The marketing campaign involves planning a series of strategies and events which result in the marketing activities. For example, your place of study will have a marketing plan which identifies a series of strategies over the coming 12 months, or maybe longer, so that tehir courses can be "drip fed" to entice potential learners to study with them. The strategies will relate to these events to identify where, when and hpow they will take place. The campaign will require resources and a budget, all of which have to link together. While the initial ideas may appear fairly informal, such as asking a working group to jot down random ideas, the plan will develop into a timeline of some sort, possibly using a Gantt chart.

This should convey the key message and be the core of the marketing campaign. In other words, to identify the message you want to communicate to your target audience.

Marketing messages are designed to become second thoughts, so that when you think of something associated with the product (such as an energy drink) your next thought is to buy that product (for example Red Bull) and no other.

The content of the marketing message must attract attention within the first few seconds. If the message is being conveyed by a TV advert, the business may have less than 10 seconds to get the message across. A billboard advertisement may only be a fleeting sight to passers-by therefore it must be clear and uncluttered.

Examples of particularly effective marketing content are those in which slogans become everyday phrases or require little if any explanation such as Ronseal's "it does what it says on the tin". Whereas when Hive first introduced their marketing campaign, customers may have been confused by the message or how to purchase it. You have probably been irritated by an advert, yet some might view this as clever marketing as it remains memorable and gets people talking about it.

The next stage of a successful marketing campaign is selcting the right mix. A marketing campaign that does not respond to each aspect of the mix is likely to be unsuccessful. For example, a supplier of lawn turf might plan their campaign considering the following mix:

Product- Species of grass according to function; length of individual turf, USP or brand

Pricing- Wholesale and retail charges; discounts for quantity

Promotion- Adverts and samples in garden centres; develop relationship with landscape gardeners and corporate clients including local councils; website testimonials and photos of projects ; advertisements televised to coincide with gardening programmes and seasonally relevant.

Place- Purchase and delivery arrangements made for retailers and wholesalers; direct sales to customers if permitted; terms and conditions; guarantees if relevant

People- Knowledgable workforce; clear product information for wholesalers and retailers, capacity of staff to meet potential demand

Physical Environment- Conditions for storing the turf; arrangements for supply and demand increases.

Process- Ordering online; post cards with order form; free phone sales line; app; through distributors.

Identifying the right media is crucial not only to the success of the campaign but also to working within budgetary constraints. The mix and in particular knowledge about potential customers, determines the appropriate and relevant ways to promote the business' products and services. If, for example the product is targeted at school children than a TV advert should be scheduled at an appropriate time. Nowadays social media may be a better choice of media for targeting young children. The age of the target customers is important to consider when selecting the media used.

A small company might text it's customers, send emails/ leaflets/brochures  to customer homes or through local press. They might also update social media.

A large company might use national radio/tv adverts, billboards in major cities, clebrity endorsements or sponsorships as they have more money available.

A budget is set to eliminate overspending, it must be agreed in advanced and monitored closely. Calculations on budget must be based on the potential for return for the investment. If a product /service has a limited life span a quick series over a very limited period of time might be useful. This can be seen most years in products aimed at children over Christmas. If advertising Easter eggs it would make sense to run the promotional activities in the few weeks before Easter and not mid July.

This should beset before starting the campaign as a whole. Timelines shouyld be set for every activity. If possible milestones will also be identified, especially where activities cover a fairly long period of time. Each of the timelines and milestones should have a success measure to measure progress.

Sometimes these timelines can be disrupted by external factors. Each timeline provides a trigger for monitoring and reviewing the plan against progress made, and that monitoring process also includes an evaluation of its success to date.