qa-aman/campaign-brief

campaign-brief

Produces a campaign brief that an empowered team can execute without needing a follow-up meeting. Every brief is anchored to one phase of the customer journey (Before/During/After) using Allan Dib's 1-Page Marketing Plan. Phase determines channels, assets, and success metrics - not the other way around.

When to use

• "Plan a campaign for our Q3 launch"
• "Build a GTM plan for <product>"
• "Brief a demand gen campaign targeting CMOs"
• "Write the launch plan for the integration with X"
• "We need a marketing plan for <event/feature/audience>"

Framework: Before/During/After (Allan Dib, The 1-Page Marketing Plan)

Every campaign primarily serves one phase. Force the choice before building anything else.

BEFORE - Prospects who don't know you exist.

• Goal: get strangers to raise their hand
• Focus: reach, awareness, USP clarity
• Channels: paid social, SEO, PR, cold outreach, events, partner content
• Success metrics: reach, impressions, hand-raisers (leads generated), CPL

DURING - Leads who know you but haven't bought.

• Goal: convert interest into purchase
• Focus: lead capture, nurture, trust-building, sales conversion
• Channels: email sequences, retargeting, demos, webinars, case studies
• Success metrics: MQLs, SQLs, demo bookings, trial starts, conversion rate

AFTER - Customers who have already bought.

• Goal: create raving fans who expand and refer
• Focus: world-class experience, upsell, cross-sell, referrals
• Channels: customer comms, CSM touchpoints, loyalty programs, referral incentives
• Success metrics: NPS, expansion revenue, referrals generated, churn rate, LTV

A campaign cannot serve all 3 phases at once. If the user wants all 3, split it into 3 campaigns.

Inputs needed

Walk the user through these one at a time. Do not skip.

1. Campaign phase: Before, During, or After? If the user isn't sure, ask: "Are you trying to reach new people, convert known leads, or grow existing customers?" Force a single answer.
2. Campaign goal: one sentence, tied to the phase.
3. Primary KPI: the one number that defines success. With a target.
4. Audience: which persona from knowledge/icp/personas.md. If multiple, force-rank.
5. Window: start date, end date (DD-MM-YYYY).
6. Budget: total, or "no paid budget".
7. Constraints: legal, brand, channel restrictions, dependencies on other teams.
8. What's already decided: any creative, channel, or partner choices the user has locked in.

Process

1. Load context. Read all reads: files. If knowledge/icp/personas.md is missing, stop and run /onboard --icp.

2. Identify the phase. Before generating any brief content, confirm the Before/During/After phase with the user. State it explicitly: "This is a BEFORE campaign. The goal is to generate hand-raisers from people who don't yet know us."

3. Check knowledge/learnings.md for any relevant past campaign retros. Reference them in the brief.

4. Generate the brief in this format:

   # <Campaign name>
   
   **Phase**: BEFORE | DURING | AFTER (Allan Dib framework)
   **Phase goal**: <get hand-raisers | convert leads | grow customers>
   **Campaign goal**: <one sentence, single-objective>
   **Primary KPI**: <metric> -> target <number> by <DD-MM-YYYY>
   **Window**: DD-MM-YYYY to DD-MM-YYYY
   **Budget**: $<amount> or <none>
   **Owner**: <person, ask the user>
   **Status**: draft
   
   ## Audience
   - **Primary persona**: <from knowledge/icp/>
   - **Top 3 pains we are speaking to**:
     1. ...
     2. ...
     3. ...
   - **Where they are**: channels, communities, publications
   
   ## Message
   - **Core message** (one sentence the audience should remember):
   - **Proof points** (3 max):
     1. ...
     2. ...
     3. ...
   - **What we are NOT saying**: explicit anti-messages to avoid scope creep
   
   ## Strategy
   - **Why now** (timing rationale):
   - **Differentiation vs <competitor>** (how this plays where we win):
   - **What we learned from <past campaign>** (from knowledge/learnings.md):
   
   ## Channel mix
   Channels must match the campaign phase. BEFORE = reach channels. DURING = conversion channels. AFTER = retention channels.
   
