How to plan in marketing

The importance of planning cannot be overemphasised. Whatever your role, sector, or business size, planning will be one of the most valuable things you can do in marketing.

Who is responsible for planning?

All levels of seniority have responsibilities in marketing planning.

Senior management
Senior management will decide how much budget should be invested in marketing. They will make these decisions as part of the business planning, based upon the current business performance, as well as broader industry trends.

Marketing manager
The marketing manager will explore how the marketing team can contribute to the business goals while nurturing long-term customer relationships. They will plan marketing communications strategies, channel strategies and determine marketing tactics and will also be responsible for making sure you adhere to industry regulations.

Planning marketing communications

The next level of planning is with regard to how marketing communications are created and delivered on time and on budget.

When an organisation is creating marketing communications, there are generally three ways they approach it.

1. You create the communication in the marketing team: This would usually be things which require fewer specialist skills, like creating a tweet or an email.
2. The communication is produced by a dedicated team: If you are working in a medium to large size organisation you may have a brand team, programmers, or product owners, who are responsible for providing certain elements of the marketing assets.
3. The communication is outsourced to a third party: It’s unlikely that your organisation will have the in-house facilities to print their own brochures or create their own TV adverts. Many organisations also use creative agencies to plan or design their campaigns and communications.

Marketers need to go through a process in order to ensure the communication will be effective.