schedules

Cost Estimates

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Break-even Calculations

Yield Potentials

Response Tracking

Analysis

Reporting

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10 Key Questions to Guide your Success

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1. Did we use, and stick with, the task method?

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2. Have all major direct marketing disciplines participated in creating the plan?

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3. Have you established one final decision maker as a Project Leader responsible for overall development and completion of the marketing plan?

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4. Has sufficient marketing plan development time been allocated for the planning group?

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5. Has the entire marketing plan been committed to writing?

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6. Did you address major plan elements in strict sequence throughout the planning process?

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7. Did we stop the planning process whenever essential data was not known?

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Customer Profiles and Buying History

The Buying Process

Product Benefit

Sales History

Competitive Situation

Market Position

Distribution and Sales Methods

Manufacturing and Marketing Margins

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Stopping the market planning process does not mean 'scrapping' the project.

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8. Did we complete predictive yield analysis and format our yield reports as an integral part of our written marketing plan?

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9. Has each individual involved in creating the plan (plus some who were not) reviewed, studied, and critiqued the entire written plan?

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10. Did we meet, as a group, for final review and agreement on the entire plan?

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Summary

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Please share this document with anyone you feel might benefit from its contents.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Pat McGraw at 410-977-7355 orpat@mcgrawmarketing.com.

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