   | Channel | Role | Asset count | Spend | Owner |
   |---|---|---|---|---|
   | LinkedIn organic | Awareness | 8 posts | $0 | <name> |
   | LinkedIn ads | Demand | 3 ad sets | $X | <name> |
   | Email nurture | Conversion | 5-email sequence | $0 | <name> |
   | ... | | | | |
   
   ## Assets needed
   Group by team. Be specific.
   - **Content**: 1 pillar article (1800w), 8 LinkedIn posts, 3 quote graphics
   - **Design**: 1 landing page hero image, 3 ad creatives, 1 email header
   - **Video**: 1 explainer (60s)
   - **Sales enablement**: 1 one-pager, 1 deck update
   - **Web**: 1 landing page
   
   ## Timeline
   Working backward from launch date.
   | Week | Milestone | Owner |
   |---|---|---|
   | -4 | Brief approved, assets briefed | |
   | -3 | First drafts in review | |
   | -2 | Final assets, landing page live | |
   | -1 | Soft launch, internal alignment | |
   | 0 | Launch | |
   | +1 | First metrics review | |
   | +4 | Campaign retro | |
   
   ## Success metrics
   Phase-specific. Do not mix metrics from other phases.
   
   **BEFORE campaigns**:
   - **Primary**: <reach | CPL | hand-raisers generated> = <target>
   - **Secondary**: impressions, CTR, email sign-ups
   - **Leading indicators** (visible by week 1): ad CTR, organic post reach
   - **Lagging indicators** (visible by week 4): total leads captured, CPL
   
   **DURING campaigns**:
   - **Primary**: <MQLs | SQLs | demo bookings | trials> = <target>
   - **Secondary**: email open rate, demo-to-close rate
   - **Leading indicators** (visible by week 1): email opens, landing page CVR
   - **Lagging indicators** (visible by week 4): total SQLs, pipeline generated
   
   **AFTER campaigns**:
   - **Primary**: <NPS | referrals | expansion revenue | churn rate> = <target>
   - **Secondary**: product usage, upsell conversion, CSAT
   - **Leading indicators** (visible by week 1): feature adoption, support tickets
   - **Lagging indicators** (visible by week 4): NPS score, referrals, expansion ARR
   
   ## Risks and mitigations
   - **Risk**: <what could go wrong>
     **Mitigation**: <what we do about it>
   
   ## Open questions
   - List anything you do not have an answer to. Do not invent.
   
   ## Approvals
   - [ ] Marketing lead
   - [ ] Product
   - [ ] Sales
   - [ ] Legal (if applicable)
   

5. Self-check:

   • Phase is declared and all elements serve that phase
   • Channels match the phase (no conversion channels in a BEFORE campaign, no awareness channels in an AFTER campaign)
   • Single primary KPI - not three
   • Specific persona, not "marketers"
   • Working-backward timeline, not aspirational
   • Concrete assets list with counts
   • References at least one prior learning if knowledge/learnings.md exists
   • Phase-specific success metrics only

6. Save to output/campaign-brief/<DD-MM-YYYY>-<slug>.md with frontmatter:

   ---
   format: campaign-brief
   campaign: <name>
   phase: <before|during|after>
   goal: <awareness|demand|expansion|retention|recruitment>
   start: DD-MM-YYYY
   end: DD-MM-YYYY
   primary-kpi: <metric>
   target: <number>
   budget: <amount or none>
   created: DD-MM-YYYY
   ---
   

7. Offer next actions:

   • Generate the asset list as individual skill calls (/linkedin-post x 8, /landing-page-writer x 1, etc.)
   • Build the launch deck (/ppt-maker)
   • Remind the user: "Set a calendar reminder to run /retro on [launch date + 28 days] to capture learnings."

Rules

• Declare the phase before writing a single line of the brief. Phase determines everything else.
• One primary KPI. If the user names three, force them to rank and pick one.
• Channel mix must match the phase. A BEFORE campaign with a demo CTA is a contradiction. Call it out.
• Never copy a previous campaign brief without reading knowledge/learnings.md first. Past failures should change current plans.
• If budget is zero, do not propose paid channels. Reallocate to organic.
• Timeline must be working backward from launch. If the user gives a launch date, derive milestones from it. If not, ask.
• If the user wants to run a BEFORE and DURING campaign simultaneously, produce two separate briefs. Mixed-phase campaigns are unfocused campaigns.