To debrief marketing campaigns can be a daunting and complicated process, but it doesn’t have to be. By asking three simple questions, regardless of your personality type, you can get the information you need to make better decisions about your marketing strategy in the future.
Three Questions to Debrief Marketing Campaigns
- How did our results compare to our original goal for this marketing campaign?
- What did and did not go well?
- What will I/we do differently next time?
I know, these seem TOO SIMPLE. But hear me out—simplicity is precisely what we’re going for here.
The simpler the questions, the clearer the answers. The more clarity you have after your debrief, the easier it is to make better future marketing strategy decisions.
Debrief Marketing Campaigns in Three Steps
The first question to ask is “How did our results compare to our original goal for this marketing campaign?” Yes, you’ll need to pull a bit of data here to get a clear answer to this first question. This will give you an indication of how successful the campaign was. You can compare the actual results to the goals set out at the start of the campaign, which can provide valuable insight into what worked and what didn’t.
UH OH! Didn’t set a goal in the beginning? Let’s add “Set a goal” to your answer to the third question of the debriefing process. *wink*
The second question to ask is “What did and did not go well?” Be honest here! This will help you identify areas of improvement. You can look at what aspects of the campaign worked and what did not. This will help you learn from your mistakes and make better decisions in the future.
This is also a great way to highlight successes! For example, if one campaign performed much better than expected, you can look at what made it successful and replicate it for future campaigns.
Finally, the third question to ask is “What will I/we do differently next time?” This will help you identify areas of improvement and make better decisions. You can look at what you have done in the past and try to make changes to improve the results of future campaigns.
Working on a team? The answer to this third question as you debrief marketing campaigns will be especially helpful for new and existing team members as you embark on your next campaign. Learn from mistakes and get better every single time—that’s what we’re aiming for here.
By asking these three simple questions, you can quickly and easily debrief a marketing campaign. This will help you understand what went well and what didn’t, and will help you make better decisions in the future.
Final Step to Debrief Marketing Campaigns
Your final step is to add these three debrief questions to your marketing campaign process or system.
Where do you keep track of your marketing campaign tasks? I keep mine in Asana. Maybe you use Notion or Evernote or ClickUp or any of the other task management software options out there. Wherever you keep track of your tasks, add “DEBRIEF” to the very end of your campaign project. Within that task, copy and paste the three questions into the task description so they’re handy for when you need them.