The Importance of Defining Scope in Your Marketing Plan

What is scope and why does it matter?

Defining the scope of your marketing plan is an essential step in the planning process. Scope refers to the extent of specifications of a project and what requirements are needed to complete it. Defining and understanding the scope of your project, or in this case, marketing plan, allows you to stay on track to reach your goals effectively. Knowing the scope of your project allows your team to clearly understand the requirements of the project, the goals, and how you’re going to achieve them. Without a clearly defined scope of a plan, things can get messy. When designing a marketing plan, it’s easy to get carried away with your ideas and how one project can trickle into the next. By setting scope, we can actively avoid getting off track and reach our goals more efficiently.

Two Definitions of Scope:

The scope of a project is categorized in two different ways, macro, and micro. A marketing plan with a macro-scope is a project that requires multiple teams or functions of a marketing department to achieve the goal and will generally aim to reach a larger audience. While a micro-scope marketing plan only needs one team or function to accomplish the goal and is usually focused on one customer segment. Let’s dive into a visual to make it a little easier to understand:

Why it matters:

Understanding micro and macro-scope marketing strategies are essential because it helps you define how a successful marketing plan looks. When you have a clear understanding of the scope of your strategy, you can more effectively achieve your goals.