RAMMP Diagnostic Protocol

Definition

The RAMMP Diagnostic Protocol defines the standard process used to evaluate trust, risk exposure, and revenue feasibility in the buying journey before marketing budget is committed.

The protocol ensures that marketing decisions are evaluated using quantitative behavioural evidence rather than assumptions, retrospective reporting, or proposed execution.

The protocol is designed to answer one governing question:

Is this the right growth lever to fund?

The protocol is applied before major marketing decisions including:

  • campaigns

  • rebrands

  • agency engagements

  • marketing strategy projects

  • budget approvals

  • growth initiatives

Running the protocol creates a defensible baseline for marketing investment decisions.

Why a Diagnostic Protocol Is Necessary

Marketing has historically lacked governance.

Organisations often commit significant budgets before understanding:

  • where trust breaks in the buying journey

  • whether conversion instability exists

  • whether revenue targets are feasible

  • whether the proposed intervention addresses the real constraint

Without diagnostics, marketing decisions are exposed.

The RAMMP Diagnostic Protocol introduces a standardised process for evaluating marketing risk before money is spent.

The RAMMP Diagnostic Sequence

The protocol follows five stages.

1. Behavioural Data Collection

The diagnostic begins by collecting behavioural and commercial input data from the buying journey.

This includes:

  • journey entry and progression behaviour

  • engagement and abandonment patterns

  • conversion behaviour

  • revenue and transaction context

  • commercial targets and constraints

These inputs provide the dataset required for trust and feasibility analysis.

2. Trust Checkpoint Analysis

The RAMMP model evaluates how trust evolves across the buying journey.

Trust Checkpoints define the moments in the buying journey where buyer confidence is either strengthened or lost.

Breakdown at these checkpoints indicates structural conversion risk.

Trust Checkpoint analysis identifies:

  • where trust fails

  • where buyers hesitate

  • where decision confidence drops

See:
https://www.rammp.com/standards/trust-checkpoints

3. Quantitative Trust Measurement

Using the behavioural dataset, RAMMP calculates the Buyer Trust Score.

The Buyer Trust Score reflects the strength of trust signals across the buying journey.

The diagnostic also evaluates the Revenue Feasibility Index, which indicates whether stated revenue goals are realistically achievable given current behavioural performance.

See:
https://www.rammp.com/standards/buyer-trust-score
https://www.rammp.com/standards/revenue-feasibility-index

4. Risk Diagnosis

The diagnostic identifies:

  • structural conversion constraints

  • trust breakdown locations

  • unrealistic revenue expectations

  • misaligned marketing investments

This stage answers the central question:

Is the decision exposed because of execution constraints, trust breakdown, or infeasible revenue assumptions?

5. Verdict Generation

Every RAMMP diagnostic produces a structured decision verdict.

The verdict uses the STOP / KEEP / FIX / PROVE protocol.

STOP
What should be stopped immediately.

KEEP
What is performing well enough to maintain.

FIX
The one or two highest-leverage trust repairs.

PROVE
What must be measured within the next seven days to confirm improvement.

This structure constrains action to the highest-leverage decision repairs.

See:
https://www.rammp.com/standards/stop-keep-fix-prove

The Role of the Diagnostic Protocol

The RAMMP Diagnostic Protocol does not replace strategy or execution planning.

It ensures that strategy is applied to the correct problem.

Without diagnostics, marketing organisations often optimise the wrong lever.

With diagnostics, organisations can act with greater confidence that investment is addressing the real constraint.

Relationship to Marketing Governance

The RAMMP Diagnostic Protocol is the operational foundation of marketing governance.

It provides:

  • marketing due diligence before budget approval

  • quantitative trust measurement

  • revenue feasibility analysis

  • clear decision verdicts

This enables boards, executives, agencies, and founders to evaluate marketing investment decisions using a consistent governance process before spend is approved.

The Rule

Diagnose before you spend on marketing.