Marketing Playbook: What it is and how to create one

A marketing playbook is a strategic document used to plan, execute and evaluate the marketing actions of a company or a specific campaign .

In this article, I will explain what a Marketing Playbook is, what it is used for, how to make one and what benefits it has.

What is a Playbook and what is it for?

A marketing playbook is essentially an instruction manual containing all the information needed to carry out marketing activities effectively and consistently.

A marketing playbook can include:

• The objectives and goals of the company or campaign.
• The target audience and buyer persona to whom marketing actions are directed.
• The brand's key messages and value proposition .
• The channels, tools and resources that will be used to distribute the content and generate traffic, leads and sales.
• The assets, templates, and tasks that need to be developed to create the content and get it live.
• The key performance indicators ( KPI ) and measurement and analysis methods that will be used to evaluate the results and return on investment (ROI).

A marketing playbook serves to:

• Align marketing objectives and strategies with those of the company and other departments.
• Facilitate collaboration and communication between marketing team members and other stakeholders involved in the project.
• Maintain quality and consistency of brand content and tone of voice across all channels and formats.
• Optimize marketing processes and practices, leveraging prior experiences and learnings.
• Save time, resources and money by avoiding errors, duplications and unnecessary actions.

How to make a marketing playbook in 4 steps?

There are several methods for creating a marketing playbook. The easiest way to create one is to start with the structure, then choose the main topics, and then define who should collect what information.

Here I propose an example of how to do it in 4 steps:

1. Company details : It is a good idea to include an introduction in your marketing playbook that explains the company's mission, vision and values, its history and its current market position. This will help you contextualize the purpose and scope of your marketing actions.
2. Target audience and buyer persona : For your marketers to reach their full potential, they need to know exactly who they are targeting and what their needs and pain points are. That’s why it’s important to define your target audience and buyer persona—your ideal customer profile, with their demographic, psychographic, behavioral, and motivational data. You can also include your buyer persona’s empathy map and customer journey to better understand how they relate to your brand at each stage of the buying process.
3. Key messages and lead qualification : In this section, you should establish the key messages you want to convey to your audience, both at a general level and specific to each channel and format. These messages should reflect your value proposition, your differentiation and your positioning in the market. In addition, you should define the lead qualification criteria, that is, the attributes that determine the level of interest and maturity of your potential clients. This way, you can segment and prioritize your marketing actions according to the type of lead you want to capture, nurture or convert.
4. Marketing KPIs : Finally, you need to establish the performance indicators that will allow you to measure the success of your marketing actions and the return on investment. These KPIs must be aligned with the objectives and goals you have set, and must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART). You should also define the methods and tools you will use to collect, analyse and present the data, as well as the frequency and format of the reports.

What are its benefits?

Creating and using a Playbook has multiple benefits for your company and your marketing team. These include:

• Improve the planning and organization of your marketing actions, having a global and detailed vision of what you want to do, how, when and why.
• Increase the productivity and efficiency of your marketing team by having a reference document that guides them and makes their work easier, avoiding confusion, delays and misunderstandings.
• Empower your marketing team’s creativity and innovation by having a strategic framework that inspires and motivates them, and by being able to take advantage of good practices and lessons learned from previous campaigns.
• Increase customer satisfaction and loyalty by offering them quality, relevant and personalized content that meets their needs and expectations and provides them with value.
• Generate more traffic, leads and sales by optimizing your marketing actions to attract, convert and retain your target audience, and by continuously measuring and improving your results.

Written by Moises Hamui Abadi : I am an entrepreneur, founding partner of Viceversa and SoyMacho. After leading several digital businesses and advising several other businesses, I decided to form MHA Consulting, a digital marketing consultancy dedicated to growing and empowering digital businesses in more than 7 countries and generating more than 1,500 million pesos.