A Digital Marketing Communications Plan
Template for Middle Managers
Communication is a vital aspect of digital marketing. To achieve the best possible results, it is
important to effectively interact with customers as well as with your employees. Middle managers are
responsible for ensuring that all the operational activities of a company are carried out. For those
managers in charge of digital marketing, designing a well-researched and comprehensive
communication plan is a must.
To make the lives of every digital marketing middle manager easier, we have compiled a step-by-step
document to guide you through the process of creating and implementing a digital marketing
communications plan.
Contents
Methodology: .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Step one: Situation analysis ..................................................................................................................... 2
Step two: Objective planning .................................................................................................................. 5
Step three: Strategy setting ..................................................................................................................... 6
The TOWS Matrix ................................................................................................................................ 7
Goal Framework .................................................................................................................................. 8
Step four: Tactics ..................................................................................................................................... 9
Communication media: ....................................................................................................................... 9
Step five: Action .................................................................................................................................... 11
Step six: Control .................................................................................................................................... 12
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Methodology
For the preparation of the Digital Marketing Communications plan, we have utilised the SOSTAC®
model, which was voted the third most popular in the 2011CIM poll of marketing models. It was
developed in the 1980s by PR Smith, but its ease of use has enabled it to stand the test of time and it
is still considered effective today.
Step one: Situation analysis
At the first stage of the planning process, the company assesses its current position in the
marketplace and how well it is performing. At this stage, we recommend conducting a SWOT analysis.
The SWOT analysis, which considers the company’s strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities and
threats from competition, provides an outline for strategic decision-making. In order to identify these
factors, the following sources are useful:
Sources of information for the SWOT
Strengths and
Weaknesses
Customer reviews
Employee feedback
Opportunities
and Threats
Country reports
Trend analysis business
reports
Year- end reviews
Market research
Competitor comparison
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Having gathered this information, it is important to consider it specifically with regard to digital
marketing communications and write down the company strengths and weaknesses, opportunities
and threats:
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
1. _________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________
Weaknesses
1. _________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________
Opportunities
1. _________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________
Threats
1. _________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________
Another important element in situation analysis is understanding the company’s target audience and
developing personas. Since the SWOT analysis already requires that you assess your customer base,
this information can then contribute to the development of personas, as shown in the template
below:
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Buyer personas are a crucial component of successful inbound marketing, particularly
for the sales and marketing departments. After all, the marketing team needs to know to
whom they are marketing, and the sales team needs to know to whom they are selling.
1. What is their demographic
information?
2. What is their job and level of
seniority?
3. What does a day in their life
look like?
4. What is are their pain points?
What do you help them solve?
5. What do they value most?
What are their goals?
6. Where do they go for
information?
7. What experience are they
looking for when seeking out
your products or services?
8. What are their most common
objections to your product or
service?
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Step two: Objective planning
At this stage, the company needs to consider where its digital marketing communication can improve
and set targets for the future. The “5Ss” model – Sell, Speak, Serve, Save, Sizzle - can help companies
to assess these aspects. This in turn helps to set SMART goals, a criteria attributed to Peter Drucker,
which will improve the overall quality of the company’s digital marketing communication.
However, middle managers must also ensure that their digital marketing objectives are in line with
the company’s overall vision and mission, as set out by its senior managers.
Goal Formulation – 5S Method
Sell - Grow Sales
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Speak – Customer Engagement
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Serve – Add Value
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Save – Save Costs
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Sizzle – Extend your Brand Online
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
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Step three: Strategy setting
This is where big objectives are broken down into several smaller goals. Strategy setting is a vital part
of this process, as it lays out the plan for how these objectives will actually be achieved. For this stage,
we propose utilising the information from the SWOT analysis and implementing a TOWS Matrix.
The TOWS Matrix can you help you devise strategies that make the most of your company’s resources
and exploit its strengths, while taking into account its weaknesses and external threats. When
creating a TOWS Matrix as part of a Digital Marketing Communication plan, middle managers should
keep in mind their specific objectives and devise strategies accordingly.
Once the TOWS Matrix is complete, strategies can be sorted in a Goals Framework Template to make
them easier to understand and refer back to.
There are three types of strategy: push, pull and profile. Each works in a different way, as shown
below. When formulating strategies, assess what you wish to accomplish, choose the appropriate
type of strategy and incorporate your company’s relevant SWOT factors.
