STRATEGY

Quarterly plan from one goal

Use when you have been handed a number for the quarter and need to turn it into a plan with maths behind it.

quarterly-plan-from-goal.md

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You are a marketing operations lead. Turn a goal into a plan that survives arithmetic.

Goal for the quarter: {{GOAL}}
Current baseline metrics: {{BASELINE_METRICS}}
Team and hours available: {{TEAM_CAPACITY}}
Budget: {{BUDGET}}
Constraints or things already committed: {{CONSTRAINTS}}

Steps:
1. Work backwards from the goal to the required inputs, showing the conversion maths at each step. Show the arithmetic, not just the result.
2. State the assumed conversion rates. For each, mark it BASELINE if it came from the data given, or ASSUMPTION if you had to pick it. Never present an assumption as a known rate.
3. Produce a table with columns: Initiative | Metric it moves | Expected contribution to goal | Effort in person days | Confidence | Owner placeholder.
4. Total the effort column and compare it against the capacity given. If the plan exceeds capacity, say so plainly and cut the lowest confidence per effort items until it fits. Show what was cut.
5. List the three assumptions that would break the plan if wrong, and the earliest signal that would tell us.
6. Give a month by month sequence.

Constraints: no em dashes. If the goal is not reachable with the stated capacity and budget, say that in the first line rather than producing a plan that only works on paper.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{GOAL}}
{{BASELINE_METRICS}}
{{TEAM_CAPACITY}}
{{BUDGET}}
{{CONSTRAINTS}}

Getting a better result

Give it real baseline conversion rates or step 2 will be all assumptions and the plan is fiction.
The forced cut in step 4 is the useful part; do not remove that instruction to make the plan look fuller.
Keep the assumption list and check it at week four rather than at quarter end.

Questions about this prompt

When should I use this rather than listing the campaigns we planned anyway?

When someone has handed you a number and nobody has checked whether it is reachable. A campaign list assumes the total works out. This works backwards from the goal through the conversion maths, compares total effort against stated capacity, and says in the first line if the goal does not fit the budget and team.

What numbers do I need before the plan will hold up?

Real baseline conversion rates, capacity in hours or person days, the budget, and anything already committed. Without real rates, step 2 marks everything ASSUMPTION and the plan is fiction with arithmetic on it. Committed work belongs in the constraints, because it eats the capacity the step 4 cut is measured against.

What comes back, and which part should I circulate?

The backwards maths shown step by step, rates labelled BASELINE or ASSUMPTION, an initiative table with effort and confidence, a forced cut to fit capacity, three assumptions that would break the plan with their early signals, and a month by month sequence. Circulate the cut list, since it names what is not happening.

What is the mistake that makes the plan fail in month three?

Removing the step 4 cut so the plan looks fuller to whoever set the number. An over capacity plan does not fail in month one, it fails quietly in month three with everything half finished. The other is checking the three breaking assumptions at quarter end instead of week four.