Campaign planner & advertising checklist
A six-week campaign structure you can work through on one printed sheet: the objective, the audience, the creative brief, the launch sequence and the review nobody schedules until it is too late.
Stage by stage
Weeks one and two decide most of the outcome. Resist the urge to launch in week one — the cost of planning badly is paid twice, in budget and in reputation.
Week 1 — Objective
One outcome, one number, one measurement date. Write down what would make you stop the campaign early.
Week 2 — Audience & offer
One-sentence audience definition, plus the exact offer and price shown in the advertising.
Week 3 — Creative
Brief, draft, approve. One message only. Name the approver before designs begin.
Week 4 — Setup
Tracking confirmed, landing page tested on a phone, enquiry route staffed, invoices raised.
Week 5 — Launch
Channels go live one at a time, two days apart, so a problem can be attributed to a change.
Week 6 — Review
Thirty minutes, three findings, one decision. Then update the plan for next month.
The launch checklist
Twenty checks. If any of the first eight are unmet, delay the launch rather than launch blind.
| # | Check | Area |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | One objective written as a number with a date | Objective |
| 2 | Audience described in one sentence, including location | Audience |
| 3 | Offer and price final, no placeholder figures | Offer |
| 4 | Budget approved and the split agreed in writing | Budget |
| 5 | Named approver for creative confirmed | Process |
| 6 | Stop criteria agreed, e.g. cost per enquiry above a ceiling | Objective |
| 7 | Enquiry route staffed and tested with a real call | Setup |
| 8 | Tracking verified: a test enquiry appears in the report | Setup |
| 9 | Creative checked on a small phone screen | Creative |
| 10 | Landing page loads in under three seconds on mobile data | Setup |
| 11 | Phone number and address correct everywhere | Creative |
| 12 | Claims substantiated or removed | Legal |
| 13 | No competitor names or marks in creative | Legal |
| 14 | Discount and offer terms stated with an end date | Legal |
| 15 | Channel accounts funded and billing verified | Budget |
| 16 | Launch dates staggered, two days apart per channel | Process |
| 17 | Review meeting booked for week six | Process |
| 18 | Someone owns the daily check for the first week | Process |
| 19 | Response templates ready for first enquiries | Setup |
| 20 | Archive folder created for invoices and creative | Admin |
The stop-criteria rule
Before launch, write the number that would make you switch a channel off, and the number that would make you increase spend. A campaign with no pre-agreed thresholds gets judged on mood, and mood is usually wrong in both directions.
The debrief page
Fill this in within five working days of the campaign ending, while the detail is still accurate. Three findings and one decision is enough.
| Question | Recorded answer |
|---|---|
| Objective and target | |
| Actual result | |
| Total spend | |
| Cost per enquiry, by channel | |
| Enquiries that became customers | |
| Best performing creative, and why | |
| What we would not repeat | |
| One decision for next month |
Want the printable version with these tables formatted for A4? It is in the downloadable packs section.
Why the sequence matters more than the channels
Channel choice is the most discussed and least important decision in a small campaign. The six-week guide explains why the sequence — objective, audience, offer, creative, setup, launch, review — is what separates campaigns that teach you something from campaigns that merely spend money.
Campaign planning stuck at a step?
Tell us which week you are in and what is unresolved. We will point to the specific guidance rather than the whole guide.