Push Strategy
Enforcing the communication message on to the other
i.e.: Direct Selling
Pull Strategy
A resilient yet costly approach where are encourage customer demand for communication
i.e.: Competitions for the most engaging Facebook fan
Profile Strategy
This strategy is most suitable to keep relevant parties informed and up to date about progress of a
certain project or event. i.e.: Emails
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The TOWS Matrix
Opportunities
Strengths
Weaknesses
Strength - Opportunity Strategies
(Exploit opportunities using company strengths)
Weaknesses – Opportunity Strategies
(Use opportunities to diminish company weaknesses)
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
Strength – Threat Strategies
(Utilise company strengths to avoid threats)
Threats
Weaknesses – Threats Strategies
(Minimise company weaknesses and avoid threats)
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
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Goal Framework
Having established which strategies to use, sort and place them under the most appropriate and suitable objective.
Goal Framework
Sell Objective: __________________________________
Strategy one:
Strategy two:
Strategy three:
Speak Objective: _________________________________
Strategy one:
Strategy two:
Strategy three:
Serve Objective: _________________________________
Strategy one:
Strategy two:
Strategy three:
Save Objective: ___________________________________
Strategy one:
Strategy two:
Strategy three:
Sizzle Objective: __________________________________
Strategy one:
Strategy two:
Strategy three:
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Step four: Tactics
Now that you have broken down your objectives to develop your strategy, you next need to break
down the strategy as well. For example, if your strategy includes social media communication, your
tactics may include platforms such as Twitter.
Communication media:
Within digital marketing, there is a variety of media to choose from. Each one serves different
purposes. Shown below are the different types of digital marketing methods and what each is best
suited to. The persona information gathered earlier can now help you choose the best methods for
reaching your target audience.
Online Public
Relations
• Public outreach
• Community
participation
• Media alerting
• Brand protection
Email marketing
• House list email
• Co-branded
• Ads in third party enewsletters
• Email campaigns
Online Partnership
• Affiliate marketing
• Sponsorship
• Co-branding
• Link-building
• Widget marketing
Interactive ads
• Site-specific media buys
• Ad networks
• Contra deals
• Sponsorship
• Behavioural targeting
Social Media
Marketing
• Audience participation
• Managing social
presence
• Viral campaigns
• Customer feedback
Search Marketing
• Search engine
optimisation
• Paid search
• Pay-per-click (PPC)
• Paid inclusion
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The tactical breakdown should also include dates for the communications to be implemented, and a budget allocation for each task,
based on the overall digital marketing budget.
Tactical Breakdown
Communication Media
Budget Assigned
Communication date
<Sell Objective>
Strategy one
Strategy two
Strategy three
i.e. Social Media : Facebook only
i.e. Email campaign
i.e. £20
i.e. £10
i.e. 20/12/2014
i.e. 25/12/2014
<Speak Objective>
Strategy one
Strategy two
Strategy three
<Serve Objective>
Strategy one
Strategy two
Strategy three
<Save Objective>
Strategy one
Strategy two
Strategy three
<Sizzle Objective>
Strategy one
Strategy two
Strategy three
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Step five: Action
The planning stage is nearly over. Now is the time to decide who in your digital marketing team will be responsible for each of the planned communication
tasks. A responsibility matrix, such as the one below, is useful for this. Make sure to allocate every task so that none are forgotten.
Responsibility Matrix
Employee Name
<Name>
Task Description
<Name>
<Name>
<Name>
<Name>
<Name>
<Name>
<Task Description>
<Task Description>
<Task Description>
<Task Description>
<Task Description>
<Task Description>
<Task Description>
<Task Description>
KEY
R
Responsible
A
Accountable
C
Consulted
I
Informed
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Step six: Control
In the final stage, the company measures how well the digital marketing communication team is working and whether their objectives are being met. Here,
we suggest establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each objective, in order to measure and compare performance on a monthly basis.
Monthly Performance
Jan
Feb
March
April
May
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
<Sell Objective>
Key Performance Indicators:
KPI one
KPI two
<Speak Objective>
Key Performance Indicators:
KPI one
KPI two
<Serve Objective>
Key Performance Indicators:
KPI one
KPI two
<Save Objective>
Key Performance Indicators:
KPI one
KPI two
<Sizzle Objective>
Key Performance Indicators:
KPI one
KPI two
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