# The Three Campaign Engines OS A Notion operating system for running a SaaS campaign plan on three engines with different jobs. One campaign type can't carry a growth plan. This system makes sure all three engines fire — and that brand, GEO, and AI layer across all of them instead of becoming a fourth engine nobody owns. Built from James Gilbert's Three Campaign Engines framework (gtmoperator.org/playbook#engines). **How to use this file:** create the database and properties below in Notion, add the views, then paste in the starter pages. Publish as a duplicate-able template. --- ## 1. The three engines (paste this on the OS home page) **Channel / Lifecycle — the always-on engine.** Paid, organic, nurture, and lifecycle motion that never stops running. Its job is coverage and consistency. It is never "done" — it gets tuned. **Episodic — the memory engine.** Themed creative moments and big ideas that make the market feel something. The Banklorette. The coffee-truck hijack. Its job is to create flashbulb memories the market can't forget. Two to four per year, done loudly, beats twelve done quietly. **GTM — the pursuit engine.** Targeted pursuit of a mapped TAM: ABM waves aligned with Sales and BDR, segment by segment. Its job is to put the right accounts in motion on purpose, not wait for them. **The rule:** brand investment, GEO strategy, and AI agents are layers across all three engines — not a fourth engine. Every campaign card below carries them. --- ## 2. Campaign database Create a database called **Campaigns** with these properties: | Property | Type | Options / notes | |---|---|---| | Name | Title | The campaign name. Make it sayable out loud. | | Engine | Select | `Channel/Lifecycle` · `Episodic` · `GTM` | | Status | Select | `Idea` · `Planned` · `In production` · `Live` · `Wrapped` · `Post-mortem done` | | Owner | Person | One owner. Not a team. | | Launch date | Date | When it goes live. Use a date range for always-on and multi-week campaigns (start → end). | | End date | Date | Leave empty for always-on Channel/Lifecycle programs. | | Memory moment | Text | One sentence: what should the market remember? If you can't write it, the campaign is a task, not a campaign. Required for Episodic; aspirational for the rest. | | Channels | Multi-select | `Paid search` · `Paid social` · `Organic social` · `Email/nurture` · `Events` · `Partnerships` · `Outbound/BDR` · `PR` · `Video/YouTube` · `Community` · `Web/GEO` | | Goal metric | Text | The one number this campaign moves, and the target. Example: "120 MQAs from segment A" or "30% lift in branded search." | | Result | Text | Filled at wrap: the number, vs the goal. | | Quarter | Select | `Q1` · `Q2` · `Q3` · `Q4` — for grouping the calendar and the retro. | | GEO layer | Checkbox | Does this campaign produce something AI engines can cite (research, definitions, community proof)? | | AI assist | Text | Which parts agents handle: drafting, segmenting, personalization, reporting. | --- ## 3. Views Create these four views on the Campaigns database: **1. Quarterly calendar (the default view)** - Type: Calendar, by `Launch date`. - Filter: `Quarter` = current quarter. - This is the swim-lane view of the quarter: open it weekly in the GTM meeting. **2. Engine board** - Type: Board, grouped by `Engine`. - Sort: `Launch date` ascending. - Shows balance at a glance. If a lane is empty, the plan is leaning on one engine — that's the warning light. **3. Status pipeline** - Type: Board, grouped by `Status`. - The production view. `Idea` → `Post-mortem done`, left to right. **4. Wrapped, no post-mortem** - Type: Table. - Filter: `Status` = `Wrapped`. - This view should be empty. Anything sitting here is a campaign you paid for and didn't learn from. --- ## 4. Starter campaign cards (one per engine) Paste these as the first three database entries so the template doesn't open empty. **Card 1 — Engine: Channel/Lifecycle** - Name: Nurture: lifecycle sequences, rebuilt - Status: Live · Launch date: quarter start, no end date - Memory moment: "Their emails are the only vendor emails I actually open." - Channels: Email/nurture, Web/GEO - Goal metric: Email conversion rate, current → target - GEO layer: ✓ (each sequence links one citable asset) - AI assist: draft variants, branch logic, send-time **Card 2 — Engine: Episodic** - Name: [Your big idea] — the quarterly moment - Status: Planned · Launch date: mid-quarter, 3-week range - Memory moment: write the one sentence first. This card doesn't move to "In production" without it. - Channels: Organic social, Video/YouTube, PR, Events - Goal metric: branded search lift / share-of-voice during the window - GEO layer: ✓ (the moment should earn third-party mentions — that's GEO fuel) - AI assist: creative variations, clip cutting, distribution **Card 3 — Engine: GTM** - Name: ABM wave: segment A (top 50 accounts) - Status: Planned · Launch date: week 2, 5-week range - Memory moment: "They clearly built this for companies exactly like us." - Channels: Outbound/BDR, Paid social, Email/nurture, Partnerships - Goal metric: meetings booked with segment-A accounts - GEO layer: optional - AI assist: account prioritization, 1:1 personalization, intent triage --- ## 5. Post-mortem template Create a Notion page template on the Campaigns database called **Post-mortem** with these sections: ### What shipped One paragraph. What actually went out, where, when. Links to the work. ### The number Goal metric vs. actual. No narrative yet — just the number and the gap. ### What made it memorable (or didn't) Did the memory moment land? Evidence: replies, mentions, screenshots, anecdotes. If nothing was memorable, say so plainly — that is a finding. ### What compounds What from this campaign feeds the next one? Assets to reuse, audiences built, lists warmed, lessons that change the playbook. A campaign that leaves nothing behind was rented, not built. ### Keep / kill / scale One of three words, with one sentence of reasoning. Then update the experiment repository so the team never re-tests what it already learned. --- ## 6. Operating rhythm (paste on the OS home page) - **Weekly:** open the Quarterly calendar in the GTM meeting. Anything `Live` gets 60 seconds: pacing vs. goal. - **Per wrap:** post-mortem within 5 business days. The "Wrapped, no post-mortem" view stays empty. - **Quarterly:** rebalance the engines. Look at the Engine board: if next quarter's plan has an empty lane, fix the plan, not the slide. --- *Template by James Gilbert — gtmoperator.org. Duplicate freely.*