Definition of strategy and strategic planning, part 1 covered knowledge of the business, its industry, the situation, the problem and the target public. With this information, the business owner is now prepared to set the campaign goal and objectives.

Now remember, each campaign is designed to reach an objective that advances the business to the core goal. This long-term goal could guide the business for a five to ten year period. The goal for each campaign then is an objective toward the core goal. Each campaign goal is for a shorter period, such as one year. The objectives for the campaign are for still shorter terms such as a month or 6 weeks.

But no matter the time period, objectives all have common traits. They should :

• be based on research,

• concentrate on strengths and weaknesses,

• complement organizational goals,

• be stated clearly and concisely,

• be improvement oriented,

• be specific and measurable,

• be attainable, and

• complement the gore goal.

Next communications, activities and tactics must be planned to reach each objective. This includes:

• informing and persuading target publics,

• training target publics in skills to translate intention into action,

• using the media most closely identified with the position of the public,

• using a communication source that enjoys high credibility for the public,

• playing down the differences between the communication and attitudes of the public, and

• supporting messages with events.

Next all must be planned to make the best use of resources. This includes timing, delegating and budgeting.

Time planning includes:

• identifying every step necessary to complete the campaign.

• identifying the time that each step will take.

• arrange steps for each tactic together.

• identify steps that come due about the same time.

• listing steps from the beginning to the end.

Several budgeting methods are available, but the following guidelines relate to all methods:

1. Know the cost of what you propose to buy - photography, artwork, printing, folding, mailing lists, labeling and sorting, delivery, postage, etc.

2. Communicate the budget as what it costs to achieve specific results, linking costs to performance and outcomes.

3. Use computer power to manage the program - develop master spreadsheets, tracking individual projects and linking to master spreadsheet. This allows estimating cash-flow, and monitoring expenditures against cost estimates.

4. Use budgets to direct staff efforts, to schedule staff resources, to contract for services, to track project costs and to establish accountability.

5. Review them frequently with clients and top management.

The last step in any campaign is to evaluate how well it reached its goal. This requires that data is collected at the beginning of the campaign to establish a benchmark and is then collected again at the end of the campaign to measure progress from the benchmark. The type of data collected depends upon the campaign goal. A combination of qualitative and quantitative usually provides the best evaluation data.

The most effective evaluations also compare completion of each objective with the benchmark and monitors progress at several points throughout the campaign. These frequent evaluation points enable corrections to be made during the campaign and generally assure a more successful final result.

Evaluation data from one campaign provides not only a measurement of campaign success, but also benchmark data and background research for the next campaign.

Submitted to EzineArticles.com 8-27-07: Definition of Strategy and Strategic Planning - Part 2

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