How to Prepare an Advertising Plan [Free Template]

Oftentimes, turning an idea for an advertising campaign into reality isn't exactly simple.

Among other things, you must get buy-in from other teams, earn approval from leadership, negotiate your budget, and present a clear path for return on investment (ROI).

The best way to clearly share your proposal (and its costs, stakeholders, the amount you expect to earn, etc.) is with a concrete and detailed advertising plan.

Follow Along With HubSpot's Free Ad Plan Template

An advertising plan will help you formulate and organize your thoughts and ideas so you can ensure your campaign is an effective one, too. 

In this post, we'll highlight the major sections you should include in your advertising plan so you can guarantee your next campaign is a success.

Pro Tip: HubSpot created the following advertising plan template for you to download so you can organize your advertising campaign — it's broken down into relevant sections and can be shared with your stakeholders when it’s completed.

Download this Advertising Planning Kit

Now let's dive into how you can prep your ad plan. 

How to Prepare an Advertising Plan

Before you jump into your tactical advertising ideas, the first step in the process is to provide those reading your ad plan with a high-level overview of your initiative.

1. Provide an overview of your advertising plan.

Specify the following elements so anyone reading your plan will have a basic understanding of what your campaign is and what you're trying to accomplish:

• Campaign Name: Make the campaign name catchy, unique, and easily identifiable so your team can get behind it.
• Campaign Description: What is the purpose of your campaign? Explain in 2-3 paragraphs what the inspiration behind your campaign is, how it aligns with your company initiatives, what customer problems you're solving, and what the final deliverables of the campaign will be.
• Target Audience: Ideally, who's on the receiving end of these ads? You can be specific to age, sex, region, or any number of demographics, or name which of your buyer personas you're targeting.
• Advertising Platforms: How will you be getting your message across? Here, identify the platform you'll be using, since you'll get more into the details of what the actual ads will look like in a later section.
• Goals and ROI: Explain what the end goal of your campaign is. Most ad campaigns are intended to produce a direct profit or return on investment, so if that's your goal, identify that number. If your campaign goal is something else — event sign-ups, product awareness, etc. — be sure to identify and quantify it.

2. Choose your platforms.

Here's where you'll provide more detail on the advertisements themselves and on which platform they will be promoted. For each ad you intend to run in this campaign, you should provide the following:

• Platform name
• Ad type
• Description of the ad
• Timeline
• Budget

For example, your content in this section might look like this:

Platform #1: YouTube

• Advertisement Type: Video
• Description of Ad: A 15-second pre-video ad. The video will be an animated look at our new app with a link to the app store at when someone clicks.
• Timeline: July 1 – July 31
• Budget: $10,000

3. Develop your timeline.

Working on an ad campaign takes a ton of time and resources, so everyone involved will want to know what tasks they're responsible for, when they're due, and how long they have to do them. In this part of your advertising plan, list the tasks that are due, when they are due, and who's responsible for accomplishing them.

4. Outline your budget.

Because ROI isn't guaranteed, the budget can be the toughest part of your advertising project to get approved — which is why it's important to break up your requests by line item and present them in your plan.

Rather than simply stating, "We need $65,000 for this project", organize your budget into a detailed visual, like the example below.

Download this Template for Free

Naturally, you can (and should) expect questions and pushback on certain line items.

For example, you may be asked to find another designer or video freelancing team who can complete the job for less money. So, arrive at meetings prepared to defend which costs are necessary for the campaign's success and which expenses can be reconsidered.

5. Explain your DACI framework.

The DACI framework outlines who the key contributors in the project are and what each of their responsibilities entail.

Here's how a DACI framework is broken down:

• (D)river: As you might have guessed, this person is the project's main driver or directly responsible individual. (Chances are, this will be either you or your direct manager.) The driver will coordinate all of the moving pieces of the project, seeing it through from inception to wrap-up.
• (A)pprover: This will be the person who must approve a project and is typically a director, VP, or manager. They'll give feedback, recommendations, or approval on the overall project and have a final say in all project deliverables.
• (C)ontributors: Contributors will be the individuals who are responsible for creating one or more deliverables for the project. In an advertising campaign, this can include copywriters, video producers, animators, designers, and digital advertising specialists.
• (I)nformed: These are employees who are kept in the loop as the project goes on. Examples include the department heads and the managers of project contributors. These people have no direct responsibilities but benefit from knowing about the project and its status.

Your DACI framework should include the name of each stakeholder, his or her contact information (email, phone, and/or Slack handle), and that person's responsibility or deliverable.

This framework makes project delegation crystal clear for everyone involved.

6. Provide additional resources.

This will act as the appendix of your advertising plan. Share the ad campaign that inspired this one with your readers, link to the product page you'll be promoting with this initiative, or link to your company's brand style guide — this way, designers and writers get a refresh on how to create externally-facing content.

7. Host a campaign kickoff meeting.

After you complete the outline, hop on a call with your team to explain the campaign concept, timeline, and deliverables. Compile all of them in HubSpot's advertising project pitch deck and present your advertising plan. Then, open up the floor for any questions and suggestions with project contributors.

Over to You

Now that you know how to write your advertising plan, it's time to lay your ideas, budget, and timeline out in HubSpot's Advertising Plan Template. Download it for free to get your advertising campaign project plan off the ground.

(For further inspiration, take a look at The 18 Best Advertisements of All Time.)

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.