Turning an idea for an advertising campaign into reality isn’t exactly simple, but with a concrete and detailed advertising plan, you can go from concept to execution confidently.
An effective campaign plan will help you present a clear path for return on investment (ROI), get buy-in from leadership, and share your proposal with relevant stakeholders.
In this post, we’ll explain what an advertising plan is and highlight the major sections you should include in your advertising plan so you can guarantee your next campaign is a success.
An advertising plan outlines you strategies to reach your target audience and achieve your advertising goals. In it, you’ll summarize the channels you’ll use, critical messaging, and required budget — all of the elements and information you need to enact your advertising strategy.
Pro Tip: HubSpot created the following advertising plan template for you to download so you can organize your advertising campaign — it's broken down into relevant sections and can be shared with your stakeholders when it’s completed.
Download this Advertising Planning Kit
Our Advertising Plan Template will cover:
Now let's dive into how you can prep your ad plan.
Before you jump into your tactical advertising ideas, the first step is to provide those reading your ad plan with a high-level overview of your initiative.
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DACI is a decision-making framework that outlines the key contributors in a project and what each of their responsibilities entails. DACI stands for Driver, Approver, Contributors, and Informed.
Here's how to break down a DACI framework:
Your DACI framework should include the name of each stakeholder, their contact information (email, phone, Slack handle, etc.), and their responsibilities or deliverables.
This framework makes project delegation crystal clear for everyone involved.
An additional resources section will act as the appendix of your advertising plan. For example, share the ad campaign that inspired this one with your readers, link to the product page you'll be promoting with this initiative, or link to your company's brand style guide — this way, designers and writers get a refresh on how to create externally-facing content.
After you complete the outline, hop on a call with your team to explain the campaign concept, timeline, and deliverables. Then, compile all of them in HubSpot's advertising project pitch deck and present your advertising plan. Finally, open up the floor for any questions and suggestions with project contributors.
It can always be helpful to reference examples; below we’ll go over one.
In this plan, a business outlines the different channels it will use to reach its advertising goals: YouTube, Facebook, and Google Ads. It outlines the type of ad for each channel, a summary of what each ad will be, a target timeline, and an allocated budget. While it is simply an overview, it has the key elements it will execute in its advertising strategy.
While this is a high-quality example, be mindful that it is merely an example. You can personalize this template to meet your business goals by inputting what works best for your needs.
Now that you know how to write your own advertising plan, download HubSpot’s free template to get your own advertising campaign project plan off the group.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
