Successful marketing campaigns start with careful planning. Although focus is mostly on developing creative outputs – landing pages, social media and display ads, emailers, and the like – the campaign can quickly go into the haywire when expectations aren’t fully understood.

In many contexts, enough time for planning is a luxury and launching fast is of critical importance to business. So what’s the best way to approach launch campaigns without overcomplicating the process?

Here’s an overview of the common phases in market launches, which should serve as a handy guide in managing campaigns – from content planning, execution, to evaluation.

1. Get aligned on the brief

Check with your stakeholders for the business objectives, contexts, and opportunities to drive the project direction. You should be able to extract unique selling propositions (USPs) and key messages after this initial phase.

2. Learn as much as you can

Schedule meetings with subject matter experts as well as request walkthroughs to get an overview of the features. Review technical specs for the fine print, and better yet, have hands-on experience with the product or service to understand its benefits firsthand.

3. Scope requirements, dependencies, and timelines

Create a project plan to identify what are required (team members, resource persons, equipment, etc.) to support the project. Make sure to also cover for dependencies and risks that may affect the timely completion of the launch project.

4. Identify milestones, deliverables, and responsibilities

Once there’s a clearer idea of the project scope, list down the deliverables needed as well as when these should be accomplished. Note that some deliverables might need cross-functional involvement. Identify the specific tasks, work hours, and persons assigned to them for accountability.

5. Work on the creative drafts

Following the brief, produce the content for each of the deliverables identified as needed for the campaign. Prioritize content (such as video scripts or hero images) that would serve as basis for other deliverables. It’s important to sync with members of the project team to track that dependencies are being covered.

6. Route creatives for review and approval

Send the draft deliverables for review by designated approvers and get a formal sign-off. Expect some back-and-forth though. Some assets would need testing, such as the landing pages and forms, and these should also be factored in the schedule.

7. Publish content on launch date

On go-live date, hit the Publish button. Remember to select the best timing for when assets will post on social media or get sent as an email, especially if you have an international launch.

8. Track campaign performance

Post-launch, you need to monitor the performance of content produced for CTA clicks, page views, bounce rates, and the like periodically and at strategic intervals. Make the necessary changes and recalibrate the campaign for optimal results. If there are feedback or questions prompted by the launch, cascade these to the right contact windows,

There you have it! With a bit of organization, you can manage to pull off a launch campaign even on the tightest deadlines. Do you have tips of your own to share? Post in social media using the hashtag #marketlaunchtips and tag @pagejumpmedia.