# Campaign brief — B2B SaaS

The campaign brief with four fields a subscription business needs: which slice of the ideal customer profile this is for, who else is in the decision, how long the deal takes, and which sales leader has agreed with the definition of a good lead.

Everything else is the general brief, unchanged. One outcome, one metric, one message, one approver by name, and a definition of done with a date in it.

## How to use it

1. Copy this file, or the CSV version if you would rather work in a sheet.
2. Write the business outcome before anything else, and write it without a marketing metric in it.
3. Read the baseline off your own account over a window you name, then set the target from it.
4. Write one message, not three, and check that a person could repeat it without the ad in front of them.
5. Name the approver by name, and the definition of done with a date in it.
6. Leave Baseline and Target blank until they are read rather than guessed.
7. Close the brief on its end date by writing the result against the baseline, whatever the result is.

## The columns

**Brief name** (Text). What this brief is called and the quarter it serves, in the words both marketing and sales will use in a pipeline meeting.

**Business outcome** (Text). What the business gets if this works, in pipeline or revenue terms: coverage for a quarter, expansion into a named segment, a shorter cycle in a size band. Leads are not an outcome.

**Primary metric** (Text). The one number this brief is judged on, which should be a cost per sales-accepted lead or per opportunity rather than a cost per form fill.

**Baseline** (Number). What that number is today for this segment, read from your own pipeline over a window long enough to contain a full cycle. Blank until it has been read.

**Target** (Number). What the metric has to reach for this to have worked, set after the baseline and with the segment's deal size in view, because a large-deal lead can cost several times a small one.

**Audience** (Text). Who this is for, described so somebody could build it: a size band crossed with a role, an industry, a named account list and its version.

**Offer** (Text). What is actually being offered, and here it is rarely a discount: a report, a benchmark, an audit, a working session. Say what is gated and what is not, deliberately rather than by default.

**Message** (Text). The one thing the reader has to believe, and it has to survive being forwarded to a budget holder who never saw the ad and has no reason to trust you.

**Proof** (Text). What makes it credible to that forwarded reader: a number with its method stated, a document that stands alone, a calculator they can run on their own figures.

**Landing page** (URL). The exact destination, and whether the summary on it is genuinely open. A promised open read that turns out to need a form is the fastest way to lose a first-time reader.

**Channels** (Text). Where this runs, and what each channel is there to do: search to capture demand that exists, a professional network to reach a segment intent cannot find, video to make the case at length.

**Flight start** (Date (YYYY-MM-DD)). The first day this may spend, set at least one sales cycle before the quarter it is meant to serve, or it is buying pipeline that lands after the number it was bought to make.

**Flight end** (Date (YYYY-MM-DD)). The last day, inclusive, and far enough before the quarter closes that the cohort has time to mature into something anybody can judge.

**Budget (minor units)** (Integer). The whole budget for this brief, in the smallest unit of its currency, as a whole number, so the quarter's briefs add to the figure the revenue plan assumed.

**Currency** (ISO 4217 code). The ISO 4217 code these ad accounts are billed in. A company selling into several regions runs several, and a brief per region is cleaner than one with a rate in it.

**Guardrails** (Text). What this brief may not do whatever the results say: accounts already in an open sales cycle, budget moved out of the awareness rows, a definition changed mid-flight.

**Approver** (Text). The person who can say yes to this, by name, and separately the sales leader who has agreed what counts as a good lead from it.

**Definition of done** (Text). What has to be true for this to be closed: a date at least one cycle after the flight ends, the number against the baseline, and the person who writes it up.

**ICP segment** (Text). The slice of the ideal customer profile this is for: a size band, an industry, a role, a stack. It sets the message, the deal size and the objection in one field.

**Buying committee** (Text). Who else has to agree inside the account: the champion, the budget holder, the sceptic, the person who will be using it. The creative has to survive being forwarded to all of them.

**Expected sales cycle** (Text). How long a deal from this segment usually takes, in weeks, read from your own pipeline. It says when this brief can first be judged, and stops it being marked early.

**Sales sign-off** (Text). The name of the sales leader who has read and agreed the definition of a good lead in this brief. Not a team, and not implied by silence in a meeting.

## The campaign brief

| Brief name | Business outcome | Primary metric | Baseline | Target | Audience | Offer | Message | Proof | Landing page | Channels | Flight start | Flight end | Budget (minor units) | Currency | Guardrails | Approver | Definition of done | ICP segment | Buying committee | Expected sales cycle | Sales sign-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |

## Before you commit it

- The business outcome is stated in pipeline or revenue terms, not in leads.
- The ICP segment is one segment, not a market.
- The buying committee names at least the champion and the budget holder.
- The expected sales cycle is read from your own pipeline and written down.
- Sales sign-off names a person and a date.
- Baseline and target are both read, or both blank.
- The definition of done falls at least one cycle after the flight ends.