Marketing Campaign Decision Log
This is a practical guide to building a decision log for a marketing campaign project — a record of the key decisions made, by whom and why, adapted to the realities of planning and running a marketing campaign to deadline.
What a Decision Log is
A decision log is a record of the key decisions made, by whom and why. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Decision Log. On a marketing campaign project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for a Marketing Campaign project
Marketing Campaign projects live or die on planning and running a marketing campaign to deadline. A well-built decision log gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how marketing campaign projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- Decision
- Date and owner
- Rationale
- Alternatives considered
- Impact
Marketing Campaign-specific considerations
Tailor the decision log to the risks that most often derail marketing campaign projects:
- Shifting creative direction
- Fixed launch dates
- Cross-agency coordination
Example
On a real marketing campaign project, the decision log would be shaped by planning and running a marketing campaign to deadline. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — shifting creative direction, fixed launch dates, cross-agency coordination — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.