Marketing Planning and Campaign Management
Core concepts
Marketing planning moves from corporate objectives to marketing objectives, then to strategy, tactics, budgets and control. Know the structure of a marketing plan: situation analysis (internal and external), SWOT that is derived from that analysis, assumptions, objectives (SMART), strategy, action programmes, budget and control measures. The promotional planning cycle - objectives, audience, message, media, budget, timing, evaluation - is a reliable framework for campaign questions. Familiarise yourself with budgeting methods (percentage of sales, competitive parity, objective-and-task, affordability) and be able to argue that objective-and-task is conceptually strongest because it links spend to required outcomes. Control requires metrics set at the planning stage: awareness, reach, engagement, conversion, retention, cost per acquisition and return on marketing investment. Campaign management also covers scheduling (continuous, flighting, pulsing), testing and post-campaign review.
Traps
Examiners often test whether you can distinguish a strategy from a tactic, or an objective from a tactic disguised as one ("increase social followers" is usually a tactic supporting an awareness objective). Another trap is a control question where the metric does not match the objective - reach does not measure sales. Beware answers that place SWOT before analysis.
Worked example
A firm wants to launch in a new region with a fixed budget and must justify spend. Use objective-and-task: define the target awareness level, estimate reach and frequency needed, cost the media to deliver it, and set a measurement plan. If the resulting figure exceeds the budget, the objective is revised - not the method. Rule of thumb: every objective needs a named metric and a review date before the campaign starts.