SOSTAC® plans in the AI age

This article from distinguished author and Fellow of CIM, PR Smith explores the significance and applications of his SOSTAC® planning guide within the evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence.

Having a clear, actionable plan is key to success in any field. While there are countless frameworks used, one that is widely regarded for its effectiveness, particularly amongst marketers, is SOSTAC®.

What does SOSTAC® stand for?

SOSTAC® is an acronym, which represents the core pillars of a robust plan. It stands for: Situation, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics, Actions and Control. 

This methodology outlines a step-by-step process for creating and implementing a plan, helping you transform your ideas into something that is both practical and actionable. 

What is a SOSTAC® Marketing Plan?

Although SOSTAC® is now applied to many types of plans across the world, it was originally designed for marketing plans. SOSTAC® continues to develop every year. 2025 marks the publication of SOSTAC® Guide to your Perfect Digital Marketing Plan 2025 (AI Edition) which examines how the rise of artificial intelligence impacts the planning process and the challenges that we face when adapting to this new, emerging technology. 

Below, I break down each element of the SOSTAC methodology: 

Situation Analysis 

• Where are we now?
• This stage involves undertaking a thorough assessment of all factors that could impact your goals or ambitions. Some of the key elements to consider include competitor and market analysis. Further helpful frameworks include the SWOT and PESTEL analyses.

Objectives

• Where do we want to get to?
• Clearly defining where you want to go, from your current position is a vital next step. Smart Objectives can be a useful tool to help you create specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound objectives. 

Strategy

• How do we get there?
• Strategy is a top-level plan which lays out how you are going to reach your objectives. This can incorporate a variety of aspects such as positioning, targeting and employing a competitive advantage.  

Tactics

• The details of strategy (the marketing mix)
• The details of the specific actions you’re going to take to achieve your strategy. This should incorporate the 4 (or 7) P’s of the Marketing Mix.  

Actions 

• Ensuring the tactics are executed with excellence (internal marketing)
• This section details how you will put the plan into action and ensure it is implemented effectively. This can cover a wide range of areas including resource allocation, project management, and even training where required. 

Control

• Measurement and metrics to see ‘are we getting there?’
• This section involves putting measures in place that will allow you to continually review your progress to see if you are making progress. This can include setting KPIs, reporting and review. 

PR Smith’s SOSTAC® Planning Methodology

© Reproduced with kind permission of PR Smith. 

The 4Ms

To achieve your goals, its also crucial to consider the resource you have available to you. These can be visualised through the 4Ms:

• Men and Women
• This refers to human resources, the people and their skills which turn our ambitions, from plan into reality.
• Money
• This encompasses budgets, and the financial requirements necessary
• Minutes
• This represents time scales and deadlines that we need to work within
• Mega data
• This highlights the importance of data and insight in informing our decisions and strategies. 

You can see a full explanation on this in a 3 minute video on SOSTAC.org.

Use cases for SOSTAC®

One of the reasons SOSTAC ® is so well regarded by marketers is due to its ability to apply across such a wide range of scenarios. 

Example 1: 
For a small business owner aiming to increase online sales, they'd start with a Situation Analysis encompassing competitor analysis and their own website performance, leading to SMART Objectives like "20% uplift in online sales of a particular product within six months." Their Strategy would then focus on increasing online visibility and customer engagement.

Tactics here could focus on social media advertising, email marketing, and retargeting campaigns. The Actions phase would then cover practical execution, including crafting ads, designing visuals, and setting up automation. In this example, Control would look to KPIs like website traffic and conversion rates, using data to make real-time adjustments and optimize online sales efforts.

Example 2: 

For a new tech startup driving app downloads and user sign-ups post-launch they'd start with a Situation Analysis of current app performance, market trends, and competitors, leading to SMART Objectives like "10,000 downloads + 25% user sign-ups in 3 months." Their Strategy would focus on maximising app store visibility and highlighting unique value to simplify onboarding.

Tactics would involve App Store Optimisation (ASO), targeted social media ads, and influencer marketing. The Actions phase covers detailed execution: creating ads, engaging influencers, and optimising onboarding. Crucially, Control means rigorously monitoring KPIs like downloads and sign-up rates, using data to make rapid adjustments and continuously optimize for growth in the fast-paced tech environment.

Can AI write a SOSTAC® Marketing Plan? 

Perhaps, yes, but are they any good? Is the strategy going to create a competitive advantage? There is a school of thought that suggests that AI can generate strategy and even complete plans, currently, I am not yet convinced. Although AI will undoubtably learn and improve in the months and years to come.

AI can be applied to almost all aspects of marketing including all six sections of a SOSTAC® Marketing Plan, and in particular, Situation Analysis, Strategy, Tactics and Actions.

What does AI change in marketing? 

Since it’s explosion into the world of businesses in 2023 with the introduction of Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, AI has changed many aspects of how marketing functions. It introduces new tools and replaces certain human tasks and roles. However, the same principles of marketing will prevail – the same focus on helping the customer (or stakeholder). 

AI can both help and hinder marketing with the many advantages and disadvantages it presents. It can be trained to be creative and support our thinking processes or be trained to be risk-taking or risk averse. 

Marketers have used predictive analysis and chat bots for decades, but the technology is evolving at a much rapider pace recently. We must now be agile scientists or at least, experimentalists who nurture a culture of constant testing, improvement, iteration and innovation.

If you’d like to explore PR Smith’s SOSTAC® Planning Methodology in more detail, visit the official site at sostac.org. For a deeper dive, you can also find PR Smith’s SOSTAC® Guide to Your Perfect Digital Marketing Plan (2025 AI Edition) on Amazon.

Learn about the significant impact AI is having on marketing and how to leverage these tools to enhance your efficiency, make data-driven decisions, deliver exceptional customer experiences and drive better results for your organisation with CIM’s AI in Marketing training course.