Communication planning with the 6M

Only clean, detailed communication planning will lead you to sustainable marketing success. We have developed an easy-to-understand recipe for you in the form of the six M scheme.

Six-step communication planning enables you to systematically plan, implement and monitor the success of your entire promotional mix.

Marketing inputs (analysis and strategy)

Effective advertising makes a decisive contribution to your marketing success. The marketing analysis - which deals with industry-specific trends, the status quo of your marketing and also the strategies of your competitors - gives rise to the marketing concept, which defines the strategic guidelines. You can use this as a basis for the advertising plan, which should include all relevant elements for successful communication planning. You can find out what these are step by step here:

Mission (advertising objectives and target groups)

It's best to start your communication planning with the following questions: What and who do you want to reach with your advertising measures? Are you launching a new product, do you want to give an existing product a boost or do you want to put your company's image in the right light? Describe your goals and target groups as precisely as possible. This will increase your chances of developing the right message and choosing the right media. You avoid wastage and use your valuable advertising budget efficiently.

With these considerations, you also create important prerequisites for measuring the success of your campaigns later (with step 6 - measurement/success control).

Message (development and design of the advertising message)

The message forms the core of your communication planning. But which wording best sums up the benefits of your product? Do you offer the exact washing powder that removes every stain without time-consuming pre-treatment? Does your shower gel refresh like no other? Think carefully about which message you want to anchor in the minds of your target group. Because you then have to express this message creatively in your advertising with the help of the right media.

Your main goal as an entrepreneur is, of course, to maximize sales or profits. If your advertising does not contribute directly or indirectly to this, your advertising message has missed the mark - no matter how funny or beautiful your campaign is. Your advertising must awaken the need for your offer in your target group and encourage them to buy.

It is generally advisable to work with a professional advertising agency to develop your creative strategy, design implementation and media planning. This will help you achieve success faster and use your advertising budget efficiently.

Money (advertising budget)

How much advertising budget do you have available for your campaign? Or rather, how high should your advertising budget be in order to achieve the defined advertising objectives? Determine your advertising budget in coordination with your marketing budget and the planned measures that you define in parallel under points 3 "Message" and 5 "Media".

Media (advertising material, advertising media and media planning)

Choose the most suitable media to suit your message and budget. Think about which advertising medium or advertising medium you can use to convey your advertising message to your target group. This process is called media planning or communication planning. The art of successful media planning lies in finding the right medium, the necessary frequency and the optimal time frame.

With a media plan, you coordinate the use of the defined advertising media (media mix) and other communication measures. For example, you can launch a campaign with a media conference or accompany a campaign with Google Ads search engine marketing and events. Thanks to your media plan, you always have an overview of the campaign and the entire communications planning. By the way: "Constant dripping wears away the stone". This means that regular advertising efforts will bring you more than blowing your entire budget in one go.

Measurement (success control)

Was your campaign successful and did it meet your defined goals? To answer this question, you need to measure the success of your campaign. Unfortunately, this review of the advertising impact is often criminally neglected. However, effectiveness monitoring helps to make future advertising campaigns more efficient.

You can find more information on the topic of communication planning in the book and e-book: Marketing - Four steps to your own marketing concept.