Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Hi folks,

I’m working on a new solution to help plan, execute, and evaluate Social Media campaigns across multiple channels (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) using Workfront and would appreciate some advice, please.

One of the features allows defining what “Close Enough” means, as far as executing a particular action is concerned. By default, I’ve currently set it up so that as long as the Actual Completion Date occurs on the same calendar day as its Planned Completion Date, it is deemed Close Enough, but any other discrepancy beyond that requires review and acknowledgement that it was Too Early or Too Late, so that the person to whom it was Assigned is clear of the importance of “hitting” the Planned Completion Date, and can strive to improve.

If you are involved in this type of planning and execution, I am curious: what range would you define as “Close Enough”, vs requires review (and why)?

Regards,

Doug

[KatherineLa]

Hi Doug,

If I were drawing it out as a bell curve, I'd say 'the right calendar day' is just about square in the middle, and would be a good default setting but it's really a matrix of the channel/advertising purpose to judge meaningfully. Partly you need to know whether the campaign itself actually IS time sensitive at all, or is it for another purpose like regular influencer engagement.

• Some channels will have a cadence sensitivity, moreso than a particular time (ie a Pinterest campaign that posts 2x/week but not always the same day)
• Somewhere toward the middle you have campaigns that are leading UP to something, (event, sale, holiday) where early-to-on-time is correct but late is a waste of advertising dollars.
• Then there's a variety where on-time-to-late is fine (new product launches, sponsorship announcements) but early risks spoiling the surprise (and/or possibly breaching your client NDA contract if it's off far enough)
• At the really draconian end of the spectrum, you have the posts timed to launch during something like the Superbowl halftime show. Missing that window is known as a 'Career Limiting Move'.

Not sure if that helps or muddies the water, but there you go.

Katherine

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Mmmm...now that is some crunchy grist for my mental mill, Katherine! I’m going to chew on it a bit, but ‚Äî as they are within reach ‚Äî suspect I will adapt my model to account for all of these aspects. Many thanks for your insights! Regards, Doug