Quick Start Guide

App Orientation

The image below shows the page you first land on when you log into Annum. It includes an overview of high-level navigation to help you find your way around.

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Before You Start Planning:
Does your team plan Initiatives or Campaigns?

In Annum, an Initiative is a marketing effort that takes place over a defined period of time and is supported by a number of cross-channel Tactics. A Tactic is a specific, individual, action a business takes to communicate/engage with an audience, such as a specific email, social post, or landing page.

Depending on your organization, an Initiative might be a:

• Campaign
• Promotion
• Key Date
• Monthly Theme
• Other coordinated marketing effort

If you plan coordinated marketing Initiatives > Start with Step 1

If you don’t > Skip to Step 3

1. Enter an Initiative or Campaign

Start with one real Initiative / Campaign you’re currently planning.

Click Plan Settings in the top center of the app and select Initiatives. On the Initiatives settings page, select the Add Initiative button and enter the basic information for your Initiative. Select from our default categories, or view our guide to customize Initiative categories.

As you create each Initiative or Tactic, apply an Audience and journey-based Marketing Objective Tag.

These Tags create a through line from your strategic priorities to the tactical plan, so later you can filter across Initiatives and channels to see how well your planned activity supports the Audiences and Marketing Objectives that matter most.

Want to add Tag categories or customize your Audience and Marketing Objective Tag lists? Visit our Guide to Customizing Tags for more detailed information.

Want to learn more about establishing audiences and setting marketing objectives? 

• Explore Audience Strategy →
• Explore the 8 Journey-Based Marketing Objectives →

2. Add Tactics Supporting Your Initiative

Now add 3-4 Tactics that support the Initiative you just created. Enter Tactics in different Channels.

In Annum:

Channels are the different tools and media vehicles a business uses to communicate with its intended audiences. Tactics are color-coded by Channel.

Tactic Types are the types of actions a business takes to communicate/engage with its audiences in different Channels. Once you select a Channel, the Tactic Types under that Channel will be available for selection.

Platforms are third party websites, apps, and media where a business publishes content and advertises. Once you select a Tactic Type, the Platforms under that Tactic Type will be available for selection. Platforms are not needed for owned Channels.

For example:

Channel = website
Tactic Types = home page banner, blog post, case study

Channel = organic social media
Tactic Types = post, story, reel
Platforms = Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn

Example Tactics for you to enter:

• PR / Press Release
• Paid Social / Promoted Post
• Direct Mail / Postcard
• Event / Sponsorship

As you add each supporting Tactic, apply the appropriate Audience and journey-based Marketing Objective Tags so the tactical plan stays connected to your strategic priorities.

Use at least two different Audiences and two different Marketing Objectives across all your Initiatives and Tactics. That variety is what makes filtering in Step 6 show a difference.

Want to customize your Channel list and the Tactic Types associated with each Channel? Visit our Guide to Customizing Channels and Tactic Types for more detailed information.

3. Enter Individual Tactics

Not all marketing activity is tied to an Initiative or Campaign. 

Enter 4-5 individual Tactics in different Channels.

In Annum:

Channels are the different tools and media vehicles a business uses to communicate with its intended audiences. Tactics are color-coded by Channel.

Tactic Types are the types of actions a business takes to communicate/engage with its audiences in different Channels. Once you select a Channel, the Tactic Types under that Channel will be available for selection.

Platforms are third party websites, apps, and media where a business publishes content and advertises. Once you select a Tactic Type, the Platforms under that Tactic Type will be available for selection. Platforms are not needed for owned Channels.

For example:

Channel = website
Tactic Types = home page banner, blog post, case study

Channel = organic social media
Tactic Types = post, story, reel
Platforms = Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn

Example Tactics for you to enter:

• Website / Blog Post
• Email / Promotion
• Organic Social / Post
• Email / Newsletter
• Website / Customer Success Story
• Collateral / Sales Deck
• PR / Press Release
• Paid Social / Promoted Post
• Direct Mail / Postcard

As you create each Tactic, apply an Audience and journey-based Marketing Objective Tag.

These Tags create a through line from your strategic priorities to the tactical plan, so later you can filter across Initiatives and channels to see how well your planned activity supports the Audiences and Marketing Objectives that matter most.

Use at least two different Audiences and two different Marketing Objectives across your Tactics. That variety is what makes filtering in Step 6 show a difference.

Want to customize your Channel list and the Tactic Types associated with each Channel? Visit our Guide to Customizing Channels and Tactic Types for more detailed information.

Want to add Tag categories or customize your Audience and Marketing Objective Tag lists? Visit our Guide to Customizing Tags for more detailed information.

Want to learn more about establishing audiences and setting marketing objectives? 

• Explore Audience Strategy →
• Explore the 8 Journey-Based Marketing Objectives →

4. See Everything Happening in Market

Now that you have several real Tactics in Annum, look across the plan as a whole.

This broader view helps you see what your audiences will experience across all of your marketing activity—not just one Initiative, channel, or team.

If You Plan Coordinated Marketing Initiatives

You should now see the Tactics supporting your Initiative alongside Independent Tactics and, if you added them, Tactics supporting other Initiatives.

Use this broader view to look for:

• Too many communications reaching the same Audience at the same time

• Conflicting or competing messages across different Initiatives

• Multiple Initiatives planning to use the same marketing vehicle or placement

• Heavy concentrations of activity in one channel or time period

• Gaps where little or no activity is planned

Seeing Initiative-related and Independent Tactics together helps you evaluate what is happening across the market before narrowing your view to a specific Initiative.

If Your Planning Focuses on Individual Tactics

Even if your organization does not plan around Initiatives, bringing your Tactics together in one plan gives you a broader view of what is happening across channels, Audiences, and time periods.

Use this view to look for:

• Too many communications reaching the same Audience at the same time

• Conflicting or competing messages

• Multiple teams planning to use the same marketing vehicle or placement

• Heavy concentrations of activity in one channel or time period

• Gaps where little or no activity is planned

5. Evaluate One Initiative or Campaign

If you don’t use Initiatives > Skip ahead to Step 6

Now filter the plan by one Initiative or campaign you created.

The Independent Tactics and activity associated with other Initiatives will drop out, leaving only the Tactics supporting that Initiative.

Use this focused view to evaluate whether the Tactics supporting the Initiative are working together as an integrated whole:

• Are the right channels represented?

• Is the timing coordinated across Tactics?

• Is messaging sequenced in the right order?

• Are there gaps in channel coverage?

• Is anything missing from the plan?

Annum lets you move between two important perspectives without maintaining separate plans:

Everything happening in market
and
Everything supporting a specific Initiative or campaign

When you’re finished, clear the Filter to return to everything happening in market.

6. Evaluate Coverage of Your Strategic Priorities

Because you applied Audience and Marketing Objective Tags as you entered each Initiative and Tactic, you can now use those Tags to evaluate the plan from a strategic perspective. 

Filter by Audience

Within Filters, select an Audience such as Target Market, Prospects, Customers, Partners, Employees, or General Public to see all of the activity planned for that group across Initiatives, channels, and independent Tactics. Immediately everything will drop out of the plan except for the Initiatives and Tactics associated with that Tag.

Look for:

• Too much activity reaching the same Audience at once
• Gaps in communication
• Conflicting messages
• Whether different channels are working together to create a coordinated experience

Filter by Journey-Based Marketing Objective

Within Filters, select a Marketing Objective to see all of the activity intended to support that stage of the customer journey.

Annum’s eight journey-based Marketing Objectives span from Awareness through Advocacy, helping you evaluate whether planned activity is supporting the outcomes that matter across the customer relationship.

Use this view to assess:

• Cross-campaign coverage of the objective

• Cross-channel support

• Gaps or imbalances in planned activity

• Whether your Initiatives and Tactics are collectively advancing that strategic priority

Applying Audience and Marketing Objective Tags consistently creates a through line from strategic priorities to planned activity—and helps prevent disconnected or random acts of marketing.

Clear the Filter to return to the full plan.

7. See the Strategy-to-Tactical-Plan Loop

You’ve now looked at the broader marketing plan, focused on an individual Initiative, and evaluated coverage by Audience and journey-based Marketing Objective.

Next, use Annum’s different views to see how the same connected plan supports integrated marketing planning from strategic direction through detailed execution—and back again.

Toggle between the views across the top of the app:

• Initiatives: Set Strategic Direction — Use the annual Initiatives view to block out major strategic Initiatives, campaigns, launches, and other priorities across the year. Leadership can add briefs, objectives, notes, and supporting information directly to each Initiative, then export the annual view as a PDF for strategy and planning discussions.

• Month: Build the Integrated Plan — See Initiatives running across the top while teams plan the supporting Tactics underneath them. This is where cross-channel activity comes together day by day, with teams able to reference Initiative briefs and coordinate timing, messaging, and channel activity against the broader strategy.

• Day: Refine the Details — Drill into a single day to plan and sequence Tactics at a more granular level, including time of day when it matters.

• Flow: Review Alignment and Patterns — Once the plan is built, leadership can step back into the Flow view for a higher-level timeline of activity across stacked Channels. This makes it easier to spot patterns, assess cross-channel alignment, and evaluate how the plan is coming together without getting lost in day-to-day detail. It also gives a general idea of planned workload. 

• Table: Review and Export Tactical Detail — See the full tactical plan with detailed metadata in one structured view for filtering, review, and export.

Together, these views create a strategy-to-plan loop: leadership sets direction, teams build the integrated plan beneath it, and leadership can return to higher-level views to assess alignment, coverage, and execution against strategy.

Learn more about how Annum supports integrated marketing planning through a connected strategy-to-plan loop. 

You’ve Experienced the Core of Annum

With only a small amount of your real marketing plan, you’ve now experienced how Annum can help you:

• Bring all cross-channel activity into one unified view
• Isolate everything supporting a specific Initiative
• See activity for a particular Audience
• See activity supporting a particular Marketing Objective
• Look at the same plan from different perspectives

Continue adding to your real plan during your trial, or explore additional capabilities when you’re ready. Everything you enter carries over if you upgrade to a paid subscription.

Explore More

Additional features to check out next: 

• Holidays and Observances: Scroll down to the bottom of the Filters pane and select one of our Calendars of Interest to activate in your plan. Events will appear in white boxes within Annum’s calendar views. Explore Calendars of Interest →

• Budget Management: Instead of creating yet another spreadsheet for managing your marketing budget, you can turn on Annum’s Budget feature and build out your budget while you plan.  Explore Budget Management →

• Invite Your Team: Invite colleagues to contribute to or review the plan. Your trial includes 10 seats, so you can invite up to 9 colleagues. Explore Team Management →

Looking For More Detailed Instruction?

For a detailed overview on how to set up and use all components of our unified marketing planning software visit our comprehensive Account Owner Guide.

Would You Like a Quick Walk Through?

If you would like a 15 or 30 minute session during which you can ask questions and get help entering some initial plans, we encourage you to select a convenient time through the link below. 

Bookmark our login page or click the LOG IN button at the top right hand corner of this site to return to the application. After logging in, click Launch Plan in the upper right hand of the application to open your planning calendar.